Dating a Champion

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Six Million Dollar Man

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With At least Three tours of duty under his belt, Ryan Deterre had been allowed to head home after his military service. Mostly now because he was a superhero. Maybe he didn't wear spandex and parade himself on the streets, but he had a costume alright. And powers. Powers he worked rather hard to maintain. He stared at all the sights around him in Silver City. Why, he could have sworn he was in Los Angeles. Or New York!…Or Both. It was still pretty cool to see the town that would hold his future.

He'd bought himself an apartment too. The Feds working hard of course, to make sure he had no roommates. In fact, the building was a living area popular for spies, spec ops people, and other heroes. Some not discovering their place as heroes just yet. Others, very discreet about their work. He'd gotten his bags dropped off at his building. And now he could walk around, breath the air, and enjoy-

Oh shit.

Something bad was happening. And he had to act. There were sounds of gunfire nearby, and it sure sounded like someone needed help. Looking around, he disappeared in the blink of an eye, having broken the sound barrier right there and then, as he flew into the atmosphere, changing into his costume, and proceeding to come crashing back down, landing Iron Man Style, one fist in the ground and the other in the air, as he rose between a firefight between gangs, policemen stuck in the middle.

"Who the hell is this guy? Our backup?!"

"Yeah. I work directly for Uncle Sam. You may have heard of it. The Army, The Government…Y'get the idea."

"I suppose you had to stop by a phone booth before-"

BOOM! Went a car that had suddenly been struck by a grenade, as everyone suddenly stopped to see what happened.

"No. And also, No, I didn't take a moment to see a Wizard either. Call Me Saint Champion."

"Well, Champ…Got a plan?"

"I've got an even better idea: Keep your men down, and pass me one of your tear gas grenade launchers."

-

Ryan proceeded to load the single shot HK69 grenade launcher with one tear gas round, pocketing another spare grenade as he fired in the empty space between the cops and the first gang to the left, followed by his second grenade to the right side. Immediately, He started flying the policemen and SWAT officers out of danger, and putting the police vehicles formerly in the middle of the makeshift battlefield off to the sides to prevent the gang members from escaping in their cars, the tear gas clearing as both gangs pointed their guns at Ryan, and unloaded. Of course, like an alien from Krypton after soaking up the cosmic rays of the sun, The Bullets mostly bounced off of him.

"Maybe you fellas' haven't heard of me?" Chuckled Ryan, as he flew into the first gang, fist forward as he glided into their faces and knocked them out with his fist, and looking towards the men ahead. Now if only he had the vision, the breath…or maybe some magic lightning. That would have been nice too.

He began to walk towards them as they came charging to shoot him at closer range, or bludgeon him somehow. This would result in Ryan reaching into his jacket, and producing a flash grenade he gripped tightly in his fist, as he shut his eyes, and blinded everyone in the surrounding area, then using his sheer speed to pummel them all with some mean left and right hooks, as teeth flew all over the place.

-

News groups of various companies began to storm into the area to try and catch Saint Champion. Deciding he needed to get his name out to the public, he fixed his hair quickly, and put on a fine, toothy smile.

"Is it true you served in a recent campaign against an unknown terrorist group and advanced weapons' manufacturer?!"

"Are you really a Saint? We just got your name from SRN (Silver Rush News Network, featuring its popular reporter, Victoria Pierce) and it sounds strange to say the least."

"Do you have plans to make a comic book about yourself? Will it have some form of origin story? How about your identity? Secret, or open?"

"Eh…I suddenly feel swamped…I'll answer your question by…"

"Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe…" He mentally said to himself, as he looked around, before noticing a rather attractive Redhead… "You're Victoria Pierce, No? Let's go for a ride, shall we? I promise to bring you back to your parents' place at eleven~"

Ryan suddenly snatched the camera from Victoria's camera guy, and took her into his other arm, flying her towards a roof top...
 
After she was deposited onto the roof, Victoria quickly straightened her suit jacket and tugged at her skirt. The flight had been sudden and as unsettling as it was exhilarating. She needed a moment to compose herself as well as make sure she was camera ready. Camera. This guy had nabbed the camera from Jake! And that comment... just who did he think he was? She set her jaw and somehow managed to stalk back over to he caped wonder without tripping on the gravel under her high heels.

