Fic: Behind The Masks We Wear

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Title: Behind The Masks We Wear
Author: hils
Pairing: Misha Collins/Michael Rosenbaum
Rating: R
Word Count: 7877
Summary: Written for m2_homegoods. Superhero AU. Doctor Amazing is on a mission to take down Captain Awesome. Captain Awesome has other ideas.
Thanks to scintilla10 for the beta and to kimisgirl for helping me go through some plot points I was stuck on


“You know you really need to get laid.”

Michael blinked in surprise and turned from where he was making the final configurations to his latest weapon and faced his prisoner. It wasn’t like he wasn’t expecting the guy to talk, it was just usually in this sort of situation he was listening to people beg for their lives not talk about sex.

Mind you, this wasn’t an average prisoner. Out of all the superheroes and sidekicks in the city Horny Boy was definitely the one most likely to make his final words about dick. The guy was a joke. His weapon of choice was a leather codpiece covered in small barbs that administered a knockout drug when he pressed it against anyone. Seriously, he actually caught people by humping their leg. He was 100% ruled by his cock, which was what had made capturing him so easy. All Michael had needed to do was bribe a hot girl into slipping a roofie into Horny Boy’s drink.

Unfortunately, the drugs hadn’t lasted very long and now he had to listen to Horny Boy talk. Really, if there hadn’t been a timeframe involved he would have insisted they find someone else as bait for his trap.

He sighed. Sometimes he wished he had another job. Well, technically he did, but he never counted his secret identity job. He had pretty much always wanted to be a supervillain and that was where his heart lay.

He hadn’t really thought about it in those terms when he’d been at school and he doubted his guidance counsellor would have been impressed if he’d told her his career aim was to become the world’s best supervillain. All he really wanted was to be noticed and he’d quickly learned that acting the clown in class got people to like him. Unfortunately, although he always got invited to all the parties, neither the girls nor the guys saw him as anything more than the entertainment.

He hadn’t dated much in school but when he saw Lex Luthor on TV with a beautiful woman on each arm, he’d realised the best way to get the sort of attention he wanted. His head had instantly been filled with images of himself in Lex’s place with all the men, women, riches and popularity he could dream of.

And, really, how hard could training to be a supervillain be anyway?

As it turned out, it was pretty damn easy. All he’d had to do was register with the Guild of Supervillains and choose a name that hadn’t been copyrighted already. Within a week he’d been assigned an arch-nemesis and that had been it.

Now he was Doctor Amazing and he would forevermore be locked in battle with Captain Awesome.

Unfortunately Michael had sort of forgotten about the whole secret identity clause thing. So now while people marvelled at his brilliance and beat down his door to become his sidekick, no one actually knew who Doctor Amazing really was.

It kind of sucked and in retrospect he’d have thought that one through before signing up. It was too late now though.

“Seriously,” Horny Boy chimed in, drawing Michael out of his little trip down memory lane. “When was the last time you saw any action? Because that is a hell of a lot of dick symbolism you’ve got right there.”

Michael glanced at his death ray where it sat perched between two power orbs. Huh.

“You know, if you want to speed up your death you should just carry on talking.”

He turned his back to Horny Boy and resumed configuring the device. Maybe if he ignored him Horny Boy would get the message.

No such luck.

“Hey!” Horny Boy actually sounded affronted about having his life threatened. “I’m just saying that you might not be such an asshole if you fucked somebody once in a while. Unless you’re already giving it to the boy wonder over there.”

Tom (or Super Size as he was more commonly known) glowered from his position checking the power gauge but didn’t stop working. Sometimes Michael wondered whether he was too nice to be a supervillain’s sidekick. He was fiercely loyal but so damn chipper and eager all the time. He’d actually considered telling Tom he’d be better suited to being Captain Awesome’s sidekick, but he did like having Tom around and the Captain already had Marcel.

He pushed a few more buttons and the death ray whirred as it came online. Pretty soon it would be showtime. Unfortunately he already knew that this scheme was pretty much doomed to failure. No matter how brilliant his plan, Captain Awesome always managed to foil it. Michael was starting to think Captain Awesome was secretly psychic along with all of his known abilities. He always seemed to be one step ahead.

He’d actually once or twice considered trying to convert Captain Awesome to the supervillain side of things. He was certainly ripe for it. Seriously, the guy had minions who didn’t mind being called minions. In fact they pretty much considered it an honour. Surely that alone was the mark of a supervillain. But no, they stuck statues of him all over the place and named buildings after him. Captain Awesome made jokes about abusing his powers and taking over the world, and instead of quaking in fear, everybody laughed.

“You know Captain Awesome is going to save me, right?” Horny Boy chimed in again and Michael sighed. He was really getting sick of the sound of that guy’s voice.

