Sitting on a small private Florida beach, Simon Teffler and Alexa Zimmer were enjoying each others' company, the sun shining radiantly above them. Both were clad in swimsuits, with Alexa wearing a one-piece red suit with straps behind her neck, showing off several inches of the beautiful flawless skin on her back. Simon believed she looked absolutely stunning in this swimsuit, especially the way it hugged the front of her body, showing off the small bumps on her chest and also displaying so much of her fine skin and luxurious figure that he considered nothing less than a natural work of art. Alexa, in turn, admired Simon's body, his six-pack and abs looking supreme in her eyes. Alexa had her arm around Simon's shoulder, her head leaning down on him.

"It's so peaceful on this beach," Alexa noted with a contented sigh. "I totally love it when you bring me here. I just wish you wouldn't have to tell everyone that I was your daughter when we go to the restaurant to eat and check into that hotel. That is so...embarrassing."

"I know it is, sweetheart," Simon replied. "But we have to keep up that ruse if we want to continue seeing each other. I know it's awful that we have to spend all of our time together pretending that we aren't romantically involved, but somehow I don't think the world is ready for this."

"I know, Sime. But what is so wrong about two people loving each other? My mom has a gay friend that always used to tell me that if two people can find love in this world, it's a wonderful thing, and society should be supportive."

"Well, unfortunately, society doesn't always feel that way. My friend Lilian is a very open-minded gay woman who has shown me support, but I would bet that your mom's gay friend wouldn't be so quick to support our relationship. You know how society is when it comes to age disparate relationships."

Alexa gave Simon a quick kiss on his lips, and then cuddled with him. "Yes, well, you would think that society would give us a break. We bust our asses to keep society safe from super-villains, natural disasters, and whatnot, yet you would think they wouldn't condemn their greatest hero just because he loves a girl so much younger than him."

Simon squeezed Alexa's bare shoulder gently, showing a surprising degree of gentleness for someone of such considerable superhuman strength, her skin feeling warm and smooth under his hand. "The human race has a lot of potential, Alexa. We cannot hate them just because they would hate us if they knew about our relationship. They have a lot of maturing to do; they do not yet realize that sometimes too much concern can be as bad as no concern whatsoever."

"Sime, I really wish that I could tell the rest of Youth Power about us."

Simon glared at his young lover with a serious countenance. "Sweetie, I wish that we could be open to our fellow super-heroes about us too. But one can never tell how they would react. Zarra comes from an enlightened background, but even many open-minded people feel harshly about intergenerational relationships. Look at how the gay community treats us."

"The gay community sold minor-attracted adults out so that they could get ahead politically!"

"Well, I'm not sure if I look at it that way, Alexa. The way I see it, they simply do not see youths under 18 as being capable of handling the same rights as adults, and they believe that if an adult is willing to date you he is nothing more than a selfish pervert. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not supremely selfish for allowing myself to give in to my feelings for you, hon. But when I saw you almost killed defending humanity--and me--from Maraud, it made me realize that I couldn't hide the way I felt from you anymore. Life is just too damn short and fragile for that."

Alexa squeezed Simon's shoulder reassuringly. "Sime, please don't think of yourself as selfish. You rock the socks as a guy, and I don't want you to let this society make you think any differently. Your love is the greatest gift I have ever received, and even though we have to hide our relationship from society that doesn't make what we share together wrong. The majority of society has been wrong before. Didn't the majority of white people once condone slavery?"

"Yes, but I can't help feeling these doubts. I want to tell Zarra, but I don't want to burden her with the secret. I just know that Eagle Hawk would have a conniption if he knew about our relationship. He would consider me a child molester or worse. Despite the fact that he took Scarlet Eagle under his wing as a sidekick he just doesn't accept people under 18 as being capable of handling a relationship with an adult, or being in any way potentially equal to a legal adult. He would think I was taking advantage of you, and he would never believe that you loved me of your own accord."

"Screw Eagle Hawk and his self-righteous views! His condescending attitude towards peeps like me makes him look foolish. He may think of himself as being our protector but keeping us from achieving our civil rights, including our right to love whomever we please, is not correct. Like you said, over-concern is worse than no concern at all."

"But it's very difficult for even a super-hero to earn his respect. Sometimes I think that only Zarra and I among the rest of the Liberty League actually earned that from him. He is a very dangerous man, despite not being a true metahuman, and he would oppose us severely if he ever found out. Moreover, he is a detective. I'm not sure how long we can keep this from him."

