It's a bird, it's a plane, it's [redacted].

Life wasn’t easy for Tuck; when you have to keep the biggest secret from the people you love most, it never is. He didn’t know exactly how it happened. All he knew was that he got bitten by what he thought was a mosquito at a frat party he didn’t even want to be at and passed out. When he woke up everything was different, like reality had shifted somehow. He didn’t see a difference—he wasn’t automatically muscular nor were his glasses rendered useless. But something felt new on a molecular level.

Then, when he and his little brother Henry were wrestling and he caught the trophy that was falling off the shelf before he even realized he was doing it, he knew something strange was occurring. Luckily, Henry’s simple mind thought it was just a crazy coincidence and his brother’s reflexes just decided to work overtime. He didn’t know about Tuck’s hands denting the floor as he was doing push-ups. Or his bed breaking underneath the weight of him tossing and turning at night. A deep dive on the internet left Tuck empty-handed. He was always an agile and strong guy but nothing compared to this bull-in-a-china-shop behavior.

He was beginning to feel as if he’d lost his mind until a man pulled him down an alleyway one night. He began to fight but the man seemed just as strong as him. The man was in his early forties, his face showing signs of time but kindness, as well. His name was Johnny and he had been in Tuck’s position once. He calmed Tuck down and began to explain. The part of Tuck’s brain that set off alarm bells for men in alleys had shut off. This man knew what no one else did and Tuck needed to hear what he had to say. “You’re a superhero, Tuck. [Redacted], to be precise.”

Tuck couldn’t believe it. “There’s no way.”

“There is, and you are.” Johnny deadpanned. “I understand that it’s a lot to take in but it’ll come more naturally as we go along. I’ll be here to help you, of course.”

No words came to Tuck. What could he say? At least it was an explanation for the things that have been happening, even if it wasn’t the one he wanted.

“Meet me here tomorrow night, same time. We’ll start your training—speed, strength, accuracy, the works.” Johnny began to walk away then stopped short. “Oh, and I almost forgot.” He opened up the bag he was carrying and tossed a ball of material at Tuck. “Your suit, [redacted].” And with a wink, he was gone. Tuck unfurled the ball and there, wrinkled but still majestic, was the famous blue suit.

He met with Johnny for the next two months—in alleyways and warehouses—never daring to tell a soul about what was really going on. It crushed him to lie. But it was finally the day for him to debut himself to the city, and he wasn’t gonna let anything bring him down.

After rescuing a woman from a wrecked car, stopping a runaway stroller, and single-handedly taking down a purse thief, Tuck was the talk of the town. Or rather, [redacted] was.

“Look at him go, man! How sick is that?” Henry played a video showing the hero jumping between buildings before disappearing out of sight.

Tuck feigned an impressed look at his own doings. “Yeah, it’s pretty sick.” Not saying thank you to the compliments that ‘he’ was receiving was weird. But Tuck was determined to keep the lives separate.

For the next month it was just a small fire here, a gang fight there. Scary stuff, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Until one night, when he swung by a young woman pressed against a wall by a much-larger-than-her man. Even from up in the air Tuck could see the glint of the knife the man held in his hand. He dropped down and announced his presence.

“Hey, buddy, I don’t think she wants to play,” he teased in his overdramatized [redacted] voice. Johnny had advised him to play up his voice, and Tuck took the advice in stride. The man turned around quickly, revealing the girl to Tuck for the first time. His heart dropped to his stomach as he recognized her as his friend, Maggie. Tuck knew she had been out late and had sent her a text earlier that night asking her to please get home safely—a warning she didn’t heed. She chose to walk in the sketchiest part of town in the dead of night.

Tuck always had a thing for Maggie. They shared a friend group, and she caught his eye from the moment they met. But ever since the two of them happened to be paired together on the ferris wheel at the carnival, he looked at her in a different light. The setting sun made her glow and her hand wrapped around his as she forced herself not to look down. Ferris wheels were famous for their ability to make one fall in love.

Every crime and every person saved had felt personal to Tuck thus far—he took his new role very seriously—but this one took the cake. Seeing the fear in Maggie’s eyes turn to hope as she saw [redacted] made Tuck’s heart leap.

“Back off. What, you think I’m above stabbing a superhero?” the sleazy man mocked. Though he was way bigger than Maggie, he had nothing on Tuck who towered over his frame.

“Stab me with what?” Tuck asked. Before the man could even take a breath to answer, Tuck swiped the knife and chucked it far down the alley.