“Well, obviously. I’m counting on it.”

As well as being ruled by his dick, Horny Boy wasn’t exactly blessed with smarts either.

Fortunately, Captain Awesome chose that moment to make his arrival. He sauntered into the room, flanked on either side by his fellow superheroes Gigantor and The Cowboy. Captain Awesome’s sidekick, Marcel, sat perched on his shoulder. Some people had questioned his choice of a monkey for a sidekick but somehow Captain Awesome made it work.

Captain Awesome, Gigantor and The Cowboy had formed an alliance a couple of years ago and spent most of their time fighting crime together now. The world seemed to agree that they made a good team and they’d quickly established a devout fan following. Michael wasn’t jealous. Well, maybe a little.

“Thank God,” Horny Boy complained from inside his cage. “I thought I was going to have to rescue myself for a minute there. Which, you know, I totally could have done.”

Gigantor rolled his eyes from behind his mask. “I really do have the lamest sidekick of them all.”

Marcel chittered in a way that sounded like agreement before he hopped off Captain Awesome’s shoulder and started to pick the lock on Horny Boy’s cage. Michael didn’t care. He had the object of his desire standing right in front of him.

“So, Captain Awesome,” he growled in his carefully perfected supervillain voice. “We meet again.”

The smile Captain Awesome flashed him was smug and incredibly annoying.

“Doctor Amazing, we really must stop meeting like this.”

Michael smirked and ignored the sound of Horny Boy being sprung loose behind him. It didn’t matter now. He had Captain Awesome right where he wanted him. His death ray was just a few feet away and, in a matter of moments, fame, glory and all the sex he could ever want would be his.

“You have fallen into my cunning trap,” Michael declared. “Prepare to meet your doom!”

Yeah, it was ridiculous and cliché but so was being a supervillain.

He made a step towards the death ray and found his path blocked by Captain Awesome who was staring at him in that unnerving way of his. Michael refused to give him the satisfaction of stepping back though and maintained his position as Captain Awesome closed the distance between them.

“Not today,” Captain Awesome whispered with a smile, and then he kissed him.

Michael was so startled he didn’t know what to do for a moment. Captain Awesome was kissing him and fuck it felt good. His body reacted before his mind could even process what was happening and he kissed back with an intensity that he’d never felt before.

Holy crap, the things that Captain Awesome could do with his tongue were . . . well, awesome. He should have figured that as well as being an amazing superhero he was also a talented kisser. Rumour had it that there was nothing Captain Awesome couldn’t do and Michael was starting to believe it.

He let out a small moan of loss as Captain Awesome pulled back.

“Maybe next time,” he said with a quick grin, and with that he was gone.

Well, fuck.

* * *

Michael didn’t sleep much that night, plagued with dreams about his arch-nemesis. This was seriously the most fucked up thing to have ever happened to him, and that included the time he’d wound up stranded on a beach in hotpants and stilettos.

At 5 am he decided to give up on sleep and get up. His dog, Irv, decided that this clearly meant that it was breakfast time and ran circles around Michael’s feet until he fed him.

“I wish my life was as simple as yours,” Michael told Irv as he made himself a cup of coffee. “All you’ve got to worry about is sleeping, eating and walks.”

Irv swallowed the last of his food with a gulp and let out an excited bark. Michael sighed. He’d made the mistake of saying the W word and he knew he wouldn’t get any peace until he took Irv out now.

“Come on then, boy. Let’s go.”

He grabbed Irv’s leash from the hook by the door and clipped it onto his collar. Maybe the walk would do them both some good. Maybe with some early morning fresh air he’d actually be able to stop thinking about Captain Awesome.

* * *

“Morning, Irv. You’re out early this morning.”

Jared always talked to Irv before saying hello to Michael. It was nothing personal, just one of those dog lover things. Michael totally understood. He liked Jared. He was one of those genuinely nice guys who was easy to talk to.

“You look like hell,” Jared said as he fell into step beside Michael and Irv and Jared’s two dogs chased each other around the park.

Michael shrugged. “Long night.”

“Whose party was it this time?” Jared asked with a grin.

Michael’s secret identity was an actor stroke scriptwriter who liked to party. A lot of the time he wondered which part of him was actually the secret because this had pretty much been his life before he became Doctor Amazing.

“No party,” he replied with a smile that was almost sincere. “Just didn’t sleep well.”

Jared returned the smile. “Well, fortunately, I have the cure. A friend of mine is having a charity event tonight. You should come. Plenty of hot men and women for you there, I promise.”

Normally Michael would jump at the chance but his heart really wasn’t into the idea of a random hook-up right now. On that other hand, maybe a random hook-up was exactly what he needed to take his mind off his infuriating nemesis.

