Hero - Chapter 3

A month or two passed, Cash wasn’t really sure.  His stalker was behind bars, and thus, his involvement with the Plumbers was pretty much over.  He hadn’t seen Gwen since that night, and he’d done his part in keeping her secret.

But his work with Gwen was far from over.

A knock on his office door was the beginning of it all.  “Come in,” he called, and his secretary poked her head through the door.

“A Miss Tennyson to see you, Mr. Murray,” she said, and she opened the door wider to reveal a very defeated looking Gwen.  Her demeanor was sad to behold, as though she wanted to cry right then but was holding it in with an air of dignity.

“Let her in, Catherine,” Cash said, standing up, concerned.  His secretary let Gwen in and shut the door behind her, leaving Gwen and Cash alone in the office.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.  “I haven’t seen you in…what is it…two months now?  Don’t tell me I’ve got another stalker.”

Gwen was silent, but she took a shaky breath in.  “I need your help.”

“What?  Want to give you relationship counseling with your oh-so-steady boyfriend?” he asked cruelly.  He couldn’t help it – when he was hurt, he got mean.

“I’m pregnant.”

Cash stopped, eyes wide, mouth slightly open.  He blinked once or twice, unable to believe it.  Gwen collapsed into a chair and held her head in her hands – Cash realized this was serious.

“Gwendolyn, I—“

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she murmured, running her fingers through her hair.  “Nobody but you knows it happened.”

“So that time in the alleyway…”

“Yeah, that time,” she muttered, closing her eyes and shaking her head.  “I’m so stupid!  How could I have let this happen?”

Cash wanted to know the same thing, but decided being supportive was the right approach.  “What do you need my help with?  I’ve been keeping my mouth shut like you asked—“

“I don’t want to abort it,” she finally spat out, feeling her abdomen.  “I don’t think I could.  B-but…but what am I gonna tell people?  That I’m still sleeping with Kevin?  That the man who betrayed me and everyone else is the father of my child?”

Cash realized her problem.  If she told her Plumber friends the truth, she’d been seen as nothing short of a traitor – playing around with Kevin Levin while their officers were being killed by his associates.

Gwen continued to sit in the chair, looking as though she might cry any second.  Cash narrowed his eyes.  Where was Kevin now?  Typical – when things got tough, he ran off and left Cash with the hard load.  Kevin came around when he felt like it, left when it was convenient for him.  But that wasn’t Cash’s fault.  What was he supposed to do about this?

Then again, hadn’t he wanted to take Gwen away from Kevin?  To break the two of them up once and for all?  To prove to Gwen that he was the worthwhile man between the two of them?  What he really wanted was to beat Kevin.  But what could he be to Gwen that Kevin possibly couldn’t?

Then it hit him.

He would be selfless.  He would be brave.  He would put out extreme effort in exchange for little to no reward.

“I’ll help you.”

He would be a hero.

“Tell them it’s mine,” Cash said finally, and Gwen looked up at him, shocked.  “Tell them it’s my kid.”

“Cash…that would…your image…”

“I don’t care,” he said firmly.  “I’ve got more than enough money to help you support him.”

Gwen’s tears finally came out.  She grabbed Cash around the neck and cried into his shoulder.  “Thank you…thank you so much…” she whimpered, and Cash held her back.

“It’s okay,” he said, stroking her hair softly.  “It’ll be fine…things’ll work out.”

Gwen lifted her head, still close to Cash, but no longer crying.  “Still…a one-night stand?  A child out of wedlock?  It would definitely hurt your public image…”

Cash stopped, and blinked.  “Then marry me.”

“What?” she asked, once again shocked.  “I-I can’t…we can’t just—“

“Marry me,” he repeated, still holding her close to him.  “I’ll take care of you and the baby.”

“Cash…I can’t ask you to—“

“I want to,” he finally admitted.  “I like you.”  He looked at her in her gorgeous eyes.  “Do you like me?”

She paused, mouth still a little open.  She frowned, and then, answered him quite directly with a kiss square on the lips.

Cash kissed her back with as much passion as he could muster.  He tried to ignore Gwen’s shaky hands, or the fact that her kiss reminded him of someone lost in the dark.  He tried to ignore the fact that she probably didn’t kiss Kevin like this – that she may not have even meant it.  That she was kissing him, marrying him, all as a big “thank you”.

And as a big “screw you, Kevin”.

