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The sudden attack of Oz’s newest mysterious sickness was forgotten for a moment as he considered that, his attention now fixed on her small hand, and how good it felt resting on his.

“You’re having a panic attack, baby doll.” She said calmly, her voice almost flirty. “Don’t worry, it’s adorable .”

Oz frowned, breathing steadying. “I am?”

She nodded. “’Fraid so. ”

The redhead casually put one of her feet onto the dashboard of the vehicle. The motion was both difficult and foolhardy, since it required her to hike up her skirt a great deal and also place her leg onto the airbag panel. If they got into an accident, she would instantly be broken in half.

Oz didn’t warn her of that though, because he was preoccupied with not looking at her legs.

It took every ounce of his incredible willpower not to admire them.

Because they looked really, really amazing. They were long, and smooth, and feminine. Strong, like a dancer’s. There was just something so clean and appealing about them. Sexy, but in a calming, wholesome way. They were… perfect.

Extraordinary .

Oz was obsessed with cleanliness. He found fault with everyone’s appearance and could feel the germs and grime on them. But the only thing dirty about that woman was the thoughts she inspired.

Which, again, was very off-putting.

If literally anyone else in the world had put their feet up on his dashboard, Oz would have had no great difficulty ignoring their shapely legs and would have rightly reminded them of how many germs clung to shoes and people’s feet.

If they hadn’t instantly removed their grimy shoes from his dash, he would have immediately kicked them from the car and driven away. It was the only logical option.

But in this case, he wasn’t doing that.

He wasn’t at all worried about the interior of his car.

And he didn’t know what that meant.

All he knew was that he wanted to look at her legs.

“How would you spend your last day if you knew you were going to die?” She wondered aloud, as if that were the most obvious question to ask someone you just met… who was also allegedly in the midst of a panic attack.

“Trying to figure out a way not to die.” He answered. “Obviously.”

“No. You’re missing the point.” She shook her head. “See, there’s no way to stop it. You’re going to die. You only have 24 hours to live. To be you. The only question is how you’d spend that last day.”

“I’d spend it trying to figure out just what was going to kill me, and making sure that it didn’t. ”

“But you can’t.”

“Why?” It was an honest question. “I’m a superhero, it seems like I should have the resources to…”

“The point is to determine what it is you want from your life.” She interrupted. “Like, if you suddenly gained reality warping powers and could make your life turn out however you wanted, how would you choose to die? That’s the question.”

Oz considered that for a moment, still confused. “If I had reality warping powers, why wouldn’t I use them to cure myself?”

She made an aggravated sound. “Just forget it.”

“Fine.” Oz nodded, still not really understanding the point of the exercise. “How would you spend your last day?”

“Every day is my last day.”

Oz frowned, uncertain if he heard that right. “Excuse me?”

“You ever see one of those movies where the person is told they’re dying and then they start doing crazy things like quitting their jobs and sky diving?

Just because they’re trying to live their lives to the fullest?

My life is already like that every day, even without the faulty diagnosis.

” She heaved a weary sigh. “I have no idea what I’d do, honestly.

Because, in a way, I’m too close to the situation.

I guess that’s why I ask people.” She gestured out the window.

“I… I go through every day, feeling like my life is roulette, you know? And I look around, and everyone else has got their shit together. Everyone else is at the party, having fun, and I’m just there to… ” She trailed off.

“Stand in a corner.” Oz finished for her. “I understand.”

“Well, I sure don’t. How come I’m the only one who…” She got out, then stopped again. “Why am I talking to you about this?” She asked seriously, as if confused herself. “What the fuck?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t even know you.” She sounded amazed with herself, bordering on horror. “You’re just some Cape from a group that’s…”

“They’re idiots.” He finished for her. “You can say it, it won’t offend me.”

“I was going to say ‘fascists,’ actually.”

“Some of them, certainly.” He nodded, admitting the point. “Some of them are just trying to make a difference though.”

“You a fucking idealist or something?

“That’s the job.”

“No, it’s not.” She shook her head. “You’re a hero: your job is to kung-fu and look good on magazine covers.”

“You have a very limited definition of what constitutes ‘heroism,’ miss. ”

“God save me from the rule-followers.” The redhead rolled her eyes. “They make the game go on so long.”

“My job is to make everyone else’s lives better.”

“Well, you could take off your shirt.”