“I dunno, man, I’m pretty wiped.” He picked up a stick and threw it for Irv, smiling when Harley and Sadie immediately tried to wrestle it from him.

“It’s still early,” Jared pointed out. “Go home and crash for a few hours. You’ll feel better after that, I promise. Then you’ll want to come out. There’s someone I really want you to meet.”

“Why the hell is everyone suddenly so keen to see me get laid?” Michael muttered under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Michael replied. “You’re right. I’ll see you tonight, okay. Just text me the address.”

Jared beamed. “Awesome! I will.”

Michael decided he would be happier if he never heard the word awesome again.

* * *

Michael woke up to the news that Captain Awesome had saved a school bus full of children after its brakes failed, and he quickly changed over to one of the music channels so he didn’t have to listen to the reporter gushing about how awesome the Captain was. He still had a few hours before the party and Jared had already texted him the address so he had a bit of time to kill.

He sprawled out on the couch with Irv asleep on his feet while he read through a few scripts. Nothing particularly exciting, just the usual array of supporting roles. One of them, he was amused to see, was for the role of Horny Boy in a biopic about Captain Awesome. He snorted and put that one on the bottom of the pile.

He was halfway through a particularly boring one where they wanted him to play the brother of a cowboy when his phone rang. He leapt up, earning a growl of complaint from Irv.

“Ackles!” he greeted cheerfully when he saw the caller ID. “I saw your boyfriend this morning and he invited me to a party.”

He actually had no idea whether Jared and Jensen were actually screwing each other and he didn’t care either. It was just fun to tease them about it. Jared had learned ages ago to just ignore him but he always managed to get a rise out of Jensen.

“Fuck you,” Jensen replied, which was pretty much his standard response now. “You’re coming to the party then? Jared said you weren’t sure. Thought maybe you were sick or something.”

“I’ve already picked out my prettiest dress. You might want to keep hold of that boy of yours or he might not be able to control himself when he gets a look at me. You’d be welcome to join us, of course. You’re almost as hot as he is.”

“Fuck you, man.”

“I would but I think Jared would kill me. See you tonight.”

He hung up before Jensen could reply and cackled to himself. He was starting to feel better already. This party was going to be just what he needed to take his mind off his fucked-up supervillain life.

* * *

“Mikey! You made it!”

Michael barely had time to brace himself before Jared launched himself at him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

“Dude, are you wasted already?” Michael groaned as he struggled to breathe. “What the hell? I never figured you for a lightweight.”

Jared pulled back and grinned at him. “S’not my fault. I been drinking these things. Jenny, what are they called?”

“I dunno,” Jensen replied, and if the slurred voice wasn’t enough to give away the fact that he was as wasted as Jared, the fact that he wasn’t objecting to being called Jenny was. “You should ask Misha.”

Jared’s eyes lit up. “Misha! Mikey, have you met Misha? He’s awesome.”

Jared started to giggle at some private joke that apparently only he was in on.

“He?” Michael asked. “I thought Misha was a girl’s name. Like Mischa Barton.”

Jared guffawed. “Mikey, you’re so funny! Jenny, isn’t Mike funny?”

“Hilarious.”

“Come on,” Jared said as he slung a heavy arm across Michael’s shoulders. “You’ll love Misha. He’s funny too, just like you.”

He let Jared steer him through the crowd until they came to a halt in front of what almost looked to Michael like a small commune. There were several guys and girls standing around with looks of rapt awe on their faces as they listened to someone talk. The guy in question was halfway through a story that apparently involved Sri Lankan monkeys and his audience was hanging off his every word. Even Chad looked fascinated and he was notorious for spending all his time at these events trying to bag the hottest girl.

“And then we made our escape.”

The story was concluded to a round of applause as Jared elbowed his way to the front of the group.

“Mish Mish! Look who I found! This is Mikey, the guy I was telling you about.”

“Michael,” he corrected as he shook Misha’s hand.

“Misha,” Misha replied with a grin. He looked Michael up and down before flashing him a rueful smile. “I was half expecting to see you in a dress tonight.”

Michael glared at Jared. “Dude, it was one time! For a movie. Why the hell do you insist on telling everyone I like to dress up as a girl?”

“It wasn’t one time, it was two,” Jared corrected. “And don’t forget that time you decided to work out wearing high heels. Anyway, you looked hot.”

Michael couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah, I did.”

Jared patted him and Misha on the back and pushed them slightly closer to each other. “You two should get to know each other. I need to go and find Jensen now.”

He turned and weaved his way back through the crowd, staggering slightly as he tried to avoid crashing into anyone. Michael watched until he was out of sight and then turned his attention back to Misha.

“Man, I feel like I’m way behind everyone else. What’s good to drink in this place?”