***
”It’s great,” Gwen had assured Cash as the two read over the wedding announcement they were going to put in Sunday’s paper.  “They didn’t spell our names wrong or anything.”

“Shotgun weddings are known to have typos,” he joked, slinking back into the couch that he and Gwen sat on.  Gwen had moved in, more or less, so Cash could help care for her baby.  She hadn’t started to show yet, but it was only a matter of months.  Their wedding was scheduled only three weeks away – it had come as a shock to everyone, but no one particularly disapproved either.  

Still, as the two sat on the couch, Cash couldn’t help but notice that he and Gwen acted more as accomplishes, more as partners, than as fiancés.  The two hadn’t kissed since their passionate lip-lock in his office nearly two weeks ago.  They slept in separate beds.  Even now, Cash didn’t even have his arm around Gwen as the two sat on the couch.

He decided to fix that.  

Putting his arm around Gwen, he pulled her in close, more or less cuddling with her on the couch.  She didn’t move away, but he could tell she was slightly reluctant.  As if she didn’t really want to be there, but was too polite to speak up.  Cash looked down at her, “Do you still love him?”

“What?” she asked, looking up at him in confusion.  “N-No…not after what he did to me.  He hasn’t even tried to contact me.”

But Cash didn’t believe her.  True, Kevin hadn’t contacted Gwen – he might not have even known she was pregnant.  But that was Kevin’s style – detached and lax.  He would show up, maybe in a month or so, probably looking for another quicky in an alley-way.  And then what would happen?

“If he did try to contact you, what would you say?” he asked her.

“…I’d tell him I’m engaged to someone else.”

“And then what?”

“What do you mean?”

“Would you sleep with him anyway?” he asked, and Gwen recoiled from his cuddle, moving to get up.  But Cash caught her wrist.  “I’m asking you!”

“No!  I wouldn’t!” she snapped.  “And I’m offended that you think I would—“

“Prove it,” he challenged, and Gwen frowned at him.  “Prove that you want to be with me.”

Gwen was silent for a moment, still frowning at Cash.  He could tell she was weighing her options, trying to figure out exactly what he wanted.  Finally, she slowly sat down next to him and touched his arm gently.  “Fine,” she murmured, her tone strangely defeated.  “I’ll prove it to you.”

She moved in and kissed him, gently at first.  Cash cupped her cheek in his hand, running his thumb over her warm flesh.  He could feel her moving to his shirt, undoing his tie.  The piece of cloth slinked off his shoulders, and Gwen wasted no time in unbuttoning his shirt.  

Cash tried not to see it as “going through the motions”.  He wanted to believe Gwen actually did want to make love with him.  She was trying very hard, at least.

Stripping off his shirt, she felt his chest with her hands, her long fingers grazing his nipples and making him shiver slightly.  He turned the tables on her, shoving her over, kissing her harder, and unbuttoning her own shirt.  He could tell she liked this better – him in control.  She didn’t have to do anything – she just let things happen to her.

Her clothes practically melted off of her under his touch.  She didn’t resist, but she didn’t contribute.  Even when he stripped off her panties, she remained placid.

There she was – Gwendolyn Tennyson, naked on his couch.  Something he had only fantasized about as a teenager.  “You’re gorgeous,” he whispered to her, feeling her intimately.

She shivered, and Cash looked at her firmly shut eyes.  Was she holding back tears?  Or grimacing?  Whatever it was, he wanted to change it – make her smile, make her moan his name.  He leaned in close and whispered into her ear, “I love you.”

Her eyes shot open, and that was it – she was crying.  She turned on her side and wept, and Cash sighed and stroked her hair.  “It’s okay,” he whispered, “I understand, it’s okay.”

“I’m so sorry,” she muttered over and over again over her tears.  “I’m so, so sorry.”

He pulled a blanket off of the couch and put it over Gwen’s naked form.  He kissed her forehead gently, only making her cry more.  “I can wait,” he promised her, “until you’re ready.”

“I wish I could Cash,” she sniffled, her eyes red and downcast. “God, I wish I could…you’re worth so much more than him.”

Cash paused.  “But you can’t.  You want to be with him, don’t you?”

Gwen didn’t respond to that, but Cash knew the answer.

He stood up and collected his clothes.  “Get some rest,” he told her before walking off towards his own bedroom.  He needed a good sleep too – or maybe some valium.

