Catalyst

Logan could hardly believe their good luck.

After all of these years, they’d finally done it. Vesper Cross, also known as the unbeatable superhero Spark, was at their mercy.

She was currently chained to a support beam in this old observatory. The chains were non-conductive, obviously, and therefore able to resist her electricity-summoning powers. Logan was quite proud of that. Never mind that any middle schooler could have constructed them.

All that mattered now was Logan’s revenge.

They added the last few calibrations to their super computer, a large touchscreen monitor that took up a good third of their workstation. That is, if you can call a folding plastic table a workstation. The rest of it was littered with maps, equation papers and the odd takeout box.

Shit. They’d forgotten about the boxes. Logan quickly scooped up the pizza box and styrofoam containers, searching for a place to dump them. There was no way in hell they were going to let Vesper see those. That’s what had gotten them in this whole damn mess to begin with.

It had been their first meeting, almost three years ago. Spark had become a new hero in town, and Logan, known as the time-warping Specter, was eager to test her out.

All it had taken was a little flex of their power here and there, just enough to cause trouble, and they’d left enough of a trace to lead her here, to the observatory. Logan’s home turf, their evil lair, if you will. As soon as the air crackled with her nervous energy, Logan had readied themselves for the grand entrance.

It was a well known fact that PR won just as many battles as soldiers, and if they could get this first encounter right, it could change the odds in their favor. So, Logan straightened the collar on their suit, turned around and-

Fumbled.

Just like that. They’d screwed up right out of the damn gate. Tripped over the customary “I’ve been expecting you”, like they were a newbie.

But she was stunning. Warm, dark skin, long black braids sparking like severed electrical wires. And eyes that were completely golden, like twin suns blazing in unison. Logan had felt their jaw start to drop, their mouth turn dry. Vesper had caught them completely off guard.

Which was embarrassing. And awkward and just plain stupid, Logan reasoned. Not to mention completely unacceptable. So they hit the rewind and tried again. And again. And again.

Each time, they’d fucked it up somehow. Tripping over their carefully rehearsed speech, or in some cases, their own feet. On the fifth try, they shoved their hands into their hair, groaning at the blush of embarrassment flooding over their pale face.

“Keep going. You’re doing a great job.” A voice had said, causing their head to shoot up and stare at Vesper, who was grinning at them smugly. Logan started running calculations in their head, trying to figure out how-

“It’s the whole electricity thing. Make me immune to time warps, I guess.” She explained, leaning against a support beam so casually, as if this were an everyday occurrence. Vesper waved a hand towards them, still smiling in that alluring mocking way of hers. “But please continue. It’s so cute the way you try.”

That had been the beginning of their rivalry. Logan had thrown every obstacle they could at her since, only to Vesper to maneuver around or through them in some unexpected way. No monologue, no matter how detailed or threatening, seemed to distract her. In fact, she acted like she enjoyed them. Flirtatious banter was a norm for the two of them. But thing had gotten far more tense in recent months, the banter turning into something practically... genuine.

“It’s such a shame, you know.” Vesper had commented the last time around, after she’d won yet again in the game of cat and mouse. Tightening the restraints around their ankles, just before leaving them in front of the police station. She’d caught their eyes, her iridescent suns opposite a pair of pale gray asteroids.

“With a mind as brilliant as yours, you could be creating such wonderful things instead of causing mayhem. I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Specter.” The words had come out so earnest that Logan’s voice evaporated, confused by this strange hero, practically on her knees before them and speaking with such affection in her voice. She’d stood up then, taking a moment to brush plain brown hair of their eyes. “You’d be a terrible waste to the world rotting.” And with that, Vesper had left them there.

It had taken weeks for them to shake off the longing? heartache? confusion and settle firmly into fury. She was probably trying to manipulate them into making some horrid mistake, but that wasn’t going to happen. Not this time.

They finally shoved the takeout boxes behind a few crates and returned in time to see Vesper come to consciousness. Her head slowly rising, eyes fluttering open like a sleeping princess from some fairytale.

“Wha- what the fuck?” Alright, definitely not a princess. She flexed against the chains, wrestling with them for a moment before scanning the room, eyes landing on Logan.