Misha grinned. “I know just the thing.”

* * *

“Holy shit this stuff is good,” Michael said as he tipped the glass upside down to get the last few drops into his mouth. “What did you say it was called?”

“A rainbow unicorn,” Misha replied. “My own personal invention.”

Michael snorted. “Man, could you be any more gay?”

They were sprawled on a leather couch in one corner of the room and Misha’s harem had quickly dissipated when they realised he wasn’t going to entertain them with any more stories that night.

“Is that a problem?” Misha asked, fixing his eyes on Michael with such an intense stare that Michael actually squirmed in his seat a little.

“Clearly J-Squared didn’t tell you that much about me,” he finally replied. “I don’t care if you’re gay, straight, bi or whatever.”

“Oh, I’m definitely a whatever,” Misha smiled.

Michael grinned. “Yeah? Me too.”

Misha leaned in so close that Michael could actually smell the fruity cocktail on his breath, and Jesus Christ his eyes were blue.

“Good to know,” Misha whispered. “Because I was planning on fucking your brains out later on.”

On the inside, Michael was doing the happy dance; on the outside, he simply smiled. “You know I have a saying: ‘why do something later when you can do it right the hell now’.”

“Wise words,” Misha agreed with a nod. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

They barely made it to Michael’s bed, stumbling through the house with clothes flying in all directions as they kissed each other eagerly. Irv stuck his head out of the kitchen briefly, saw that Michael was otherwise engaged and went back to sleep.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Michael growled as he pushed Misha back onto the bed. “I gotta thank Jared for introducing us.”

“I asked him to,” Misha gasped as he worked on removing Michael’s pants. “He talks about you a lot.”

Michael’s breath caught in his throat as his pants and boxers joined the rest of their clothes in a heap on the floor. “How about we talk about this later?”

Misha nodded. “Good idea.”

Michael reached into his bedside dresser and pulled out a bottle of lube and a condom. His body was actually trembling from sheer need as he stroked a hand down Misha’s chest and over his cock. “You said something about fucking my brains out.”

The predatory gleam in Misha’s eyes made him shiver even more. This was going to be the best night of his life, he could already feel it.

Until Misha’s phone rang, the sound muffled from underneath the pile of clothes. For a moment they both just lay there on the bed, naked and still, listening to it ring.

“Ignore it,” Michael finally whispered as he pressed a kiss to Misha’s lips before nipping along his jawline.

Misha sighed. “I can’t. It’s work.”

Before Michael could protest, Misha climbed off the bed, the moonlight shining on his naked body and giving Michael what he hoped would be a teaser of things to come. He watched as Misha fished the phone out of his pants pocket and padded out onto the landing to take the call. He seriously hoped that whoever it was, Misha was telling them to get lost.

The look on Misha’s face when he came back into the bedroom told him otherwise.

“I have to go.” His voice was soft and apologetic but he was already pulling his clothes back on. The sense of loss Michael felt was already killing him as he propped himself up on his elbows. “Are you a doctor?”

“No.”

“A fireman?”

“No.”

“Paramedic?”

“No.”

He sighed. “Is anyone going to die if you don’t go into work right now?”

The smile Misha flashed him was pained and regretful. “I’m sorry. It’s . . . complicated.”

He pressed a kiss to Michael’s lips and was gone before Michael could say anything else. Just when he was starting to think his life was improving.

Shit.

* * *

The next day Michael threw himself into work, because it was either that or break things. His unresolved encounter with Misha had left him frustrated and angry so he figured he might as well channel that into taking down his nemesis.

“We need to find out who he really is,” he told Tom as he paced up and down the length of his underground lair. “When we find that out, we can find his weakness and exploit it.”

“I heard that he doesn’t have any weaknesses,” Tom said hesitantly. “That’s why he’s called Captain Awesome.”

Michael glared at him. “Yeah, well, I call bullshit. Everyone has a weakness and I’m going to find his.”

Tom quickly nodded and set about scouring through all their resources. Michael nodded in satisfaction and decided to leave Tom to it. Research was definitely sidekick work and he still needed to take Irv for his walk. The decision had nothing at all to do with the fact that he was hoping to run into Jared so he could talk to him about Misha.

Unfortunately, when he got to the park there was no sign of Jared. Michael even did an extra couple of loops in case he was just running late. Nothing. As he headed back to the car he pulled out his phone and considered calling Jared before he decided that would probably make him look like a desperate loser. He sighed, put his phone back in his pocket, and headed back to the lair.

“Captain Awesome just built an orphanage,” Tom reported when Michael entered the main chamber. “By himself.”

Yeah, that figured.

“Do you know who he is yet?” Michael asking, knowing that a breakthrough was probably too much to hope for in such a short amount of time.

