"Hey, two ready to go yet?"

I looked up to see Jessica leaning in my door. She was smiling, a sort of knowing look on her face. She was still smug about the fact that she had been right about Jake and I.

Jake tightened his arm around me, pulling me closer to him. We had been sitting on my bed, him watching the tv while I worked on a concept sketch. "I'm comfortable," he complained.

I laughed and shifted, turning to face him. "Me too. But Shapes is waiting for her outfit." Jake leaned in and kissed me.

"Fine," he mumbled around our lips. "But I really was comfortable."

I smiled and pulled back. Worming my way out of his grip, I rose and headed for my table.

A lot had happened since that day after Jessica came back from finally catching all the super powered robbers, wandering into my apartment in time to see Jake and I making out. We were officially an item now, with Jessica so pleased about it that even at school most people had come to accept it as a good thing. Except for Angie and Luke. Angie and Luke seemed to hate the idea. Still, Luke didn't talk to me anymore, generally choosing to avoid our little group. I still hadn't heard the whole story, but apparently Huntress had paid him a visit.

From what I had heard, she had been very intimidating, informing him that she would be watching him, and that if he told anyone about me, or tried to help out villains again, she would make him regret it. She had also let him know that he had been wrong about me, and that a very angry Pyro knew it too. Jails could only hold villains for so long.

Just in case, Jake had dug up Luke's phone records anyways, keeping them as proof that Luke had helped a criminal. If it ever became needed, we could always turn those over to the police.

Jessica left the room, clearly ready to head out to the base. Jake waited for me though, and when I glanced back at him, he was watching me with a fond smile. I returned the smile before picking up the costume.

Shape's outfit had come out very nicely, and was going to look adorable on her. It was also going to be able to shift with her. Jessica had ended up talking to Wizard, and he had finally agreed to alter the cloth so that if Shapes changed, it would too.

Of course, Shapes's outfit was not the only one I had to work on anymore. Jessica had worn her much improved outfit on the raid when stopping the robbers. The heroes working with her had seen it, and word of a so called "Superhero Costume Designer" was spreading. It seemed like every time Jessica returned from a patrol, she had more requests for outfits from various heroes. It was going to be a lot of work, but I didn't mind. I loved to design stuff.

All the additional attention had Jessica and Jake talking about the idea of putting me in costume. That way I could have heroes come right to me with their requests, yet still keep my identity secret. They were also playing with names, throwing around everything from "Spinstress" to "Lady Art." Whether any of that would come to be, I wasn't sure. I still wasn't fully sold on the idea of donning a costume myself, though I did have a few ideas bouncing about in my head.

I folded the outfit and stuck it into my bag before heading out the door myself. Jake got up and followed, closing the door behind us.

The kitchen was bathed in afternoon light, and that light spilled over the lovely woman who sat at the table, her fingers flying over the keyboard. She smiled up at me, the smile only holding a touch of awkwardness. I smiled back, hesitating but a moment.

"Going out?" she asked sweetly, stopping her typing and giving me her full attention. I nodded.

"We're going to catch a movie and hang out at a friend's after," I said.

Things were improving on the home front. While my Mother and I still really didn't know each other, we were talking more, and we were trying to fix that. She had started a new book, going for a scifi setting this time. After reading the book about Cathy so much that Jessica was starting to despair of ever getting it back, Mother now believed that maybe changing to a new genre could be good for her, and from what I had heard, her editor was liking the newest book. Oddly enough, even though scifi was as far fetched as fantasy could be, the book seemed to be bringing her down to earth more, extracting her from her in-between world and letting her appreciate the current world more.

She was writing at home more so that she could be around us, even when writing. She was also willing to take little breaks from writing, having even gone to a Broadway play with Dad and I just the other day. Things weren't perfect, but they were better. It was nice.

Eventually I would have to talk to my parents. I would have to someday explain just what it was I actually did every day after school and every weekend afternoon. If I wanted to be close to them, I couldn't let a secret build a wall between us. But that was something for another day. Perhaps when Mom was done with her book, and Dad's classes ended for the summer.

We headed out then, all three of us waving goodbye to my Mom. Walking down the hall, Jake took my hand, and Jessica took a spot just off to my left.

I knew things weren't perfect. We all still had our secrets. We all still had our days when things didn't go quite right. We all still had our problems and villains. There were always going to be days when things veered off course. Still, no matter how bad things got, they could improve. It had taken me awhile to realize it, but I knew that now. Sometimes you just had to push for that change.

With Jessica and Jake beside me though, heading with me to the base where two great people waited, and with so many big problems thoroughly behind me, perfect seemed pretty close by.

((Author's Note: Well, this is it. Thank you so, so much to everyone who read, commented, and stuck with this story to the end. Don't mourn the story's end too long though! The next story in the Superhero universe, Superhero Sidekick, will be going up and updating soon.))