“Glad to see you’re finally awake. Now the final phase of my plan can begin.” They recited, having practiced for at least ten minutes before deciding on the perfect way to phrase their intentions.

“Specter? What are you doing? What the hell is going on?” She sounded so concerned, but Logan swallowed down any feelings of guilt.

“I bet you honestly thought you’d gotten rid of me, didn’t you, Vesper?” Her face went from concern to shock in a split second. A smile grew across Logan’s lips at her reaction. “Yes, I know who you are under that mask. I’ve known for a while. I was simply waiting for the perfect time to use it.”

Logan turned to their computer and pulled up a program, the window displaying a map of the city. They began entering in an activation code while still casually talking to their soon-to-be victim.

“Originally, I planned to use this program to search for life forms on other planets. But you just had to try and manipulate me, didn’t you? Couldn’t let me continue with my galactic research, just had to interfere. Well, don’t you worry your little head over me. I’ll not bother you with my monologues tonight.”

“Specter, what are you doing?” Vesper repeated slowly, the trepidation returning to her voice. Guilt and regret rose in Logan’s esophagus like bile, but they shoved it down again. Instead, they turned back to her and forced a tight smile.

“Enacting my revenge.” They gestured to the map on the screen. “This program was designed to target life forms with similar DNA, but I made a few tweaks after that stunt you pulled. Now, it targets any life form you have formed strong attachments to. In short, I press this,” Logan’s gloved fingers moved to float over a large blue button onscreen, “and I will know the exact coordinates of those you love.”

Vesper’s eyes widened, the usual golden fire that usually consumed them fading to an equally mesmerizing hazel color.

“Specter. Please, don’t do this.” She struggled against the chains again, trying to conjure enough electricity to melt the restraints. But by the time they broke, it would be too late.

Logan fought against the urge to turn away from her and pressed the button.

The program began to emit a beeping sound as it searched out it’s quarry. Within seconds, a mechanical voice said, “Target acquired.“ Logan glanced back at the screen to take in the glorious moment they finally got the upper hand and-

That couldn’t be right. They flashed their gray gaze from Vesper to the screen to Vesper again. It... It didn’t make any sense. Why would she- how could it even be possible?

“Target acquired.” The voice croaked again, flashing Logan’s coordinates across the screen. They should know, because they ran a test before Vesper had even gotten here. But how? Why?

“I didn‘t want you to find out like this.” She groaned, letting her head fall against the support beam. Logan was still baffled.

“But... why me? What about your parents or boyfriend or-“ She cut them off with another groan.

“Seriously? You think I’m straight? That’s a bit disappointing.” With a final spark and flex, the chains fell to the ground in a half melted heap. Rubbing her wrists, Vesper walked over to them, still not looking them in the eye.

“My parents kicked me out because I’m bi. It’s only been a couple weeks, but I don’t exactly have a lot of love for someone who’d do that to their child.” A black bubble of anger started to form in Logan’s gut. They knew how rough the world was to people who were different like them. And it made them want to find and burn any who tried that shit on her.

“As for why I like you,” Vesper continue, snapping their attention back to the subject at hand, “I don’t know. I mean, you’re cute and brilliant and so passionate about space, and we flirt constantly when we fight which is just a little bit hot, so...” She pushed past her braids to rub at her neck, blushing behind the mask.

“Oh.” The embarrassment flooded through Logan at light speed. “You weren’t trying to manipulate my feelings into being a good guy?”

“No! That experiment was just really dangerous and I didn’t want you getting hurt!”

“Oh.” Vesper let her mouth quirk up into a little smirk.

“You already said that, genius.”

”I know that, it’s just....” Logan clenched their fists. They had a chance, an open window, right here in this second. Were they going to go for it? Or let the possible future drift into the cosmos?

Their gloved hand found another, weaving their fingers between her own.

“I like you.” Vesper squeezed their hand, smiling in that alluring way of hers.

“I like you more, Specter.”

“I highly doubt that. And... it’s Logan. Logan Topolinski.” A weight lifted off their form, letting them smile back at Vesper for the first time all night.

“Logan. I like that name.”

A pause drifted between them, easy and comfortable.

“Are those takeout boxes in the corner?”

Shit.