“Not yet,” Tom replied. “The superhero network is locked down tight. They all look out for each other and I haven’t been able to find anything yet. I’m still looking though.”

Michael was disappointed but not exactly surprised. He hadn’t been able to get even the smallest clue to Captain Awesome’s identity in the whole time they’d been enemies, so he didn’t know why today should be any different.

His phone beeped in his pocket and he left Tom to it and headed back to his inner sanctum.

Sorry about last night. Can I buy you dinner tonight to make up for it? Misha

Michael stared at his phone for a minute. Read the text again and then grinned.

Throw in the recipe for those unicorn cocktails and you’ve got a deal

He hit send and a few seconds later his phone beeped again.

Pick you up at seven

Suddenly today was a hell of a lot better.

* * *

Michael danced around his living room, singing loudly along to Depeche Mode, currently blasting out of his iPod station. Well, dancing was a generous term, really. He was sliding around on the hardwood floor in his socks but the end result was much the same. Irv charged around him, barking excitedly, and every now and again Michael would casually glance at the clock. There was still about ten minutes before Misha was due to arrive.

He had no idea where they were going for their date, or at least he assumed it was a date. Either way he had no idea how he was supposed to dress so he’d opted for his pink Twisted Sister t-shirt and his best pair of jeans. Somehow he suspected Misha was more a casual kind of guy.

When there was only five minutes left to go, he killed the music and pulled on his shoes. He checked that Irv had plenty of food and water (just in case they wound up going back to Misha’s place) and grabbed his jacket. At exactly seven, the doorbell rang.

Michael was relieved to see that casual had been the right way to go with his clothes. Misha was wearing an interesting striped sweater with ripped jeans and sandals with socks. The guy was actually wearing socks with sandals.

What amazed Michael even more was that he found it kind of adorable.

“Hi,” Misha smiled almost shyly. “You ready?”

Michael nodded and followed Misha out to his car. He had a feeling tonight was going to be something pretty special.

* * *

Misha took them to a sushi restaurant, which was awesome because sushi was one of Michael’s favourites. Most of the time he couldn’t talk his best friends into eating sushi, never mind a date. He sat back, impressed, as Misha ordered for both of them in fluent Japanese and a few minutes later a flagon of Sake was brought to them while the food was being prepared.

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Michael asked as Misha poured out two cups.

Misha shrugged. “I can’t speak Xhosa. My pronunciation is terrible.”

Michael stared at him for a moment, saw the corners of Misha’s lips twitching, and laughed.

“Well, that’s it then. I make it a specific rule to only date people who are fluent in Xhosa. I’ll just get my coat.”

Misha grinned. “Well, that’s fair enough. It’s a shame though, you’re going to miss out on some pretty amazing food.”

Michael pretended to pause and give the matter some consideration. “You know, I think foreign languages are overrated anyway.”

The food arrived and Michael had to admit it was the best damn sushi he had ever eaten.

“How the hell did I not know about this place?” He asked as he washed down the rice with some Sake.

Misha leaned in close.

“It’s a secret place,” he whispered, “and it can only be found by those who already know where it is.”

Michael almost laughed, but it died away when he realised that their faces were so close he could actually count Misha’s individual eyelashes. The smile faded from his lips and he leaned forward and kissed him.

Misha’s phone rang.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Michael murmured.

Then his own phone rang and he swore under his breath.

“You get the feeling something is conspiring against us?” Misha asked as he pulled back.

Michael grabbed his own phone as Misha stepped outside to answer his.

“What?” Michael snapped.

It was Tom. “You need to get back here. Something’s going on. Looks pretty big.”

Michael sighed and hung up.

“I have to go.”

He blinked when Misha said exactly the same thing at exactly the same time. Maybe Misha was right. Maybe fate was conspiring against them. Maybe this was Michael’s punishment for becoming a supervillain instead of one of the good guys.

Misha looked at him sadly. “I don’t suppose we’re going to get another shot at this, are we?”

Captain Awesome’s last words to Michael popped into his head, unwelcome and unwanted, but he said them anyway.

“Maybe next time.”

Misha stared at him for a moment and then smiled. “Yeah, I have a good feeling about next time.”

Michael nodded. Next time he was turning his phone off and he would demand that Misha do the same. He glared at the offending item and slipped it back into his pocket. When he glanced back up Misha had paid and was pocketing the check.

“So, I’ll call you?” Misha actually looked embarrassed just when Michael was starting to think that nothing phased him.

“I’ll call you,” he corrected. “It’s my turn to choose the location of our date.”

Misha smiled and nodded. “Deal.”

They walked outside together and after a quick kiss went their separate ways. Michael hated to admit it but he was already feeling the loss.

* * *

“What was so important that you had to call me back from my date?” he demanded as soon as he got back to the lair.

