One
James attempted to uppercut his foe, but she dodged it. As he tried to pull his hand back, she used the brief lapse of protective stance to kick him in his stomach, right below his ribs. James almost vomited, but managed to keep it under control. He tried to kick her, but Mary sidestepped and grabbed his leg, pulling upward and throwing James onto his butt.
It was sparring time, and James had once again been paired up with Mary. The fact that she kicked his ass everytime just led McGonagall to partner them up more and more. She said the reason why was because he needed something to push him to get better. She insisted that James was not yet ready to go on missions with Sirius, Remus, and Lily. Which was completely unfair as he could beat each of them in a sparring session. It’s not his fault that Mary was trained in Karate, Judo, Kung Fu, Jiu-Jitsu, and who knows what else. She’s strong and Lily, the second strongest, could only scrap by with a win against Mary.
This is James and Mary’s third time sparring today, as well as the third time that James has been beaten. He was growing frustrated, and a little hopeless. Tears of annoyance welled up in his eyes, and as James felt one making its way down his face, he felt hatred for the fact that he’s such a sensitive person. James growled. He wiped his tear and got up, anger fueling him. Mary looked at his face, full of newfound determination, and returned to her stance.
“Okay, one more time.” James said, although he didn’t mean it. He would go on for however long it took him to beat her. He would finally get to go out on a mission.
Without giving Mary a minute to speak, James thrust his fist out, waiting to hear the crunch of bones. But Mary was faster, and much more experienced. She had ducked, and while James’ arm was outstretched, she grabbed it and flipped him onto the ground.
James’ grunted as his back hit the floor. He saw stars and the wind was knocked out of his chest. It took him a minute to get up, but when he did he was angrier than before, and sure that he would get her this time. “Again”, James demanded.
James rushed in at Mary, attempting to sweep her leg out from under her. But as he used his full force to kick out her leg, it easily left from beneath her. James couldn’t stop the momentum from his kick and flailed as he tried to regain his balance. As he did so, Mary used her recently kicked leg to hit James in the chest. James fell down once again.
This time, James wasted no time on the floor. He got up and immediately barked that they would go again. But Mary just looked at him, clearly not getting ready to spar.
“You have something in your hair.” She said. James was exasperated that she didn’t start the fight simply to point out something so asinine. He went to check it out in the mirror, and his eyes widened to see that his hair was on fire.
“Shit, shit!” He quickly put it out, and turned to look at Mary. “Did I do that?” He questioned. Mary shrugged her shoulders. “Can’t think of anyone else who could’ve.” She stated.
James was heated, metaphorically and literally, and cupped his hands in his face. “Fuck!” He yelled, and flames shot from his body and jumped onto the wooden walls of the dojo. James looked around, panicked, and saw in the mirror as Mary backed away from him and his flames.
“Oh god, not again.” He ran forward and tried to put out the fires. But before he could get them all; the smoke detector went off, along with the sprinkler system. James and Mary both got drenched and ran out of the dojo together.
“Sorry, sorry!” James squawked, as he used his powers to slowly take the water droplets off of his and Mary’s clothes. The water came together to form a small ball in the air, and once the ball was big enough, James directed it onto the grass.
Mary stood there with soaked hair and dry clothes. “I take it, you still can’t dry the hair?”
James flinched. “No, not yet. The strands are too close together that it’s hard to squeeze the water out without simply pushing it onto another strand. I can try if you want, though.”
Mary waved him off. “It’s fine. That’s what I get for sparring with you,” she laughed. As she finished her sentence, Sirius, Remus, and Lily turned the corner.
“King of missions, coming through!” Sirius exclaimed, holding a box. Remus smiled at him and Lily cheered. “I got donuts to celebrate- oh.” Sirius paused in front of Mary and James. “Wet hair. I take it training didn’t go so well.”
Mary laughed and James lowered his head in shame. “I thought I got the hang of controlling my fire. I was so sure of it. Sorry.”
Sirius shook his head, “No need to apologize to me, mate. As long as my hair isn’t wet, I don’t care what you do in training. Anyway, I got you a donut.” Sirius handed one to James.
James gasped as he looked at it. “A fruity pebbles one! I love you!” Sirius chuckled. “I love you too. I also got a chocolate custard for you, Mary.” Mary threw her hands out to embrace her doughnut. She shoved it into her mouth and muttered, “I love you, Black.”
Sirius hesitated for a moment. “I got one for Peter, too.” The whole group's mood dampened.
“I'm visiting him later today, so I'll bring it. A maple glaze?” James offered
Sirius smiled. “Of course. Anyway, I am killing it today!” Sirius yelled. The mood lightened. “You should have seen me on my mission today, James. Picture it. Lily has this fucker wrapped up in her plants, when he shrinks. Turns out he had a second power. So he’s on the floor and nobody could see him. Remus starts sniffing the guy out in his wolf form and as soon as the guy realized he couldn’t hide that way, he got HUGE. Like. is beginning to get bigger than the rooftop huge. He steps off and his leg is touching the ground from at least 50 feet up. I suddenly understand that this guy is going to get away with thousands of dollars from the bank and two dead security guards on his conscience. I decide that I can’t let that happen. So I shifted the light to make it look like there is a buildingless area to get away from, and this fucker falls for it! He ends up running face first into the building next door and as he’s reeling from the hit, it gives Lily enough time to wrap him in a cocoon of plants and start squeezing. She forces him down to his normal size and we bring him to HQ. Mission accomplished.” Lily whoops and high fives both Remus and Sirius.
