“Do you really think she would care?” Keith couldn’t help but ask. 

Red Dynamo looked at him like he was crazy as he gingerly set the car down. “You kidding? You’re the only one of us she actually likes.”

He didn’t say anything more because he got back to fighting the villain capable of transforming into a giant monster. He had super strength so he was the best man for the job but Keith could provide backup. 

With enough force water was able to cut through steel. He was able to use his powers as on offensive weapon when the situation called for it. Right now the situation definitely called for it!

He used blades of water to slice the villain up pretty good. He howled in pain and that gave Red Dynamo the opportunity he needed to make the final blow. 

The villain untransformed and was cuffed and led away in the back of a police car not long after, leaving Red Dynamo and Keith standing there alone. He couldn’t help but go back to that earlier comment now that the fight was over. 

“Do you really think she likes me?” 

The other hero gave him the same look as before. “Delta. I’ve known Frostine since she was a rookie hero. She NEVER worked with anyone on a consistent basis before you came along. She prefers doing things on her own. Or she did, anyway.

“Besides, I ran into her the other day and made a joke about where you were and she very coldly told me she wasn’t your keeper. Seemed like I hit a nerve. Did you two get into a fight or something? Because I’ve seen a lot of ice from that woman but never to that extent. It was scary.”

Keith’s guilt about the incident resurfaced. “…yeah but we settled things.”

“There you go. She wouldn’t care about whatever stupid thing you did if she didn’t like you.”

“Why do you assume I’m the reason we fought?!” 

“Weren’t you?” Red Dynamo asked with a severely skeptical expression on what was visible of his face. 

“…yes, but there’s no reason to jump to conclusions.”

“Yeah, there is! Frostine’s so chill she would never start something. She’s more ice statue than person. I’m amazed you managed to piss her off at all. You must have some sort of special ability.” 

Keith scowled at him. “I do not! And she isn’t made of ice. She’s a person with feelings like anyone else.”

He used to think like Red Dynamo until recently. Her snapping at him that she wasn’t made of ice had been what kickstarted it but observing her behavior more helped him realize that too. Anyone who got that much enjoyment out of macaroni in a cone was 100% flesh and blood. 

“If you say she has feelings why are you so shocked she likes you?” Red Dynamo asked with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re actually INTERESTED in the ice queen?!”

“No way! I’m interested in someone else!” 

Keith internally cursed himself. He had been trying to convince himself he didn’t like Joss—it nearly got him hit by a car—and he had to go and blurt it to someone else anyway. He was an idiot. 

“Oho! Are you having girl troubles? Is that why you nearly became roadkill?” Red Dynamo asked eagerly. 

He was really tempted to throttle the guy but he didn’t see the point in lying. Who was Red Dynamo going to tell? Another hero knowing he had someone he liked didn’t narrow things down at all. It wouldn’t give him away. 

“Yes, are you happy?”

“Very! It’s nice to know you’re actually human. Sometimes I wonder because everyone in our line of work seems so perfect all the time. But seriously, you need to be more careful. Space out about your girlfriend on your own time.”

“Noted,” Keith muttered. “But she isn’t my girlfriend. She’s my friend. I don’t want to screw things up with her so I can’t even think like that. I’m only distracted because earlier someone suggested we’ve been flirting all this time and it made me realize that I might like her more than I thought I did.” 

“Have you been?”

“No. We’ve been talking. Laughing. Joking around. Well, I joke around and she teases me back in a sort of fondly exasperated manner.” 

Red Dynamo shook his head despairingly. “Delta, that’s definitely flirting.”

“But I don’t think she actually likes me!” 

“You didn’t think Frostine liked you either. Your radar for things like that sucks.”

Keith groaned. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t unhear what I heard earlier and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“You could always ask her out. It’s hard to juggle relationships and this job but it’s doable. I have a girlfriend,” Red Dynamo said with a shrug. “Granted, she works nights so she doesn’t notice how often I’m gone, but that’s part of what makes our relationship work.”

“I can’t afford to lose her if things go south though.”

“That’s just fear talking. You never know if you don’t try. Feel her out. See if she might like you back before doing anything if you must but don’t just sit on your feelings indefinitely.” 

“…why are you giving me relationship advice? Don’t you have anything better to do?” Keith muttered, red-faced. 

Red Dynamo grinned at him. “What’s better than helping the younger generation find their way? Hang in there, Delta. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah. Sure. I’m going to go look for something to do.”

“Good luck!”

Keith was completely mortified and not only because of Red Dynamo’s teasing. There was no denying it now, was there? He liked Joss. He just hadn’t recognized the desire to get to know her better and being happier when he saw her for what it was because he had never contemplated getting romantically involved with anyone. 

Things would be different soon. He wouldn’t be a hero anymore. He would be allowed to do things like that…but that didn’t make it a good idea. 

He needed to get his head in the game before he got hurt but didn’t know if that was possible at this point. Maybe he should just go home and try to sleep it off. That might be his best option. 

That was exactly what Keith did but he couldn’t sleep. His head was full of Joss and all of the things that could go wrong if he tried to be more than friends. They had barely become more than work friends! How could he think of pushing things further? 

He didn’t want to go backward though. He wanted to see her more often. He wanted to understand her better. He wanted…more. 

How much more was the problem. He shouldn’t get greedy, especially without knowing what her thoughts were on the matter. Red Dynamo suggested feeling her out but how was he supposed to do that? 

Subtlety had never exactly been his strong suit. Besides, Joss was sharp. She was a therapist for crying out loud! Her job was analyzing human behavior! She would see through him in a second and everything would be ruined. 

Keith wasn’t even sure if these feelings were romantic or if he was just lonely and she was the first person who had been sincerely nice to him in longer than he could remember. He found her fascinating and fun to be around but was that enough? Friends worked like that too as far as he knew. 

He really didn’t have much experience with real friendship since all of his had been so superficial. He hadn’t hung out with anyone outside of work since graduating from community college and becoming Delta except for her. 

Did he like her or did he LIKE her? It all seemed so junior high but he was inexperienced when it came to matters of the heart. 

Sure, Keith had crushes when he was in school but they never went anywhere. Girls thought he was funny the way people think a clown is. No one would want to date a clown. 

So why would Joss? Someone as smart as her who had her life together more than he ever could…why would she be interested in him? Honestly, it didn’t even make sense that she wanted to be his friend. 

But she did. For some reason she liked being around him. How was he supposed to resist that? She was the only one who did aside from Frostine but that was only according to Red Dynamo. His words needed to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Finding that out about his stoic colleague had been surprising. He hadn’t thought she was the fiercely independent type because of how often they teamed up but had to admit he didn’t know much if anything about how she was before they met. She had been a hero a lot longer than he had. And here he was retiring first. 

Would Frostine really miss him when that happened? She couldn’t possibly. She would be fine on her own.. She didn’t really need him anyway.