"As long as he has no reason to suspect anything, I don't see how he would put his detective skills to work on us."

"Alexa, Mako Shark already caught us in a semi-compromising position. Because I am one of the good guys, he assumed that he was mistaken in what he saw. He doesn't suspect that a good person could possibly be a minor-attracted adult. But suppose he said something to Eagle Hawk and started getting him suspicious about us? I hate having to sneak around my fellow heroes like this! I'm proud of having you as my girlfriend, and I want to share my happiness with everyone. But…"

Alexa put her index finger over Simon's lips to silence him. "I know what you mean. But I'm thinking that maybe Youth Power would stand beside us. I mean, they may not be thrilled, but they are youth liberationists who stand for full civil emancipation of youngies like me. I can't imagine that they would buy into all of the typical nonsense about kids being too young to date adults. I mean, that would be totally hypocritical of them."

"I'm sorry to say this, my lovely girl, but the type of prejudice we are dealing with here goes deep…very deep in modern Western culture. It's so deeply ingrained in our social mores that even a youth liberationist may harbor some level of resentment towards an adult who was dating someone your age. I really hope we are doing the right thing, and I really hope that history will be kind to us once it looks back on our relationship."

"Simon, listen to me. You save countless lives every year. I strive to do the same. Despite the hatred that society has against minor-attracted adults, I find it hard to believe that they would just give up on you and stop considering you a hero just because you love a teen girl as more than a friend."

Simon flinched, slowly moving away from the girl he adored more than anything on this planet. "Hon, after all the abhorrent things I hear said about people like me in the media every day of the week--on every talk show, in numerous magazine articles, in a large number of online essays--I can't help but wonder how deeply ingrained into the collective Western psyche this prejudice goes. I just hear so much of it that I can't stop having doubts. Sometimes when I think of you I wonder if I have totally flipped my lid for becoming your lover."

Alexa once again put her arm around the man she loved. "Do you really wish that we had never dated?"

Simon turned and looked into those crystal blue eyes of Alexa Zimmer, becoming lost in them. They resembled two of the finest crafted sapphires in existence, their azure bearing on par with the sky on a cloudless summer day. "I have my doubts. But then, once I think of what life would be without you in my arms…I think I'm a fool for ever doubting our love as being legitimate."

Alexa smiled and quickly kissed Simon on the lips. She then cuddled with him again. "I feel the same way, but I will never let this society make me doubt our love. As you said, society is more immature than a kid my age. It has a lot of nerve calling us immature or incapable of making good decisions when the adults routinely do things like stockpile nuclear weapons, vote against gay marriage, and keep millions of people in the world starving despite the fact that the U.S. alone produces enough food to feed everyone across the globe. And I'm supposed to respect what this society thinks about my love for a wonderful man like you?"

Simon tenderly reciprocated his lovely girl's snuggle. "I am very thankful that we have access to a private beach like this. That is why I bring us here when I want us to spend some quality time together outdoors, without us having to pretend that we aren't in love with each other. I remember first walking along this stretch of beach and admiring it years ago. It seemed like the perfect place to have a clandestine relationship."

Suddenly, Alexa's voice took on a more serious tone. "Um, Simon, before you completely change the subject, I must tell you that since we're together, even though we're hiding it, I don't appreciate this relationship you're having with your boss Evelyn. I mean, you do have to get intimate with her, hold her hand, etc., and I'm like totally jealous that you get to be seen with her in public, but not me."

"I know, dearest, and I fully understand your frustration. I was in denial of my feelings when I asked Evelyn out. It was in desperation to deny my hebephilia that I asked her to be my girlfriend. But too many people were beginning to wonder why I don't date in my civilian identity. Since you're still so young, you can avoid dating without arousing suspicion. But people think it's strange to see a man my age being single all the time. I don't like the imposture, to be sure, and I certainly don't enjoy being intimate with Evelyn, but without that relationship, I have no cover for myself."

Simon Teffler started thinking very hard, his thoughts momentarily beginning to focus upon his "relationship" with Evelyn Monroe. Dammit, I wondered if society was correct about my being selfish by starting a relationship with Alexa, Simon mused to himself. But by continuing to use Evelyn, by seeing the despondent look on her face every time I come up with an excuse not to be sexual with her--which is often--I start thinking that I'm extremely self-centered. But as much as I am loathe to act this way towards another human being, especially one that I like and respect, I have to keep up the cover. I'm just too afraid not to.