"I'll take that, thank you very much." She snapped, plucking the camera from his hand. He was taller than he looked from over there. Fiddling with the camera gave her time to think again; what was his name? Captain something? It had a 'C' in it... Saint Champion! This guy sure did have a rosy outlook on himself. She smirked at the thought, and saw the camera was on. And an idea began to form... at the very least, if the footage was no good there would be audio. She crossed her arms over her chest and cradled the camera in them carefully before turning back to Champion and announcing brusquely:

"And for your information I'm a grown woman. This sort of condescension isn't going to fly, so let's have a little mutual respect." She glowered at him. "And yes, it's Victoria Pierce, SRNN reporter. Saint Champion, right? I'm assuming you brought me up here for an exclusive so let's get down to brass tacks. Are you a citizen of Silver City? Are you of this world? Are you, in fact, paid by the government to perform single-man black ops against unnamed terrorist cells?!" She tried to catch her breath, realizing that her interviewee hadn't even had a chance to answer. She flushed at her own lack of professionalism, grateful that the camera wasn't on her. This could all be edited later, thank goodness. Tone it down, girl. Breathe.

Victoria tucked a stray tendril of fiery hair behind her ear, and let the tension out of her shoulders. She looked at Champion a little sheepishly and smiled.

"Er- Sorry. Really, my apologies. I was just a little overwhelmed there. Now you mentioned that you were on the government payroll..."

Her green eyes shone with the thrill of the chase. With any luck, this could go national.
 
"Well, I'm sorry then Ma'm. Well Vicky, I am in fact a citizen of Silver City, and in extension, Earth. I don't do much of the Black Ops, they have people for that. I'm literally paid just to be a superhero, help where needed, and when the U.S. Government or its allies have need of me. Fun facts about me include the fact I have no heat vision, cold breath, and that sort of thing, sorry. But I'm still getting new powers every now and then, so you never really know. The government is debating many things right now, one of which being whether or not to make my true identity public, since I'm a registered hero."

Saint Champion scratched his chin a moment, and looked out towards the distance.

"As for the unnamed terrorist cells, the one I fight the most is called A.G.E., Advanced Genetics Experimentation. Sorta like A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) From Marvel Comics, but with biology instead of technology."

Ryan couldn't help but admire the girl's features. Her hair really did show off her spirited nature, her green eyes like little emeralds, or better yet, Green Lantern Corps Power Rings. And she was also rather curious to know about him...

"I think that's really all I have to tell for now." Ryan told the woman. "Stay Victorious, Vicky. Be a champion."

And he took the reporter back into his arms, putting her back down where the other reporters weren't at. He waved goodbye, and zipped off into a corner, walking back out dressed again as Ryan Deterre, with a dark blue dress shirt, sleeves folded up to the elbows, black pants held up by a white leather belt and a real silver buckle, along with some shiny black shoes to go with all that, as he adjusted his dark brown hair… At 25 years of age, he was still ready to do many things with his life. And Saint Champion's.

And he saw Victoria where he'd left Victoria, immediately heading out to go find his way back to his apartment the calm, relaxed way. Thankfully the area he chose had a hidden off safe-house and a couple cars he could take, all compliments of Uncle Sam, and all his love for the special agents lying low. He drove out onto the street, passing by the lady he had just dropped off, taking one good stare at her while there was still a red light, and driving off...
 
As Saint Champion zipped away with a cheery wave over his shoulder, Victoria couldn't help but stare. She was a little dumbstruck, for once in her life speechless.

Did he mention Marvel comics?

He did.

Victoria shut the camera off and picked Jake out of the crowd, making her way back to the news truck where he was standing. When the cameraman saw her, he moved toward her excitedly, gingerly taking back his camera before accosting her with questions.

"Vic! Oh geeze, that was amazing! It was just like in Superman, y'know? So what's the deal with this guy? Where's he from? Did you guys have a hot superhero make-out session on the roof? Was it like Spiderman?!" The young cameraman was flush with excitement and gesturing wildly, barely containing his exuberant curiosity. She made her way back to the truck and began putting their equipment away.

"Jake. Stop nerding out and breathe for me, buddy. First and most important: no superhero makeouts." She rolled her eyes as Jake slumped slightly, looking a little disappointed. Not that this Champion guy was bad looking or anything, she had a thing for tall guys. But the way he acted was just a little infuriating; did he think this was the 60's or something? But then again, when he was just talking and didn't seem to be 'on' he seemed okay. Even nice in a goofy kind of way. She put an end to that line of thought immediately.