“Huh?” Again, he was pretty certain he’d heard her wrong.

“Nothing.” She cleared her throat, suddenly looking embarrassed. “I’ve got this… thing today. It makes me say stuff I wouldn’t ordinarily say. But it should be all cleared up in…” she looked pointedly at the digital clock on the radio, which displayed 11:49, “…eleven minutes.”

Oz stopped the car at another stoplight and turned to stare at her in confused amazement.

She stared back.

“You have the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen.” He thought aloud, not even thinking about what he was saying.

“Thank you.” She shrugged. “Weird and vaguely creepy thing to say, but said with such genuine sensitivity that it’s actually kinda sweet for some reason.

” She tucked a strand of captivatingly red hair behind her ear, in a subtle little move that was so endearing and sexy that it made Oz hard as a rock.

“Anything else about me strike your fancy?”

“I’m afraid it could be misconstrued, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, it wouldn’t make me uncomfortable.” She waved a dismissive hand. “Compliment away, baby doll. For the next ten minutes, I’m a gal who loves compliments.”

“Your perfume doesn’t make me retch.”

“Awesome. That’s always the goal.” She deadpanned.

The car fell into silence.

“Really? That’s it?” She snorted, sounding almost insulted. “Perfume? Come on! Eyes, hair, legs, tits! Go for the gusto! Surprise me!”

Oz was utterly enraptured by all of those features, actually, but didn’t really want to discuss them. He was worried about crossing a line. “I think that would be socially inappropriate.”

“So?”

“I… I don’t think I’m supposed to.”

“So? If people only did what we’re supposed to do, our ancestors never would have come down out of the trees.” She pointed at him. “If you’re going to flirt, take the field and hit the line hard!”

A hundred thousand compliments flashed through Oz’s mind at once, ranging from friendly to downright pornographic. Things he liked about her that he hadn’t even consciously realized that he liked, and things which were the epitome of everything he’d ever wanted.

But Oz’s life had just not prepared him with the ability to say any of that.

Oz was the most risk adverse person you were ever going to find, and pushing the envelope here was pretty darn risky.

He thought things were generally going pretty well with the woman, and he didn’t want to ruin that by saying something which would cause him to cringe later.

He’d scared a lot of people in his life by being “creepy” and he wasn’t about to do that here.

Oz’s eyes slid down to admire her legs again. “Your… your dress matches your shoes quite well.”

“That’s really the best you have?” She groaned in annoyance. “This is the problem with men. They…” She trailed off, then softly swore to herself. “Fuck. I’ll be so glad when today’s over.”

Oz frowned in disappointment.

“Oh, not you.” She waved a hand at him, rolling her eyes. “I mean me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Me either.” She stared at him silently for another long moment. “You’re like… one of those ‘nice guys,’ aren’t you? A goddamn rule-follower. I heard about you, but only met one other before.” She nodded in certainty. “Out there saving puppies from machine gunners.”

“Most people inform me that I ‘creep them out,’ actually.” Oz corrected, as the light turned green again.

“Really?” She sounded hopeful for some reason.

“Apparently, I’m in constant danger of becoming evil. I’m told it’s in my blood.”

“Well then… maybe there’s hope for you yet.” The woman sounded amused and impressed. “Some days I’m evil too.”

“This is an odd car trip conversation.” He thought aloud.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“Don’t take many car trips?”

“Not with someone else.” She paused. “Well… not someone else inside the cab of the car, anyway.”

The digital clock switched to 12:00.

The woman made a face at the radio, which was still blaring dance club music. “Why are you listening to this shit, Oz?”

“I didn’t turn it on.”

“Well, I hate this, so I know it wasn’t me.”

Oz opened his mouth to respond to that, but found himself at a complete lack of words .

“Where was I?” She asked, sounding confused.

“You were espousing on what is wrong with the world and complaining that I failed to compliment you correctly.”

“Ah, yes.” She snapped her fingers. “The problem with the world is that everyone is selfish and flagrantly breaks the law without ramifications.”

“Yes, I know that’s what…” He paused, just processing her words. “Wait… what!?! That’s the exact opposite of the argument that you were making, not two min…”

“That’s why heroes like the Freedom Squad are so important.” She nodded. “People need role models to show them the greatness they can aspire to.”

Oz was very confused now. “ Huh!?! ”