“Wow,” James says, processing all the information given to him. “I wish I could have been there.”
Sirius pauses for a minute before looking guilty. “Oh, sorry. Sometimes I forget that you haven’t been on a mission yet. But don’t worry, as soon as you beat Mary, you’ll be out and about with us. Catching criminals, scouting missions,-”
“Getting donuts.” Remus finishes. Sirius laughs. “Exactly. You’ll be there in no time! And I can’t wait to work with you, mate.”
James looks down at his feet, feeling demoralized. “Easier said than done”, he mumbled.
———
James went down the halls to the infirmary. That's where Peter has been staying for the past two weeks. His powers are tracking, he's able to know the location of anything he's touched before. A few weeks ago a supervillain elbowed him in the shoulder as he ran away, and although Peter couldn't stop him, he could now see where he was going. The Tier 3 hero that was hot on the villain's tracks supervised Peter and took him on a mission to apprehend the villain. Sadly, there were 2 other criminals there with him. The Tier 3 hero lost his life and Peter almost died with him. That's the price of being a hero.
James took a left and entered room 16. Peter was sitting in a chair that looked too big for him and was eating applesauce while watching something. “Ooh,” James whispered, trying not to suddenly break the silence, “Is this the episode where she finds out he's a traitor?” Peter jumped, clearly startled by James’ attempt to not startle him.
“Shit, James. Don't come out of nowhere like that! You terrified me!” Peter said, trying to calm his racing heart.
“Aw, I'm sorry. Here, I'll give you this donut to make up for it.” James chuckled.
Peter eyed it for a moment. “Maple glaze?” He asked, reaching out and taking ahold of the napkin the donut was wrapped in.
“What else?” James laughed as Peter ripped into it.
“Oh, thank god for some sugar. The nurses haven't been letting me eat anything unhealthy. I swear they take joy from taking away a man's right to a happy life. I'm not even that bad anymore, I'll be out by the end of the month they said.” Peter had finished the donut by the time he stopped talking.
“The end of the month, really? Well then you'll be back to missions sooner than I thought. I was hoping to join you guys on the next one.” James felt slightly disappointed, even though he was excited for his friend to come back.
“Correction, you'll be joining the other guys on a mission. I'll still be back at HQ, directing you. I swear, this whole ordeal has only proved that I am not fit for the field.” Peter said.
“Not everyone is, man. Just because your powers aren't meant for fighting doesn't make your dedication to the team any less important.” James replied.
“Oh, I know. I am absolutely good on desk duty. It's safe and comfortable. And did I mention safe?” Peter laughed. James laughed along with him.
They finished up their conversation and James finished watching the series that Peter had begun rewatching whilst in the infirmary. After that was over, he returned home.
———
Once James got back to his dorm, freshly showered and ready for bed, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of melancholy wash over. No matter how much his friends tried to assure him that he shouldn’t worry and he’ll be on a mission in no time he couldn’t make himself believe it. He suddenly did not feel like sleeping at all. He decided to get one more workout before bed. He did about 53 push ups before he collapsed in an exhausted pile on the floor. Pathetic. He was too tired to move but too restless to sleep. He decided to finally write his mom back. He’d been putting it off. He thought he could wait and write her back once he’d gone on his first mission. Once he’d become a son she could be proud of.
Dear Mom,
I miss you, too. How’s dad doing? Last time I heard he was struggling to weed the backyard. I told him that he should just let me or Lily do it the next time one of us came over, but he insisted he didn’t need powers for a chore. I don’t understand how you can be a top agent but not believe in the shortcut of powers.
Last time I wrote I said that I would definitely be out on a mission, but it looks like that won’t happen anytime soon. McGonagall says that I’m not ready yet, but it’s so stupid because I would be a huge help to my friends. I worry about them every time they go out. I hate the bruises that they come back with and I’m scared for when they fail. I know I shouldn’t be thinking like that, but I would feel much better if I could watch over them.
It’s ridiculous that I’m not ready yet when I had two of the best agents as my parents. I know you’ll disagree but I can’t help but feel like I’m dragging your legacy down. When I entered the Organization, everybody was so sure that I would quickly rise to the top. But here I am, stuck at the bottom. If I was just given a chance, I could prove them all wrong. I know I’m capable of capturing villains, but nobody will let me shine. I get that I’m having trouble controlling my fire, but how could fire NOT help a mission. I don’t see what the big deal is.
Just you wait and see, I’ll become the strongest agent here. Surpassing even you guys. I’m going to beat Mary and capture the top villains in the world. I’ll put them where they belong. If I just train everyday and every night I’m sure I could improve. How hard can it be?
Once again, I miss you. I’ll come see you when we get time off, I’m thinking I’ll be over there in at least two months. I can’t wait to see you and dad. I love you guys.
Love,
James