Simon then turned back to Alexa, the beautiful girl of his dreams. "Hon, to be honest with you…I'm scared of not continuing the ruse with Evelyn. I know you don't like it, and you know that I don't like it, and I swear to you that I'm intimate with her as little as possible. If you decide to date some boy your age as part of the ruse I will completely understand."

"Actually, babe, I think Laze would like to date me."

"Would that be a good idea? To date someone else within the super-hero fraternity?"

"Well, I'm not interested in Laze in that way. Then again, you say you're not interested in Evelyn like that."

"I'm not, sweetheart. But you might not get the support from Youth Power in the future if our relationship was ever discovered, especially if you were dating both Laze and myself at the same time. I'm just…" His voice trailed off. "I'm being selfish once more. Baby doll, I think you should do whatever you want to do." He hugged her tightly but gently.

"I would never lead on Laze in that way, he's a fellow youth libbie." She giggled to herself quietly, her pouty lips looking extremely attractive to Simon, who cannot believe that he could possibly be so fortunate as to gain the love of such an incredible young woman. "But I may want to experiment with some boyfriends in my civie life."

"Please feel free to do so, as much as I admit to wanting you all to myself. Damn, I can't stop thinking of myself as being selfish."

Alexa smiled. "I actually find that flattering, man of mine."

Simon thought Alexa's smile was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. "I'm glad you feel that way. And I swear that I do not care for Evelyn the way I care for you. I could never feel that way about a woman her age, that is not how my emotions work."

"I know, and you can bet those handsome green eyes of yours that I will never feel the same way about any teen boy that I date as I do you; that is also against my emotional make-up as a…well, what term do they use for girls who prefer adult men?"

"Actually, I think our society is so much in denial that such girls actually exist that they have never developed a clinical term for your attraction base. I think society would simply consider such girls to be emotionally disturbed, to not get enough adult attention at home, blah blah blah."

Alexa sighed. "Oh, now how respectful is that! My parents give me plenty of attention. In fact, my dad fawns over me all the time. I certainly don't think of you as a father figure. I just wish…you could meet my parents. If they gave you half a chance, they would be happy to see that I found such a wonderful and caring man, one who sacrifices so much for the betterment of the world--no matter how old you were."

"Sweetheart, I really wish your parents were likely to be that open-minded. But I know they would simply call the police and think that I 'abused' you. And I couldn't bear to see you dragged into therapy."

"If that ever happened, those cops and social workers better beware of who's head they are trying to mess with. If only the majority of girls my age had the power to resist being brainwashed into hating the man we love."

"Baby, I don't ever want it to come to that. I don't want to fight the society I have pledged to protect in order to keep your love."

"Of course not. First and foremost, you're always the hero. I may strive to be a hero too, but I think I'm a bit more likely to turn on a society that ever tried to brainwash me for my 'own good.'"

This time it was Simon's turn to sigh in dejection as he held the girl of his dreams close to him, watching as her shoulder-length blonde hair glowed in the sunlight. He hoped he would never have to choose between society and the girl he loved, because both were so important to him. He believed that society is immature and uncivilized to criminalize any form of mutually shared love in this manner, but at the same time he stood behind his opinion that society had a lot of potential and could create a truly great world in the future. But at this point in time, he realized how dangerous it was to be dating Alexa and he continued to worry about how his fellow heroes would react.

Later that night, in a slummy section of Omegaville, Eagle Hawk and Scarlet Eagle were engaged in mortal combat with a vicious street gang known as the Diamond Boys. Eagle Hawk broke the jaw of one of the gang members with a side kick to the face and trapped another's arm as the boy attempted to stab him, breaking it below the elbow. The boy fell to the ground screaming in agony as he desperately tried to set his arm back into place.

"These teens deserve a good beating," the dark champion said in his usual raspy voice.

Scarlet Eagle knocked one of the gang members down to the ground with a front kick to his groin, and as another grabbed her from behind, his arms going right under her ample bosom, she smashed the back of her head into his nose, causing the cartilage to explode in a spray of crimson. She then proceeded to flip her would-be attacker over her shoulder, landing him on his head.

"You gonna start that again, boss?" the attractive 15-year-old asked her grim mentor. "These annoying gang bangers may be in the age range of 16-20, but they hardly serve as examples-"

She broke off her sentence for a second to duck a blow swung at her from another gang member, shattering the cartilage in his nose with an upper hand thrust to his face.

"-of all teens. Or do you forget all the good that Youth Power does?"

