“They won’t come.”

Dr. Nefarious glances over at the ten-year-old girl he has kidnapped. She sits tied against a column in the abandoned parking garage, a look of quiet sorrow on her face. Hardly what he had been expecting from the daughter of one of the most powerful super-families in the city. Now that he thinks about it, it was a little surprising that she didn’t use her powers to stop him when he pulled her into his van.

He rubs at his eyes. Clearly, she knows something he doesn’t. Probably that she has a tracker on her or that the police are on their way or that he’s already been injected with something from a tac in the bottom of her shoe or some other such nonsense. “Why,” he asks, trying to keep his tone as even as possible, “will your family not come for you?”

“Because,” she says, looking down at her shoes, “I’m not special like them. I bet they don’t even know I’m gone.”

Dr. Nefarious furrows his brow at the girl. “You mean to tell me,” he says, still trying to wrap his mind around the idea, “that the eldest daughter of one of the most well-known super-families in the city would just be forgotten by her family?” He chuckles darkly. “You must be joking.”

“Call them,” she says. She looks up at him. Her brown eyes are infinitely sad in the cold light of the parking lot. “You’ll see.”

Dr. Nefarious is not in the habit of doing what his captives want him to do. However, this request is just too much for his curiosity. “Peter Smith,” Bionicman says into the phone after two rings.

“Mr. Smith, or should I say Bionicman,” Dr. Nefarious says, “I have your daughter with me.”

“You do?” Bionicman says.

Dr. Nefarious’ mouth hangs open for a second before he gets it together. “Yes! Your daughter! Brown hair, brown eyes, goes by Kaitlin?”

“Oh, well, don’t keep her out too late. She needs to take Becca to school in the morning,” Bionicman says before hanging up the phone.

“Told ya,” Kaitlin says.

Dr. Nefarious holds up a finger at her as he redials Bionicman.

“Hello?” Bionicman says.

“Look, I don’t think you understand here. I’ve kidnapped your daughter. I am going to kill her if you don’t do what I say.”

“Nice try, but Katie knows not to get caught by villains,” Bionicman says. “Actually, can I speak to her for a second? She’s been leaving her window open and I think Becca caught a cold because of it.”

“Jesus Christ,” Dr. Nefarious mutters as he hangs up the phone. He glances over at Katie. Tears are falling down her cheeks. “Hey, hey, no,” he says, getting down on one knee next to her. He pulls out a mini packet of tissues and shoves one into her hands. “I’m sure they’re just… I’ll… I’ll get my money!”

“Good luck,” she says sourly before blowing her nose. “If you’d captured Becca, maybe, but me?”

“They just think you can handle yourself!” Dr. Nefarious says, inwardly cringing. How often had he heard that growing up?

“They don’t care,” she says. She somehow manages to curl up even more tightly despite being tied to a post. “It’s fine. I don’t need them anyway.”

Dr. Nefarious purses his lips, then walks around the post and unties the ropes. “C’mon,” he says, offering her a hand up. “Let’s get some ice cream.”

Oof. Poor baby needs a hug. Also, does Dr. Nefarious realize that he’s a dad now?

Short answer: No.

Long answer:

“You can be my dad!” Kaitlin said.

“What?” Dr. Nefarious exclaimed, nearly dropping his raspberry chip ice cream in his surprise. He had been looking after Kaitlin for two months now, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to be a dad.

Besides, she already had a very powerful father. A super-powered father. 

“Yeah!” Kaitlin said, completely undeterred. She waved her chocolate chip ice cream cone at him. “You can adopt me. I’m pretty sure my parents wouldn’t mind.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Dr. Nefarious said, waving his hands in front of him as if he were trying to stop an oncoming car. “Katie, you don’t want a villain for a dad.”

Katie grimaced at him. “Why not?”

“Because… Well, who’s going to teach you about right and wrong? Make sure you get into a good school? Go to parent-teacher conferences?”

“You think my parents were doing any of that?” she said archly before taking a lick of her chocolate chip ice cream.

Well, shit. She had him there. “You don’t even know where I live!” he exclaimed.

“224 Park Street,” she said. She picked at the paper wrapper on her cone. “I snuck it off the sheet you filled out to be my emergency contact for swim club.”

“But you haven’t been there,” he said. “Also, don’t go around stealing people’s information. That’s rude.”

“See! You’re already doing better than Dad,” she said proudly (and a little smugly). “You can show me your place once we’re done with ice cream.”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “Your father would kill me.”

“Dad doesn’t care. Neither does Mom. Becca might care, but I think she’ll like being an only child more.”

Dr. Nefarious furrowed his brow. “Listen, Katie,” he said after a moment. “I have a criminal record. I don’t think I can adopt you.”

“But!” he said, holding up a finger as her eyes filled with tears. “I think I know a couple who might be willing to try.”

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