Pissed didn’t even begin to cover how he was feeling right now. He knew it wasn’t Tom’s fault but that didn’t stop him feeling any less annoyed and frustrated.

Tom gestured at the monitor was an apologetic smile. “Huge fire just outside LA and all the superheroes are being called in. Thought you might want to watch Captain Awesome at work and see if you can determine any weaknesses.”

Michael glanced at the screen just in time to see Captain Awesome arrive and quickly start organising everyone. A few minutes passed and Michael was kind of surprised to realise that as much as he wanted to take down his nemesis he kind of wished he were still with Misha.

“I’m gonna grab a drink. Call me if anything interesting happens.”

He closed the door to his inner sanctum and poured himself a large glass of scotch before collapsing into his chair. He wasn’t actually much of a scotch drinker but he had it on good authority that was what all the big supervillains drank so he was trying to get used to the taste.

He pulled out his phone and thought about texting Misha before deciding he should probably at least wait until tomorrow.

How the hell was it possible that his whole life had been flipped around like this so quickly? Two days ago he’d been plotting mayhem and destruction and now all he could think was that Misha probably wouldn’t like it. For all his dry humour, Misha was a good guy. When they’d first met at the party Misha had explained that it was actually his party to raise money to get homeless kids off the streets. Misha did actually care about helping people and Michael couldn’t even remember the last time that he did something that didn’t benefit himself in some way.

This was all Captain Awesome’s fault, he decided after a few minutes of watching the ice melt in his glass. If his nemesis hadn’t kissed him that day, he wouldn’t have gone to the party to stop thinking about it, and he wouldn’t have met Misha, and he wouldn’t now be questioning every little thing he did.

“Boss, you need to come and see this,” Tom’s excited voice rang out from the intercom, cutting into Michael’s brooding. He welcomed the distraction as he abandoned his scotch and made his way back into the main chamber.

Tom was staring at the screen when Michael arrived and he gestured excitedly when he saw his boss.

“What is it?” Michael asked. He couldn’t see anything on the screen except fire and smoke.

“Captain Awesome went down somewhere in there,” Tom replied. “They’re saying no one can get to him. Hey, do you choose your next nemesis when your current one dies? You are still going to keep me as your sidekick aren’t you?”

Michael was barely listening. His eyes were fixed intently on the screen, as though if he concentrated hard enough he’d be able to see Captain Awesome through the flames. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way Captain Awesome could have been taken down by something as trivial as a bit of fire. He was supposed to be invincible, or as good as anyway, and the two of them were supposed to be locked in an epic battle until the end of days.

Besides, before he died, Michael supposed he had to at least thank him for indirectly causing him to meet Misha.
He stared at the screen for a moment longer and then nodded his head as he made up his mind.

“I’m going in there.”

Tom stared at him for a moment, apparently not comprehending what Michael was saying. “What?”

“I said I’m going on there. If anything is going to kill Captain Awesome it’s going to be me.”

Understanding flooded Tom’s face and he smiled as he nodded his head. “Ah, right, I get it. Of course. Do you want me to come with you?”

“No,” Michael said, already striding towards the hanger that held his small personal plane. “I need you to stay here and keep me informed of what’s happening. And feed me the coordinates of Captain Awesome’s last known location.”

It didn’t take him long to get strapped in and take off, and the fire wasn’t far. He just had to hope that he wasn’t already too late.

* * *

The coordinates Tom had given him enabled him to narrow down the search area. His sidekick hadn’t been kidding when he said no one could get to Captain Awesome. The flames were high and it was only because his ship had been coated in a fireproof alloy of his own design that he wasn’t burning up himself. Visibility was next to zero because of all the smoke but luckily for him being a supervillain meant being kitted out for every situation. His suit was fireproof, he had a small inhalator that gave him a supply of oxygen, and his mask had filters that allowed him to see through the smoke.

He landed in a small clearing and began to search. Unfortunately, the heat sensors in his mask were useless in a fire so there was no way he could look for body heat. He’d just have to find Captain Awesome the old fashioned way.

He could feel the overwhelming force of the heat as he started to walk and even though he was protected against it he was very much aware of its presence. He really wished he’d been able to plant that tracking device he’d developed a few months ago on Captain Awesome but, as per usual, the Captain has eluded him.

He continued walking all the while listening to Tom who was updating him with what the superheroes were saying about Captain Awesome’s estimated location. According to Tom, Michael should pretty much be on top of him. Being on top of Captain Awesome really wasn’t an image Michael needed in his head right now.

The ground was rough under his feet, strewn with charred branches and fallen trees. Even with the technical aids it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Unfortunately, every time he thought about turning back his mind presented him with an image of Misha looking at him with disappointment in those big blue eyes of his.

