Page 27 of Seductive Architect (Grunts of Vanguard #2)

Janet’s snoring had reached a crescendo.

Sprawled out on the couch, she had passed out the moment her save-the-world energy faded.

Hudson had helped me get my suit on a workbench.

If I needed to storm the proverbial fortress, I wanted to make sure I was prepared for anything Apex could throw at me.

That meant including an arsenal capable of taking down Wyatt, Drew, and any other super he had under his control. I pushed the thought out of my mind.

“How are you doing?”

Hudson looked up from a dismantled gauntlet. “I’m good.”

“Really?” I didn’t have a computer in the bunker. Any adjustments I was going to make would require my powers. “Even with your non-quite-human status? ”

He didn’t reply. Instead, he rested his hand in the gauntlet until the straps moved into place. When he held it up, his eyes widened. “Is this what you hear?”

I raised an eyebrow, about to ask what he meant. The nanites on the gauntlet shifted, moving about. I closed my eyes and found that rush of Hudson’s code speaking directly with the gauntlet. When the tiny robots finished, the repulsor had moved from the palm to the top of the knuckles.

“Did you do that?”

He shrugged while he nodded. “I think so? Ever since our talk, I’ve noticed weird things. I’m super strong.” He raised the table off the ground to emphasize the point. “I think I’m fast? I know a lot about guns, like a whole lot.”

“Sounds like the firewall between you and your programming is coming down.”

“You know…” He lowered the table. “I never questioned not knowing my first-grade teacher’s name. I didn’t know my favorite food. There are all these things you’re supposed to know about yourself, and they never crossed my mind.”

“Sounds like they installed barriers to prevent you from asking questions.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Forest green.”

He thought about it for a moment. “Too dark, I think. I like that orange when the sun first comes up… but I’m not sure. ”

“An orange guy, huh?”

“I’m not sure, though.”

“You don’t need to be.” Hudson had decades of missed experiences.

I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to realize your existence was limited to six months.

“Humans change their minds all the time. I used to like neon blue. When I was younger, I’d dye my hair, and it was so bright. My parents hated it.”

“I’d like to see photos of that.”

“You have a little book filled with experiences. You’ve been documenting the things you find important. Most humans don’t think to do that until we’re faced with our own mortality. Honestly, I bet you have a better understanding of yourself than most people.”

His lips pursed as he thought about it. I hadn’t stopped to think about him as a person…

a new person. As he and his code integrated, would he be the same Hudson I first met?

Would he evolve and change and become something more?

I grinned when I realized my fears were because I thought of him as a human.

The same could happen to any couple. While the fear mounted, I had to remind myself that the risk was worth the reward.

“What’s your favorite memory so far?”

“The slime.” The smile came back the moment he said it.

“It is pretty cool.”

“With you. ”

His stare had an intensity that made me speed through the highlight reel of our first time together. I looked up, letting him see the redness in my cheeks. “That’s a pretty good memory. I think about that quite a bit.”

“What’s yours?”

I could have been mushy and referenced one of our encounters or the date at the food truck. There were a lifetime's worth of memories to sift through, but I always came back to a single moment.

“I only applied for the job at Secret Identities Incorporated to prove superheroes worked there. Sure, Connie wanted me to get out of the house, but I thought if I could prove one of my theories, all my time researching wouldn’t be wasted.

I didn’t expect Arthur to offer me the job.

Giant bugs attacked the office building, and I had to send drones to stop the invasion. ”

Arthur was more impressed with my ability to fix the printer. Working for him gave me a reason to use my powers to make the world a better place. The first day we started, we sat in a break room that looked like a war zone. I balanced in my three-legged chair when Arthur ushered Drew in.

“My favorite memory is our first meeting in the break room.” Until Hudson asked, I had never stopped to think about the significance of that moment.

“Four guys sitting around a table, talking work as we sized up one another. Then, Janet came in like a storm. We were the worst employees for the job. Out of sheer desperation, Arthur had hired complete idiots. And yet…”

Hudson lay across the table, stretching his arm. I put my hand in the gauntlet, and he gave me a reassuring squeeze.

“That was the day I met my new family.”

I resisted admitting it for as long as possible, but it was the truth, one I had buried under my xenophobia.

I hadn’t been this honest with myself in a long time.

It explained why I was willing to rush into Synergy and risk my life to save them.

Each of them would put their life on the line for me. It was the least I could do.

“Thank you,” I said.

Hudson crawled across the table, his body half draped over my suit. In the face of danger, I appreciated his antics breaking the tension. “Why thank me?”

“Do you want the truth?” How much of my baggage was I going to drop on him today? He might not be the only one having an identity crisis right now. “I always said I preferred machines. And here I have—” I gestured at the beefy man lying on my work bench. “—the sexiest one.”

“Thanks… I think?”

“Apex wants soldiers without humanity.” I let go of his hand and cupped his cheeks. “Before you, I would have agreed with him. It’s not your code that interest me. It’s the human with a goofy grin and zeal for burritos that I’m falling for. ”

“You’re falling?” It would have been an embarrassing admission, except the edge of his lip curved up. “Me, too.”

With our feelings on the table, the fear lingered.

Hudson hadn’t found himself, not yet. When he became the man he wanted to be, would there still be this thing between us, or would he move on?

As my thumb ran back and forth along his cheek, I realized I had already made my decision.

These moments, the now between us, were worth connecting.

He put the gauntlet over my hand, leaning into my palm. “You’re worried, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. A little, I guess. Who knows what will happen down the road? But I’m excited to see the man you become. I’m along for the ride.”

“First, we save the world. Then, we’ll discuss your reward.”

Apex had been wrong. Hudson embodied the best of both worlds, and that made him a true super soldier. With a little compassion, Hudson could be the superhero Vanguard needed.

I smiled as his code whispered a simple, I try .

The gauntlet on his hand dissolved, creeping across his face. He pushed himself off the table as the nanites covered his face. A moment later, he had a black mask covering his eyes and the bridge of his nose. The rest swarmed about his body until he wore a black and purple suit.

“Damn,” I said .

“You like it?”

He flexed, showing off his muscles. It looked like I’d have a sidekick tonight. I thought it had been a leap forward agreeing to work with Wyatt and Drew. I almost laughed at how much my perspective had changed, and it all revolved around one man waltzing into my life holding a vibrator.

His suit would look great on my bedroom floor. “You’re a hero.”

My hero.