The man gulped as Tuck stared him down. “Hey, listen man, I didn’t mean—”

Tuck cut him off with a laugh. This was his favorite part, when the criminals tried to reason with him after he rendered them defenseless. “Yeah, yeah. How about you scram before—” Suddenly, another man came lunging at Tuck from the shadows of the night, knocking him flat on the pavement. The new challenger was shorter than the previous but he was...stocky to put it nicely. The denseness of him was tough for Tuck to handle. But he was still no match for Tuck’s super strength. The first man swung at Tuck who grabbed his hand and twisted, not hard enough to break anything but hard enough that the man wouldn’t be using that hand for the rest of the scuffle. The burly man was now seconds away from wrapping his slimy sausage fingers around Maggie’s wrist. Tuck swung a solid fist at him and pulled the man toward him with all his might, sliding him right into Tuck’s awaiting elbow and rendering him unconscious.

Tuck had sent a signal to the police the moment he saw the situation between the man and woman, and he could finally hear their sirens close by. He turned his attention back to the scrawny man who was cradling his arm. With one swift shove, the man was slammed against the brick wall. The man struggled to right himself as the police lights came into view but it was no use. [redacted] had won again. He scooped Maggie up, one arm tightly around her waist, as he hoisted them into the night sky. Tuck landed atop a building that wasn’t too tall; he could jump a mean jump but not exactly fly.

“You saved me.”

Tuck scratched at the back of his neck. “Yeah, I suppose I did...sorry for just whisking you away like that. Although I do all their work, the police aren’t very fond of me. But I have to call them so goons like those guys can get locked away,” he rambled. “I hope this building isn’t too tall, I know you’re afraid of heights.” He was so lucky she was still running off adrenaline. He corrected, “I mean, you probably are, might be. Most people are.” This was the hard part, the pretending. Pretending he hadn’t known since the fateful ferris wheel night that she was beyond scared of any kind of heights.

She nodded. “I think I’m okay. Thank you so much. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t come and saved me. My friend told me to be careful but I’m a little reckless and a little...dumb, I guess.”

Maggie mentioned him. Well, not by name, but she brought him up to [redacted]. He was the friend of whom she spoke. The simple gesture made Tuck’s heart beat ever so slightly faster, making him feel like the dumb one. “You aren’t dumb,” he defended. “And no problem, it’s what I’m here for.”

She looked him over. “Well, [redacted], do you suppose you could give me a ride home? Or a fly home, I guess?”

Tuck laughed quietly. That was the one thing he hadn’t gotten very good at disguising. “Of course. Just tell me where to land.”

Maggie came over the next day, dying to tell Tuck and Hen about her [redacted] experience. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Henry exclaimed.

She shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, I’m a little shaken up but the guy couldn’t even do anything before [redacted] swooped in and kicked his butt!” she exclaimed, doing hand motions as she shared the story. “Then, this big, husky dude came out of nowhere and [redacted] kicked his butt, too! Then, he picked me up and we were soaring through the air, it was crazy!”

Henry groaned in excitement and a smidge of jealousy. “I bet he was so cool! What kind of moves did he do?”

“Well, he elbowed the big guy in the face and then smashed the other guy into the wall. It was pretty cool. And he did that thing where you’re on the ground and you, like, pop yourself up?”

“A kip up?” Tuck offered.

She pointed. “Yes, a kip up. He was like crazy strong, he took the guy's knife and threw it and was all like, ‘what knife?’,” she said, emulating [redacted]’s voice, making Tuck suppress a smile. “It was kind of funny, actually.”

“I can’t believe he’s really real. Like, I knew he was but someone that I know met [redacted].”

“That’s super cool, Maggie. And I’m glad you’re okay,” Tuck chimed in.

Maggie scrunched up her nose. “You haven’t been very chatty, T. What, you aren’t a [redacted] fan?” Hard to be a big fan of yourself.

Henry scoffed, “Of course not. Tuck doesn’t like anything cool.” Tuck smacked his brother on the back of the head, trying to be gentle. Don’t channel that pesky bull. Butterfly, channel your inner butterfly.

Then he shrugged at Maggie. “[redacted]’s alright.”

Her jaw dropped. “Tuck, he’s more than alright. There’s a reason the news calls him ‘The Astounding [redacted]’ and not ‘The Alright [redacted]’.”

Tuck held back a snicker. “Sounds like it.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Well, I love him.” Tuck’s heart sped up. It was then that Tuck wondered, was it normal to be jealous of...yourself? Where did he end and the superhero begin?