"That's because Youth Power has the Liberty League looking over its shoulder. All good teens need adults looking over them in order for them to behave properly." In the time it took him to say those words, Eagle Hawk painfully dispatched three more hoods with a series of expert martial arts moves.

"Oh, yea, boss? I think we do a pretty good job without you guys watching over us. I think we display a lot of evidence that teens and even younger kids are quite capable of great things even without adults around to control us."

A gang member then came running at Eagle Hawk while brandishing a steel pipe, screaming at a high volume as he did so. Eagle Hawk kicked him in the throat, causing the young sociopath to cough up blood and going silent immediately afterwards.

"Be quiet, punk! Can't you see that I'm trying to talk?"

Scarlet Eagle knocked another attacker down with a reverse punch to his sternum, followed by a kick to his face.

"I think many teens do incredible things without adult control, boss."

"Then why does every member of your team of super-hooligans have an adult mentor?"

"Not all of us do. Laze and Ferro-Con don't, and Ultra Girl…well…"

As Scarlet Eagle rendered another malcontent who attacked her insensate with a wicked spear hand thrust to his solar plexus, she started thinking about Ultra Girl and her suspicions. Does she have a "thing" for Solar Man? If so, it wouldn't be the first time that a youth hero had a crush on a mentor. But the way he looked at Ultra Girl…was it possible that he might have similar feelings for her? Considering his age, she thought to herself, that's impossible. Or is it? Should I say something to Eagle Hawk about that?

Ultimately, the young heroine known as Scarlet Eagle decided to keep her suspicions to herself. For now.

The following morning, in the same building that houses THE DAILY VOICE newspaper, Simon Teffler was finally meeting the man called Seamus Fitzpatrick for the first time. Knowing that Seamus was a pedophile made him a bit nervous. How many people knew of this? Would this man have entrusted such combustible knowledge to anyone but Lilian Ross? Would people suspect Simon himself of being a minor-attracted person due to his having a behind the scenes meeting with Seamus? Finally finding the nerve to knock on the man's office door--the one that said "NEBULA COMMUNICATIONS AFFLIATE" on it--Simon was a bit surprised at the man who answered the door. In his late 40s, with a shock of grayish hair on his head, walking a bit stooped over and clad in a gray sports jacket with matching pants and a black tie, Seamus Fitzpatrick didn't resemble Simon Teffler's mental image of a pedophile, which was a tall and gaunt youngish looking man with a trench coat. At least this is how the evil pedophiles are often portrayed on the cop shows that serve to lambaste their image and insist that all pedos are malicious beings who exist for no purpose other than to ruin the lives of children and steal their innocence.

"So, you're Simon Teffler," Seamus said quietly, extending his hand. "Based on what Lilian said, you're not what I suspected. But she says you're trustworthy, and that's good enough for me."

"Yes, and I also trust her when she says that you're trustworthy," Simon replied with a bit of nervousness in his voice. "So, um...let's get right down to business. How do you deal with it?"

"You mean, how do I deal with it considering what all the cop shows, talk shows, and news articles have to say about pedophiles? I have to keep quiet about it in order to have a career. Human resources would have a fit if they knew what I was, since we seem to have an inherently bad image about us. I am 47 years old and I have never molested a child and never intend to. Do I wish I could have one as the equivalent of a romantic interest? Yes, very much. After all, my sexual nature is not the same as that of a typical 'normal' adult; it's naturally designed to be compatible with the low intensity desires of children, say age six-ten. I hear that your interest is for girls who are older than tha, specifically the teeny boppers. Which makes you a hebe rather than a pedo."

"Yes. Considering all the guilt and denial I went through regarding my interest in adolescent girls, I can't imagine what it must be like to live with your interest level, Seamus."

"I'm like most every other human being. I have to work to make a living, I love my family, I wish I had more money, I wish my satellite dish didn't constantly break whenever the weather gets bad, etc. The only difference is that I have a physical and emotional preference for children. I've made my peace with that. Society can say all the horrible things they want about people like me, that doesn't make me evil in reality. I imagine that a few of us may break after hearing over and over again that we are destined to be evil monsters, maybe even hurt a few kids simply because they believe they are expected to behave that way. But the majority of us stand steadfast against the stereotypes and we remain sane and productive human beings. I am sure that you will remain a sane, trustworthy, and decent human being yourself, Simon. I've only known you for a few minutes now, but I am a good judge of character and I can sense your sincerity."