***
He knew that putting a wedding announcement in the paper would garner attention.  But what kind of attention, he wasn’t sure of.

He got the normal “congratulations” at work, the normal “where did you two meet?”s, the normal, “you never mentioned her before”s.  But for all of those, he had a quick and easy answer.

“I didn’t want her to be bothered by the press,” he told her secretary smugly, adjusting a new picture of Gwen on his desk.  “But she said she’s willing to be in the spotlight – all comes with being my wife I guess.  You’re not going to remain unknown if you’re on the arm of a billionaire, you know.”

“Of course,” Catherine giggled before walking to the door.  “Well congratulations again Mr. Murray.  Should I hold all phone calls?”

“Except any from Gwen,” he told her smugly, and she smiled.

“Of course,” she said, her tone sweet, as if happy that her sarcastic and slightly jerky boss had actually found someone.  She shut the door behind her, leaving Cash to his own devices.

He fingered the picture of Gwen again.  It almost seemed like a prop in a play.  The photo was real – he had even taken it.  But having her, there, on his desk seemed unnatural.  Still, her immortalized pure smile looking up at him was a comfort to him.

“Pretty, ain’t she?”

Cash spun around in his chair to see someone all too familiar.  Kevin was sitting on his window sill, his hair back to its ebony black state, his eyes dark and dripping with hate for Cash.  Cash would be lying if he said he wasn’t shocked as well as a bit afraid.  “So, Murray, how do you like being engaged to my girl?”

Cash swallowed to counteract his drying throat.  He shook a little, but controlled himself.  Kevin didn’t seem like he was there to kill Cash – at least not yet.  “She’s pregnant,” he finally said, and Kevin’s eyes widened.

In a second, Kevin had Cash’s collar and was thrusting his face into Cash’s.  “I’m going to kill you!”

“It’s not mine, genius,” Cash snapped, and Kevin’s angry expression softened as a realization hit him.

Kevin released Cash and frowned at him.  “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“How could she?” Cash asked, scoffing.  “She doesn’t even know where you are.”

“So now what?!” Kevin shouted, slamming his fist against the wall.  “Now you’re pretending to be the kid’s Dad or something?”

“Bingo,” Cash crossed his arms in front of him.  “So what now Kevin?  Are you going to kill me?”

”What if I said I was?”

“You’d leave Gwen with no man to take care of her and her child.”

“I’m the kid’s real father!” Kevin snapped shrilly, spitting a bit.  Cash didn’t react – he couldn’t, no matter how scared he was.  He had to remain cool – it was the only way to get under Kevin’s skin.  “I’ll take care of her!”

“You?  Take care of her?  Please,” Cash laughed harshly, disgust apparent in his voice.  Here it was – the chance to finally tell Kevin what he thought of him.  Cash relished the moment – after all, depending on how mad Kevin got, it might be his last.  “You couldn’t take care of a goldfish!  You abandoned her!  How do you think she felt when she got pregnant and realized no one was there to help her?  That she was alone?!”

Kevin didn’t speak but he continued to glower at Cash.  “You’re useless as a man!” Cash continued, standing up to look Kevin straight in the eye.  

“Shut it!”

“Are you going to hit me?!” Cash asked, urging Kevin on.  “Go ahead!  Hit me!  That’ll only prove how much better Gwen is off with me!”

“Not in your wildest dreams!”  cried Kevin again, but Cash could tell he was getting to Kevin.  The mutant was beginning to sweat a little, and Cash could see panic in his eyes.  “Gwen loves me!  Get over it, asshole!”

“Sure, she loves you,” Cash scoffed, “but she can’t rely on you!  You’re nothing!”

“Do you wanna die?!”

“You think I’m wrong?!”

“Hell yeah!”

“Then prove it!” cried out Cash, who could feel his eyes burning.  What was he doing – why was he saying this to Kevin?  “Prove that you’re worth her!  Take her back from me!  I dare you, Levin!”

There was silence for the first time in the past five minutes.  Cash couldn’t believe what he had just challenged Kevin to do.  He wanted to keep Gwen, didn’t he?  So why was he egging Kevin on to get her back?  It didn’t make any sense.

And then his eyes fell on the smiling picture of Gwen.  His mind flashed between her sweet smile of that picture and her sobbing form on his couch.  Gwen didn’t want to be with Cash, and he knew it, as much as it pained him.  So here he was, sacrificing his own happiness to help her – help someone he loved.