On a rare day when the city was slow, Tuck decided it might be okay to hang out with his friends for once. He’d been neglecting everything else in exchange for the duties of [redacted]. Everyone decided on a movie night at Tuck and Henry’s. When Tuck got back from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn, Maggie flagged him to sit next to her, fitting himself snuggly into the space between her and the arm of the couch. The group (mainly Henry) decided on watching a free soloing documentary. As the documentary got intense, Tuck felt Maggie hiding her face in his shoulder.

“Can you imagine just being up there, hanging on with no ropes?” she whispered in his ear. Tuck’s mind automatically flashed to him scaling skyscrapers as [redacted]—once with her, no less—and he wanted to laugh.

But instead he shook his head and pulled her closer. “No way.”

The documentary ended and everyone slowly piled out. Henry stepped out, leaving Maggie and Tuck by themselves.

“Tonight was really fun.” When Tuck turned to Maggie she was looking up at him with her doe eyes and Tuck knew it was time. He was gonna kiss her. How a superhero could feel so small he didn’t know.

“Yeah, I mean, as fun as watching a documentary can be,” he laughed nervously.

Maggie shrugged. “Anything’s fun with you.” Tuck’s palms were sweaty. He grabbed her hand before she could use it to open the door. Maggie looked up at him expectedly.

“Um…anything is fun with you, too.” He gulped. “And, um, I’m really glad [redacted] was there to help you…no matter how I feel about him,” he teased.

Maggie thankfully was charmed by his awkwardness. “Glad you think so.” Before Tuck could even beat himself for being so stupid, Maggie reached up and caressed his cheek before placing a small kiss there. Henry walked in right then, killing the moment for good.

One late night—or early morning—Tuck had finished his duties and sat on a rooftop stargazing. It was something he did every once in a while to make him feel normal again between saving lives. However, this time, he made a big mistake. The rooftop he was on was next to a building of a big time company, whose CEO’s son had a habit of throwing rooftop parties and tonight he certainly was.

“Hey!” Tuck automatically flinched and searched for the sound, shielding his face. He had taken his mask off so he could breathe. “[redacted]?”

“Bro, it’s [redacted] without his mask.” The boys began to pull out their phones, probably to try to record Tuck, but he didn’t stick around to find out. He jumped quickly over the adjacent buildings until he assumed he was out of sight. He stopped to catch his breath until he heard the sound of a machine whirring to life. Unfortunately, the spoiled rich kid had access to a helicopter. Tuck saw the spotlight approaching and could still hear the boy and his friends shouting.

To make matters worse, it started to rain. His hands and feet began to slip as he scaled the next building. As he reached the top, he shrugged off his suit as quickly as he could and looked around for somewhere to hide. Then, he realized—he was on top of Maggie’s building. How lucky was that? Not as lucky as he thought in a moment of desperation. He crawled down to the fire escape and crept quietly into her room through her unlocked window. He would have to reprimand her later for leaving it unlocked, but it worked in his favor for now.

He thought he was in the clear until he heard Maggie tossing in her bed. He turned and met her half-shut eyes. “Shit.”

“T?” she asked sleepily.

He swallowed hard, one shaky hand concealing his suit behind his back. “Yeah, it’s me.” Tuck could hear the sound of the helicopter getting farther and farther away.

“What’s going on?” She stood, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“I just thought I would stop by…” She looked at him incredulously. “And use the window...at 2am.” More staring. “It’s raining out there by the way.”

“Tuck, what are you doing in my room soaking wet at 2am?” Her tone demanded an answer. He just kept running a hand through his rain-soaked hair.

“Um, I’m...I’m [redacted].” He decided to just come right out with it. He had no other explanation that wouldn’t make him sound like a creep, right?

Maggie’s eyes were wide. “Okay, so, you’re insane. I’m just gonna call Henry.”

“Maggie.” She saw the serious look in his eye.

She let out a stiff laugh, one of slow-growing belief. “Shut up.”

He laughed, too, nervous. “I wish I could.” Tuck pulled the drenched suit out from behind his back, dropping it to the floor with a plunk.

“Tuck, tell me you’re joking.”

He shook his head. “How do you think [redacted] knew you were afraid of heights?”

Recognition flickered in her eyes.

“T,” she whispered. “You saved my life.” He nodded as she looked down at the suit. “Oh my gosh, I went on and on about how much I love you.” Maggie’s hands covered her face in embarrassment.

Tuck grinned. “Thanks, by the way. I’m quite fond of you, too,” he admitted.

She finally looked him in the eye. “As [redacted] or as Tuck?”

“Both.”