"Real life isn't like in the movies or comics or whatever, Jake. Just because the handsome hero sweeps the reporter off her feet and onto a rooftop doesn't mean they're destined or anything. But you guys would probably get along, he mentioned Marvel comics while I was interviewing him. It's on the playback." Victoria glanced up to see Jake watching her and then looking at the camera with reverence.

"You got it on camera?" He whispered.

"Yep." She grinned, her green eyes shining. "And let me know what he meant by that, too. I want to get a transcript and start checking the facts before we move to air this. If we can even air it. At the very least the information is great!" She laughed with excitement and Jake whooped triumphantly, grinning from ear to ear. He couldn't resist a parting shot, though: "Handsome hero, huh?" He chuckled as her face went as red as her hair, going to start the truck before she could recover from the shock and hit him.
 
The following day seemed rather dreary. No crime yet, seemingly enough. Ryan was at a local cafe. Specifically the one Vicky Pierce went to often. But he didn't know that, actually. He was aggressively following a story on some other news channel that came on one of the cafe televisions, detailing a secretive vigilante group that gave the warning that it would make itself known now that Saint Champion had appeared with his 'goody two shoes antics,' which was their name for his acts of never immediately killing criminals. Not like they did.

Ryan began to wonder just how bad these guys were. Could they themselves possess some superhuman powers as well? Their murders often ended in the strangest ways, effects that no ordinary means of killing could accomplish on its own. Maybe he was finally going to do battle with an enemy as dangerous as he was himself? If so, it was going to be an interesting match...
 
Victoria smiled and thanked the barista, dropping a tip into the jar by the register and taking her steaming cup of sweet caffeinated goodness with her over to one of the small tables. She set it down and busied herself setting up her laptop, blowing a tendril of red hair out of her face. With an annoyed little harumph, her quickly twisted the mass of red curls into a loose bun on top of her head and secured it with a pen. That'll teach her hair to pick on her this early.

Boy, was she ever useless without her coffee. She hoped that no one would recognize her like this, hair in an unruly birds nest on top of her head, no makeup, and wearing of all things a pair of yoga pants and an old t-shirt. Definitely less that polished and camera-ready but what was a girl to do; stay home and make her own coffee? Please.

Victoria leaned back in her chair, taking in the early morning report presently on the cafe television. This Saint Champion was really making a splash in a big way, with the city vigilantes getting up in arms about it. This could bear some looking into, her thoughts running in much the same vein as Ryan's. She sipped on the molten beverage, feeling its warmth course through her. Instantly energized, she cracked her knuckles and began tapping away at the keys.

After a while she looked up, sipping her rapidly cooling beverage and scanning the cafe since there was no NEW news running on the crawl. Hipster writer, hipster writer, student, cute guy, student, student...

Her eyes were drawn to the eye candy. If she was on a diet and not having a pastry, she might was well take in a little something sweet. Just turn around a little bit, big fella. Score!

He looked military; dark haired, tall, classically handsome features. She watched him discretely over her steaming cup, a little smile playing over her lips. And strangely familiar. Maybe it was at one of the endless functions she was forced to go to through work. She shook herself from her reverie and set her coffee back down, going back to her research and hoping he might not notice her while she was there in super slob mode.

Why did she leave the house like this again? Ugh, way to plan, Pierce.
 
Ryan noticed the look on the lady's face. It was none other than a bedraggled Victoria Pierce. And she looked very natural this way. He saw the seat across from her was empty, and sat down, a small smile provided as he put his cup down. He mentally compared the suit wearing lady that was demanding answers the other day with the sleepy looking girl in the pants that defined her rear area perfectly. Next to her hair and eyes, he could no longer forget that one important area. What? He may be a superhero, but he wasn't a complete boy scout.

"Not everyday I see one of Silver City's top reporters in a more casual environment. I'm Ryan Deterre, and I just got back from some war over something both sides want but I really don't care about. If I seem odd to you, Its cause I haven't had much conversation with an actual human being until now, the last time being…when I was a cadet in boot camp or something. But enough about me…I hear you were with that Spade Captain or something? Are you guys together or anything?…I'd be jealous. And if you get exclusives like that, you must know plenty about how things are these days. Believe it or not, I just bought a smartphone. Still have trouble using it. "
 
Almost as soon as she had finished the thought, the handsome stranger turned to look at her. Crap.

And then he walked over and took a seat at her table. Double crap!