God dammit.

Since when did he become a hero?

***
“Is something wrong?”

“Hmm?  No, nothing,” Cash assured Gwen as the two walked down the street after lunch.  Cash’s hands were stowed neatly in his pants pockets, and Gwen walked a bit behind him, noting his hunched over position and sullen expression.  “Just thinking.”

“Thanks for lunch,” Gwen said, wanting to say something to end the tense silence.  

“No problem,” he said, just as eager to fill the dead space with idle chatter.  “I’m not cheap that I wouldn’t treat my fiancée to lunch.”

Gwen moved a little quicker to walk next to Cash, but he didn’t feel any closer to her.  Ever since the incident with Kevin, he’d felt even more distant from Gwen, more distant from himself.  He felt like he didn’t know Cash anymore.  “Do you think people can change?” he said rather abruptly, his thoughts falling out of his mouth almost against his will.  Gwen paused, and then smiled.

“Not really,” she sighed.  “I have…a lot of experience with people who can’t change, you know.”

“What about me?” Cash asked her.

“You haven’t changed,” Gwen said.  “You’ve toned down a little, but you’re the same as you were when we were kids.”

Cash shook his head and turned away from Gwen.  “You’re wrong.”

“About what?”

“I have changed,” he admitted, a bitter tone to his voice.  “I used to be a self-serving jerk.  And I’ve changed.  And if can change,” he finally came to an uneasy conclusion, “so can he.”

“Who?”

“Yeah, I can.”

Gwen and Cash turned around to see a certain jet black haired man walking towards them, emerging from the darkness of an alleyway, his eyes downcast, his hands in front of him, chained with energy cuffs.  “Kevin!” Gwen gasped, but Cash just frowned.  “Wh-what…what are you—“

But Gwen’s answer came to her without words as Cooper, Alan, and Manny all emerged from the same alleyway.  “…what’s going on?” she asked.

“I turned myself in, Gwen,” Kevin said, shrugging.  “You really think these losers could catch me on their own?”

“You’re the one cuffed, smart guy,” Manny reminded him, but Gwen could tell that through Manny’s gruff exterior, a bit of relief was shining through.  

“Why?” Gwen asked, walking up to Kevin.

“I’m going to prove,” Kevin began, and shot a quick glance at Cash, “that I’m worth you.”

“B-but you said—“

“I said a buncha stuff I didn’t mean,” he sighed, shaking his head.  “And a lotta stuff I thought I meant.  Gwen, I made a deal with them.”  Her eyes lit up.  “Handing over a couple dozen names in exchange for reduced time.  Should be out in four—“

“Probably six,” Cooper interrupted, and Kevin sighed testily.

“Okay, probably six years,” he frowned at Cooper, who shrugged before letting Kevin continue.  “Gwen, don’t marry that guy,” he nodded his head in Cash’s direction.  “I know that right now, he’s worth about a million of me.  But,” Kevin looked Gwen straight in the eye, and then, slowly, looped his cuffed arms around her and pulled her close to him, “without you, I’m not worth anything.”

Gwen clutched Kevin closely, and Cash looked on with a strange detachment.  He noted the smiling faces of the Plumbers, the happy tears that Gwen was beginning to shed.  Even Kevin looked happier than he had seen him in awhile.  So here he was, Cash Murray, the one who had caused everyone else to be happy and yet, he was still miserable.

“I’ll cancel the caterers I guess,” Cash finally spoke up, and Gwen turned around, still in Kevin’s arms, to look at Cash.

“I’m so sorry Cash,” she said softly, and then looked up at Kevin.  He lifted his arms, letting her go, and she walked over to her now ex-fiancé.  She embraced Cash, and he hugged her back, wanting to touch her intimately at least one more time.  “If it means anything…you were there for me when I needed it the most.  You’re my hero.”

With that, she gave him a quick peck on the lips and moved back to Kevin, who was also looking at Cash with an expression mixed between gratitude and uneasiness.  

“You’re my hero.”

Looking after Gwen, seeing her excitement and happiness, he knew now.  What it felt like to be Tennyson.

It hurt.  It wasn’t fair.  It wasn’t right.  He wasn’t happy.

But it was worth it.  Because she was happy.  

He had wanted to be a hero.  

And he was.

Cash Murray was a hero.

End.