Michael pressed forward and a few minutes later almost tripped over Captain Awesome, who had apparently had the foresight to try and shelter himself with rocks before being overcome by the smoke. Or at least Michael hoped that was all it was. He couldn’t really tell whether Captain Awesome was alive or dead and he wouldn’t be able to check for sure until they got back to the ship.

Michael hefted his fallen nemesis into his arms, grateful that Captain Awesome was a little smaller than he was and that the plane wasn’t too far away. As he carried him, he tried to detect any signs of life but the body in his arms was limp and still.

He told himself that the reason his eyes were stinging was because of the smoke.

* * *

When they got back to the plane, he set Captain Awesome down and placed an oxygen mask over his face. Now that they were out of the flames, he could remove his protective layers and check over the man he’d just risked his ass to save.

Well, there was a pulse so at least he hadn’t hauled a corpse through a flaming forest. Captain Awesome was still unconscious though and now Michael had to decide what to do with him. In theory he could just fly past and dump him on his superhero friends and let them take care of him, but there was some weirdly possessive part of him that said he should be the one to take care of Captain Awesome since he was the one who rescued him.

He was already strapping himself into the pilot’s seat before the thought had even finished making its way through his head.

* * *

To his credit, when they got back to the lair Tom didn’t say anything about the presence of their guest and simply helped Michael carry Captain Awesome into the medical bay. By the time they’d set him down on one of the beds he was starting to wake up.

“Get a message to the superheroes,” Michael said to Tom as he kept his eyes fixed firmly on Captain Awesome. “Let them know that Captain Awesome is safe, but don’t tell them where he is. The last thing I need is the entire league crashing in here.”

“Sure thing,” Tom said, and a few moments later Michael was alone with Captain Awesome. The Captain had fallen still again, apparently not quite ready to wake up yet. Michael sighed and pulled a chair over to the bedside. Exactly why he was about to sit and watch his nemesis sleep, he didn’t know, but it wasn’t like he had much else to do.

For one minute, it occurred to him that this moment was the perfect opportunity to discover Captain Awesome’s true identity. His hand reached forward until his fingertips were just an inch away from the mask covering Captain Awesome’s face. Then he stopped. That was too easy. It was almost like cheating.

He sighed and dropped his hand back to his side before pulling out his phone. He wondered if it was too early to call Misha and arrange a date for tomorrow. Oh, 7am. Technically it already was tomorrow and probably too early to be calling anyone.

He took a deep breath and wrinkled his nose when he realised his clothes reeked of smoke. Maybe he should take a shower. It wasn’t like Captain Awesome was going anywhere.

Naturally, Captain Awesome chose that exact moment to wake up, properly this time. His eyes opened and scanned the room before they came to land on Michael.

“You,” he said in a muffled voice from behind the oxygen mask. He coughed and removed it. “You saved me?”

He sounded surprised and that gave Michael some small amount of satisfaction.

“I want the credit of killing you myself,” he growled in his best supervillain voice.

Captain Awesome sat up with a groan, taking in his surroundings. Michael half suspected he was trying to work out where the exit was as well as taking note of Michael’s equipment.

“You could have killed me while I was unconscious,” Captain Awesome finally pointed out.

Michael shrugged. “No fun in that, is there?”

Captain Awesome actually smiled at that. “You know, I always was glad you were assigned as my nemesis.”

The statement threw Michael a little. He’d been expecting the usual traded insults and threats, not a compliment.

“Yeah, well, now that you’re awake how about you get out of here and we go back to trying to kill each other again.”

Captain Awesome looked at him. Stared at him was probably more accurate, with his head tilted to one side like a curious puppy. It made Michael shift a little in his seat.

“I’ve got an idea,” Captain Awesome finally said. “How about we don’t?”

“Don’t what?” Michael asked with a frown. This conversation was not going the way he’d expected at all.

“Don’t go back to killing each other.”

Michael could only watch warily as Captain Awesome sat up properly and swung his legs over the edge of the bed so that their knees were touching.

“What do you suggest we do instead?” Michael asked. “Braid each other’s hair? Because I gotta tell you I’m kind of lacking in that department.”

Captain Awesome kissed him.

Again.

It was different to their first kiss. It was soft and almost sweet except it tasted of smoke. Michael twisted away and pulled back.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Captain Awesome simply smiled serenely at him in that infuriating way of his. “You didn’t seem to mind last time.”

“Yeah, well, things are different now.” He wiped his lips with the back of his sleeve, already feeling like he’d cheated on Misha even though Captain Awesome had practically assaulted him.

“You’ve met someone,” Captain Awesome said. It wasn’t a question.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes,” Michael replied. “He’s a decent guy, and unlike you he doesn’t get his kicks from screwing around with people.”