While he was introducing himself, Victoria tried to discretely tame her hair and hide her blushing face a little. At least if her face was red the freckles wouldn't be as noticeable, she told herself sarcastically. Just her luck that this guy- the ONE good looking guy in the place- should notice her looking like THIS, and know who she is. It was going to be one of those kinds of days. Realizing that there was no fixing her appearance now, she relaxed and just went with it, casually propping her cheek on her hand in order to hide the fact that she was trying to hide her face in the first place. To anyone watching, this amount of fluster would have been highly amusing.

"Yeah, well even TV personalities have to have a cup of coffee in their PJs every now and then." She grinned.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ryan. I had you pegged for military from this far away. And you look so familiar, too. Did we meet at a press function before?"

Her smile began to fade a little as the conversation turned to Champion. Victoria supposed that everyone saw the report of him flying her off to the roof. Even her mother had called. With questions irritatingly close to what Ryan was asking now. She crossed her arms over her chest and answered tersely: "No, he and I are NOT involved in any way. And I'd say that I'm pretty well informed since I work at a news network." She sighed inwardly, feeling instantly regretful of her tone.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that. Just... everyone's been asking that and it's getting a little old." She smiled apologetically, and sipped her coffee.

"So, you didn't talk to anyone during your military service? No one at all, or just women? Must have been something pretty crazy if you were solo all the time, right? Am I allowed to ask what it was, off the record, or would you have to kill me?" She chuckled. "Sorry if I'm being nosy, it's just sort of my nature. And while I'm at it, how did you guess at the exclusive with our caped crusader? It hasn't aired yet."
 
"I talked to people alright. Most of them were just good friends, some nuttier than others. But we were too busy loading our rifles and marching through towns giving out chocolate bars and bubble gum out to kids that greeted us. As for the press functions? I suppose you could say I was at one before…Just the one. But I'm sure I'll be at more. I was asking whether or not you knew Saint Champion that way because I've always wanted to ask you out myself, not in that creepy stalker way though. I just see you on the news, and my heart throbs a little. I'm totally cool with you looking so casual. Assures me you're not a high and mighty queen I don't have the power to talk to. If I'm right that is?…"

Ryan took a long gulp of his coffee, hoping to hear her response as he drank. He just felt too nervous as he looked at her. He did like her a bit, but at the same time, it was painfully obvious about his secret identity. He didn't wear a mask like some other people, so eventually, seeing himself more often and the champion, there'd be one hell of an explanation."

"If I might ask, just how familiar am I?" He asked her suddenly. "I mean, from the tone of voice, it sounds like you met me just yesterday. Then again, maybe it was just such a memorable event, it felt like it happened a short time ago?…"

He put an emphasis on yesterday, hoping to see if she would make any connections.

"Just an observation…We soldiers are very…observant. Keeps us from getting shot by enemy snipers…on rooftops."
 
Victoria stared at Ryan for a full minute, unblinking. Her primary thought: that she was an idiot and not at all fit for journalism.

"You're..." she whispered.

She stood up suddenly, sending her chair clattering to the floor as she slammed both her hands onto the small cafe table, drawing the shocked and disapproving looks of the other cafe patrons. Catching herself before she blurted out something damaging, she muttered something about a cramp in her leg and went about setting her chair upright and settling back into it. She leaned over the table conspiratorially, her green eyes narrowed and her fiery hair escaping its bun in wavy tendrils around her face.

"You're him. You're that Champion guy! Ugh! Stupid... how did I not see that? It all makes sense now." she hissed, before slumping back in her chair with a groan. "Every single time..." Those piercing green eyes were on him again.

"So, what are you doing telling me about this?"
 
"I wanted to see if you were Smart, or Lois Lane. Thankfully you're smart." He whispered back with a smirk. "I figured you were an honest little lady who told the news no matter how big, or how bad it'd sound, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I like that about you. And…well…I was wondering if you wanted me to help you bump up your career a little? In exchange for a date. Its a pathetic way to ask a girl out, I know, I'd be pissed about now if I were you, but you seem like nice woman like that, so…."

Ryan watched and waited for her response. He just told Victoria he was the superhero she met up with the other day, and now that he legitimately liked her, and was offering her a chance to move on up in the world of journalism by covering the Saint Champion stories for SRNN. He sipped away at his coffee, hoping she'd say yes, but knew the answer was most likely no.

"Well? Do you want to date the guy who could get your coffee to you in a matter of seconds every morning, either from here, or fresh from costa rica in mere moments? The guy who gets paid to make stupid quips to the public? I know I wouldn't. Would you?"
 
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