"Thank you, Seamus. It means a lot to me to see that a minor-attracted adult can continue to be a good person no matter what the media says. But you're the first other minor-attracted adult that I have ever met, so I'm not sure what the rest of them are like."

"The rest of them are human beings, Simon, just like you and I. They have their foibles and imperfections, they have their loves and hates, they have their talents and shortcomings, and they make their way through this society as best they can. As I said, some of them break and get committed or end up becoming dangerous, but most of them remain very good and decent people. That's all I have to say about the others in our community."

Hmmm…I never thought of them as a legitimate community of people before, Simon thought to himself. I always thought of them as some sort of deviants. But Seamus seems really human. Like an ordinary man except for his attraction base. But he isn't a world renowned hero. He doesn't have the same riding on his shoulders as I do.

"Um, Seamus…do you ever worry about…you know, losing everything that you have?"

"Only every day of my life. And all because society has a tendency to hate what they don't understand."

Simon then looked downwards with great sadness in his expression.

Later that day, over on North Boulevard, Alexa Zimmer was attending a concert of the popular band Yes Virginia along with two of her peers, Don Brown, also known as the teen super-hero Laze and Denise Talbert, who is also the raven-haired teen adventurer of potent magickal ability known as Mystik. The three of them decided to attend the concert in their civilian identities so that they could get to know each other better and not have to function together only through an impersonal manner as teammates. Don really wanted Alexa to come with him on her own, as a date, but he still hadn't found the nerve to ask her out. So he thought it was a good idea to bring Denise along as a "third wheel," just in case the intended 'date' didn't work out. Don realized that Alexa never seemed to flirt back with him when he flirted with her, but he still thought this girl was charming and incredible, and he wanted this brave young lady to be his significant other. The two girls were yelling and screaming to the music emanating from the concert with the rest of the audience, bouncing up and down like hyperactive puppies. In other words, they were behaving precisely as teen girls are expected to behave at such events. They were having fun. And Don was glad. But he figured they would have much more fun if the evening's festivities ended on a positive note for himself and Alexa.

The three youthful heroes planned to have dinner together after the concert, ostensibly to celebrate their victory over Dante Inferno. It was then that Don would find out exactly how his teammate Alexa, a.k.a., Ultra Girl, felt about him. Is there any chance his attraction was mutual? He thought both the girls looked fantastic. Alexa was dressed in a white mid-driff shirt with the name of the band on it, cut off at the stomach so as to show off the skin on her belly and lower back, a painted image of a butterfly visible on the latter space just above her buttocks. One of the sleeves hung off of her shoulder, where her turquoise blue bra strap was visible. She wore blue 'hip-hugger' jeans that flattered the lower part of her figure. Denise had her black hair up and she wore a dark teal tank top that was low cut enough in front to show off the top of her breasts to any nice-looking boy or girl who would have an interest in seeing how proud she was of her body. She wore maroon-colored pants that were torn around the knees. Don recalled how wonderful the two girls looked in their costumes when they were out playing hero, and he was curious as to how they would dress when out in their civie identities. But he considered Denise to be just a good friend and Alexa to be the object of his desire. It was time, after the final song of the night, to find out how she felt.

When the three were finally having dinner, Alexa poked at her lasagna with a fork and commented that the sauce was a bit too sweet.

"Sort of like you, huh, babe?" Don stated playfully, his face a bit red after doing so.

Alexa simply giggled in response.

Denise rolled her eyes. "Geez, Donnie, why don't you simply give this girl a wedding ring and get it all over with already?"

"Denise!" Don exclaimed, looking quite perturbed.

Alexa simply giggled again, a soft sound that Don found quite appealing, and she stuffed another piece of lasagna in her mouth.

"But, while we are on that subject," Don said nervously, "I was just wondering if you would like to go to another concert with me next Friday, Alexa. The Catchers In The Rye are playing and I know how much you like them. Then we could stop at the Menaheim Art Theater since that night they are having a special showing of Sundays and Cybele, and I know that is one of your all time fave films."

Alexa watched Denise nervously eating her chicken parmesan. "But what about Denise? And shouldn't we ask Jennifer if she wants to come? Having someone like Eagle Hawk as a mentor must really leave her in terrible need of a night out on the town."

"Well…I don't mean this to be a group thing, Alexa. I was thinking more like a twosome. Just me and you."

Alexa gave her teammate and friend a surprised look as she chewed her food.