Captain Awesome’s mouth quirked into a smirk. “And does this decent guy know about your regular plans to take over the world?”

Shame and a cold anger flooded through him and he kicked his chair back. “Fuck you, man. You don’t know me. Jesus, is it any wonder I want to kill you when you’re such a pain in the ass?”

Captain Awesome shrugged. “It was just a question. Maybe the reason you’re so angry is because you know I’m right.”

Michael sighed and collapsed back into his chair. Damn, he hated this guy with his perception and annoying smugness. “He’s not like us. He’s smart and funny and he helps people because he wants to, not because he’s got any special powers. I know you’re supposed to be the awesome one, but honestly you’ve got nothing on this guy.”


Captain Awesome was silent for a moment and then Michael felt a hand squeeze his arm gently. “You know, if you want to fight with me for the rest of your life, I’m not going to stop you, but it strikes me that maybe you’re meant to be doing something else. Something that makes you happy.”

Michael glanced at the hand on his arm and then at Captain Awesome who was looking at him steadily with no hint of a joke on his face. Michael hated to admit it, but he was right. There was only one thing that had made him happy outside of his family and his dog and that was Misha.

He jerked out of Captain Awesome’s touch and pulled out his phone again. He needed to do this now. He didn’t care that it was early or that he’d only seen Misha a few hours ago; he just needed to hear his voice.

He frowned when the phone started ringing in his ear and at the same time Misha’s familiar ringtone started coming from behind him.

Oh, no . . .

“Hello, Michael.”

For a moment he couldn’t breathe. He just stood there, phone clenched in his hand as all his muscles froze. This could not be happening. Seriously, this could not be happening. Of all the worst fucking luck.

Slowly he turned and, sure enough, Captain Awesome, fuck, Misha Collins, was still sitting on the bed with the phone pressed to his ear.

“Fuck me,” Michael muttered as he hung up.

“Maybe later,” Misha replied, with a wry smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

Michael just stared at him as Misha slowly removed his mask and dropped it onto the bed. His face was still streaked with soot from the fire.

“Fuck,” Michael cursed again. “So this was all one big joke? You were fucking screwing with me this whole time?”

He was trembling now. A mixture of rage and betrayal and confusion and even a bit of guilt because he’d spent years trying to kill a man he was now almost in love with.

“You know I wasn’t screwing with you,” Misha replied. “I didn’t even know it was you until the fire. Jensen told me while we were heading out there. It’s why I crashed. I wasn’t thinking straight.”

Michael couldn’t help but snort. “Well, I guess it’s reassuring to know that you’re not awesome at everything.”

“Just most things,” Misha agreed with a shrug.

Michael was about to jump down Misha’s throat for making a joke about it but his brain suddenly caught up with the conversation. “Wait, Jensen? Jensen Ackles is a superhero too?”

He thought about it for a moment longer and groaned. “The Cowboy and Gigantor. Man, I really am a dumbass!”

“No, you’re not,” Misha replied gently. “They’re called secret identities for a reason. Come on, you know how it works. Not even our families know what we do.”

Yeah, Michael knew how it worked. He still hated the fact that he had to lie to his mom and brother on a regular basis.

“So why are you telling me?” he asked cautiously. “You gonna kill me?”

He wasn’t afraid. When he’d become a superhero, he knew there was a risk. Captain Awesome was famous for not killing people, not even his enemies, but that didn’t mean some rabid fan wouldn’t do it for him.

“Of course I’m not going to kill you,” Misha sighed. “Haven’t you been listening to me? I want you to join us. Think of all the good we could do working together.”

Michael thought about it. He thought about it long and hard for approximately five seconds.

“I’m not going to be one of your minions.”

Misha smiled. “Of course not. We’ll be partners. In every sense if that’s what you want.”

Michael was surprised at exactly how much he wanted it, all of it.

“What about Super Size? I can’t just leave him to go off and join you guys. He’s like my best friend. In fact, for a long time he was my only friend.”

“Jensen needs a sidekick,” Misha replied so quickly Michael briefly wondered how long he’d been plotting this. “He says he doesn’t but I’m pretty sure your guy could convince him otherwise.”

“Yeah,” Michael chuckled, already imagining Tom cheering Jensen up with his smiles and eagerness to please. “He can be pretty persuasive.”

“So, you’ll come with me?”

Michael detected just the faintest hint of hesitation in Misha’s voice. He was actually worried Michael was going to say no. That just further convinced him he was making the right decision and he removed his own mask and tossed it onto the floor.

“You know, I really need to take a shower.”

Misha grinned at him. “Me too, and you know your first good deed could be conserving water by sharing with me.”

Michael beamed and pulled Misha into a kiss.

“That sounds awesome.”

The End.