I Fell For My Nemesis

Keith wanted to do something for Frostine but had a hard time thinking of anything. He knew so little about her. The only solid thing he had was that macaroni was her favorite food. Maybe he could bring her some the next time he saw her. That macaroni in a cone place was surprisingly good.

He wasn't able to put his plan into action until the weekend after he finished his first day of volunteer firefighter training. He saw her handling a minor situation on her own and figured he would be able to get away with not helping to go get her food instead.

The owner of the food stand seemed both surprised and pleased to see him again and when he said he was bringing some to Frostine he insisted on giving both cones away for free. All of the free food was a definite perk he would miss about being a hero.

When Keith found her again she was in the middle of another fight. He blasted the villain into a wall, effectively knocking them out, and grinned at her.

"Special delivery for my favorite hero!"

Frostine rewarded him with a laugh as she spotted the food bag in his hands. "Are you saying you like me better than yourself? You're a hero too."

He shrugged. "Eh, who doesn't? Here. Eat it before it gets cold."

She raised an eyebrow at his self-deprecation but when she opened the bag she looked rather touched. "You went out of your way to get me macaroni in a cone? That place is pretty far from here."

"You said macaroni was your favorite food and you seemed like you needed cheering up the other day."

"No one has ever done anything like this for me before. Thank you!"

No one? Seriously? Frostine had said never had anyone who had her back before but that was too sad. Most people still received random acts of kindness from others at some point in their lives.

Her eyes were shining and she beamed at him before digging into her macaroni cone. His heart momentarily stopped. For a moment there she looked a lot like Joss.

Stupid. Why was Keith seeing similarities everywhere lately? Frostine couldn't possibly be Joss. Why would a therapist bother becoming a superhero? Wasn't having one job dealing with helping people enough? How would she even have managed being a hero and going to college, let alone grad school, at the same time?

He needed to snap himself out of it. Worrying about his budding feelings for Joss was hard enough without factoring anything else into the mix. Frostine was a completely different person.

He was probably thinking like this because he missed Joss. He had only seen her for a couple of minutes today because the takeout orders at the restaurant were unusually backed up.

That wouldn't be a problem for much longer because the two of them were going out to celebrate on Monday. He was really looking forward to it. She always managed to surprise him when the two of them had more time together to talk.

"You're a good friend, Delta," Frostine said, shaking him out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized she had finished her food. "Your best friend is very lucky to have you."

Was she? Had Keith done anything for Joss at all? He supposed he made her laugh and that wasn't something that happened often according to her coworker. That didn't feel the same as all she had been doing for him lately though.

"It would be nice if she thought so," he said more despairingly than he would have liked.

"I'm sure she does. Come on, we should talk to the police."

Sure enough, they had arrived. After briefly explaining the situation and handing over the still unconscious villain they headed out to find something else to do.

They worked in tandem as always but Keith was having trouble focusing. If he was going to be like this he really should go home before he almost got hit by another flying car or worse. But he only had so much time left with Frostine and didn't want to waste any of it.

Since when had he started thinking like that? He used to think of her as such a drag. Hardly gave her a passing thought when he wasn't on hero duty. Too many things had been throwing him off lately.

He needed to crack down and focus on both his hero work and his volunteer firefighter training. He found his mind wandering the next day when he was supposed to be watching a training video and had to snap himself out of it.

His future was far more important than whatever confusion he was having revolving around the only two friends he had. He couldn't do this. Not now!

Keith knew this but he still struggled all the way to Monday. When he saw Joss at lunchtime she smiled warmly at him and told him she was looking forward to tonight and he nearly had a heart attack.

Why? Why did she have to look so cute when she said that?

He wouldn't have described her as cute before. She was far too elegant for that. The only times he ever saw her she was wearing professional clothes and her behavior was always so composed. Beautiful was a better word to describe her but in that moment he couldn't think of anything but cute because of how happy she looked at the thought of spending time with him.

Keith barely made it through the rest of the day in a daze. At the end of his shift he rinsed himself off with his powers before changing out of his uniform. He was all sweaty and gross from being in the kitchen.

He grabbed his backpack with his damp uniform in it and headed out to meet Joss at the subway station like before. She stood there looking deep in thought again—a common occurrence lately—before spotting him and smiling.

"Are you going to tell me before we get there this time or is it another surprise?"

"I'm taking you to my favorite restaurant in all of New York City," Keith announced dramatically. "I can't think of anywhere better to celebrate."

"Is it a burger place? You mentioned that was your favorite food," Joss said, surprising him.

She had a good memory. He hadn't expected her to figure that out.

"Yes, but not just any burger place. The best kept secret in Queens. I found it ages ago and have been going regularly ever since."

"You get out to Queens often?" Joss asked curiously.

Ah. Keith hadn't thought about how he would explain that. Why would his favorite restaurant be out in Queens when he lived and worked in Brooklyn? He traveled all over the five boroughs on an almost daily basis as Delta but a normal person wouldn't do that.

"I have some business out that way. Whenever I'm in the area I have to stop there," he said lamely.

Thankfully, she didn't push it. "Cool."

They headed on the train out to that tavern he liked and the owner noticed him right away when they walked in. "Keith! Good to see you. You want your usual?"

"Yeah, but we still need a menu for my friend here."

His eyes widened for a moment and he smiled widely in welcome at Joss. "Only the best for Keith's friend! I'll give you two the best table in the house and get a menu to you right away. Tony!"

One of the men behind the bar nodded at him and bent down to get a menu before gesturing for Keith and Joss to follow him. This really was the best table in the house. Normally, Keith sat at the bar because he was alone.

"You really do come here a lot," Joss remarked as she looked around after Tony left to get them drinks.

"Mostly they remember me because I order the same thing every time."

That wasn't entirely true. He ordered the same thing every time and always came in at odd hours. He was pretty sure the latter was what made him more memorable to the staff. When he was here as Delta he had an entirely different order to deflect suspicion. It was hard to pick a favorite between the two. He came in costume or out depending on what he was in the mood for.

"I don't go anywhere consistently enough for the staff to remember me…discounting you," Joss said with a laugh.

Keith grinned at her. "Yeah, we're sort of a weird case. Are you finally going to shake it up and try new restaurants again once I quit my job?"

"Probably. I'll never find such a great delivery man anywhere else though."

It wasn't really much of a compliment but still warmed him from head to toe because she was the one saying it. That was how this had all started out. Ordering food from the same place multiple times then her finding him again by chance and deciding to stick with him rather than have variety in her diet.

That was what made them friends in the first place.. And now…now as he stared at her smiling at him across the table he desperately wished they could be more.