Denise rolled her eyes yet again as she swallowed a chunk of chicken. "Um, Alexa, in case you haven't noticed, considering how awkward he is being, the boy is trying to ask you out on a date."

Alexa looked up with a glare in her eyes that was reminiscent of someone who was truly on the spot.

"Donnie, I really respect you heaps and heaps as a person, and you're a good friend and a good teammate…but I'm not sure that I have any special feelings for you. So I would like to go with you to see the Catchers In The Rye and Sundays and Cybele, but I think we should bring other friends too. Okay?"

"Uh," Don said in a highly embarrassed manner. "Well…yes. Sure. We will make it a group thing then. Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable by asking you out."

Denise looked a little upset at Alexa for turning her best friend down. "Donnie, can you give me and Alexa a few moments to have a private chat?"

"Of course," he replied. "I'll go up front and pay my bill now. And maybe die of embarrassment." Denise patted him on the shoulder as a gesture of support before walking off to the side with Alexa.

"Alexa, Donnie is an awesome dude. If I didn't already have a girlfriend, I would go out with him. Why don't you want to go out with him? Do you think he's a bit too old for you? He's only 16."

"No, that's not it! Not it at all. Y'see, I have someone that I'm interested in and I was thinking of asking him out."

"Someone who actually respects and cares about you as much as Donnie does? You have to be kidding me."

"Actually, he's someone very special, but I can't tell you who he is, just in case he turns me down. Then I will be the one who is embarrassed."

"Then by all means ask him out, girlfriend. But if he turns you down, then you know you have Donnie to fall back on. I hate to see you treating him as a second choice, but I think if you gave him a chance you would find him to be a really good catch."

"Donnie is a nice boy, but not my type. We all have different preferences. Are you saying I am wrong for not finding him attractive in a romantic sense?"

"No, I didn't say that, so please don't put words in my mouth. What I meant was: let me ask you a question. Do you have a crush on Solar Man? You've gone out of your way to get him to have those training sessions with you, and..."

Alexa's face turned marble white. "Oh, c'mon now, dudette! He's like in his 30s or something! There is no freaking way I would ever end up with him. And he has a girlfriend in his civie identity!"

Denise laughed. "Okay, just so long as you understand the hopelessness of a grown man like him ever being interested in you. It's not like he's some kind of pedophile or something!"

Alexa turned white again, and she really wanted to punch her good friend Denise in the face. "Let's pay the bill and go now. I suddenly don't feel very good. I knew the sauce would get to me." Damn bigots, she thought to herself as she got up to leave the restaurant.

The following day, Donnie Brown was on the phone with Denise Talbert. He was hoping to alleviate his embarrassment.

"Oh well," he said. "I didn't think she would go out with me. A really cool girl like that must have a lot of boys after her."

"Actually," she replied, "I have my suspicions as to why she turned you down. She says there is another boy in her life. But I'm starting to wonder…"

"Do you think she may be exclusively gay?"

Denise laughed. "No, I don't think that. But I think that she may believe that five years from now, she may have a chance with Solar Man."

"I knew it! I knew she would fall for him! Is he really that special? We sacrifice just as much for the greater good as he does! Doesn't she realize that in five years he will be really older and probably married in his civie life and that there is no way he would ever be interested in her?"

"Well, Youth Power is supposed to have a training session with the Liberty League next week. Eagle Hawk seems to think that we teens need some greater mentoring to make sure we don't make a mess out of one of our missions, so he arranged the whole thing. Solar Man should be there, and if he is, I think I will have a talk with him. Maybe once he realizes that Alexa has the hots for him, he will no longer have her as a sidekick. He's the most responsible super-hero in the world, there is no way he will keep training her personally if he knows that she is developing feelings for him."

"Won't she be upset if you tell Solar Man that you think she has the hots for him?"

"The point is, if she does have the hots for him, then she has to be separated from him. There is no way he can continue training her with such a conflict of interest. I think he is responsible enough that he would want to know this."

Don frowned. "Do you suppose…there is any chance that he knows about it and…doesn't care?"

"Of course not! It's Solar Man we're talking about here! He's the greatest hero of them all! Of course he would care."

"Okay, then if you think he should know then by all means tell him. Even though I know she will be very angry with us, I care about her enough to do the right thing and let her be upset with me."

"You will have nothing to do with this. Once she get's over her crush on Solar Man, she will reach out to you, and when she does, you will need to be there for her."

Don smiled warmly. "I certainly will."

"Good. Then it's settled. Next week I will have that talk with Solar Man."