Chapter 3: News From The Homefront

By a/k/a Simon
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The last thing Megan Sanchez expected to see when she walked to the parking lot of the Independence Montessori School at the end of the second day of classes was Eddie Sanchez, the man she once called her husband.

Day two had been markedly less interesting than the starter for the year. She’d had a long talk with Sandy Mead about body image and the epidemic of obesity plaguing America. Roger Lakely was absent; agents of the school investigating to make sure his father hadn’t done anything worse than knock him around a little too much. Mike Glynnis decided to run his porn site from home and managed to find something more respectable to focus his daytime energies on, researching robotics—which Megan was sure would somehow lead to a bigger and better marital aide at some point down the line. Non-teaching Assistant Shannon Driscoll was still a ball of pep, but that was something that would diminish with time. The issues of day one seemingly resolved, Megan was allowed to relax and get in the proper mindset to start a normal school year.

And then there was Eddie, standing next to her car in the parking lot. Suddenly there was a new kind of stress on the horizon.

“What are you doing here, Eddie?” she asked as she continued her pace to the car, taking her keys out of her purse and fumbling to find the right one to unlock the door. The tumbler turned and she heard the sound of the locks on all four doors disengage simultaneously.

“We need to talk,” Eddie said in the most sincere and somber voice he could produce.

“I don’t really see that we do, Eddie.” She was ending every sentence with his name, the way she did when she was being forceful, his name acting as punctuation and reinforcement.

Megan opened the door and dropped into the bucket seat of her Subaru Impreza. As she turned the key in the ignition the radio came on, ‘Monkey Wrench’ by the Foo Fighters blasting mid-verse from the speakers.

Don’t wanna be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I’d rather leave than suffer this

She reached for the knob and turned the radio off. More to let in fresh air than to give her estranged husband a chance to speak, she pressed the button and let the window roll down. Eddie leaned in looking desperate. With her defenses up she decided it was an act and pushed the clutch in to switch to reverse. “Please,” he pleaded. “It’s important. I need you.”

For a moment she looked at the steering wheel, collecting her thoughts, allowing a split second of compassion. Then it was gone. Memories flooded back, too many days and nights, weeks and months alone. A marriage on paper only. Two people living separate lives but sharing the same last name. Too long it was like that.
Her eyes looked straight forward, ignoring the hint of him in the corner of her vision. “I’m sorry, Eddie,” she said with a mix of anger and regret, “it’s too late.” She shifted into reverse, looked in her rear-view mirror, and pulled the car out of the space, turning perpendicular to her previous position. The man stood there, his arms at his side, looking defeated and without destination. The Impreza dropped into first and started to pull away slowly.
“I’ve lost my powers,” he said at a medium yell, just enough for Megan to hear over the accelerating engine. She hit the brake, stalling the car in the process.

Megan opened the door and stood there, leaning against the window casing, the door ajar warning chiming from within the cockpit. She looked at Eddie, part stranger, part lover. What kind of game is this? she thought to herself. It wasn’t like him to be manipulative. Out of curiosity and a small hint of pity she walked toward him for elaboration.

Eddie was looking at the pavement, weak and ashamed. There was a slight shiver about him, as if he were cold. But that was impossible. The man was a self-generating furnace. He could melt steel bars with a touch of his hand. How could he be cold?
“It’s true,” he said, sensing her skepticism. “They’re gone. All of them.”

“You mean you’re just an ordinary man now?”

“Looks that way.”

His tone couldn’t hide any lies. This was fact. Megan looked at her husband, a whisper of his former self. It was in his body language, in his voice, in his very presence. He wasn’t the same man she’d once known. Or maybe he was, just momentously diminished.
“Oh Eddie, I’m sorry.” She was telling the truth. No matter how much resentment she had for his treatment of her, there was no denying the contributions he’d made to the larger world. There was a time when she hated him, always off saving other lives when she wished he was home living a life with her. That was the burden of his abilities. Maybe it was a mistake for someone like him to entertain the idea of marriage. But the fact was that there had been something about him that attracted her. And it was that same thing that ultimately drove her away. He wasn’t a bad person. He was just a terrible husband.

She embraced him. For the first time since the loss of his powers Eddie felt a heat that warmed him from the surface of his skin to deep within his body. As she patted his back she could hear him sniffling, choking back tears. He’d lost everything that defined him. It was amazing that he was able to keep it together as much as he did.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” he said with a quivering voice. “I thought maybe if I came to see you…” he trailed off, leaving the sentence for her to finish.

Megan suspected where this was going. It wasn’t a conversation she was prepared for. She needed to stall, to collect her thoughts and figure out how she felt about this new development.

“Listen,” she said tenderly, “why don’t we talk over dinner tonight?” Eddie nodded.

They held each other for another minute and then he walked her to her car. As he shut the door for her she looked out the window and said, “Meet me at the Sea Catch on 31st Street. Seven o’clock.” Then she reached up with her left hand and touched the side of his face. It was gruff, unshaven, and frigid.


Megan Sanchez sat at her desk in her Georgetown apartment, attempting to organize a student’s learning program. It was a simple plan but her mind was somewhere else. Memories were vying for dominance in her head, the good times and the bad. Her mood was fluid, continually shifting as one set of reminiscence gained the upper hand over the other. She had a strong suspicion of what Eddie was after. But was reconciliation really what she wanted? For every small memory she had of time spent together she had half a dozen of him being off somewhere saving the world. Why had she even married him to begin with? The year they dated was prelude to the three they were married, not a great difference in his relationship attendance. Was it something about him that was so attractive or was it just a defense against being alone? If it were the latter than it was obviously a failed attempt. Without his powers there would be no reason for him to be absent so often. But then, how many superheroes lose their powers and they actually stay lost? One fortuitous accident and she would be right back where she started.

As six-thirty approached she was no closer to a resolve.

Eddie spent the afternoon at his apartment in Woodley Park, waiting impatiently for the minutes to tick away. His delusion and desperation convinced him he had a good feeling about the outcome of dinner. There had been many mistakes and inconsiderations over the four years they were together, but now things were different. His powers would no longer take him away from her, no longer consume his life. From now on she would be his life. The only life available to him. He needed her to understand that he was changed, not just physically. There was a new sense of commitment in him that would do whatever it took to make things work this time. At least that was the story he worked up. The truth was that he had nothing else and nowhere else to turn. If she rejected him he didn’t know what he would do.

At six o’clock Eddie left his apartment, crossed the Taft Bridge, and caught a Metro bus from Dupont Circle to Georgetown.


The table overlooked the Potomac, Megan to her left and Eddie to his right. A votive candle burned with the scent of sage between them. Conversation was sparse to start, both waiting until the settling in and ordering of drinks was out of the way before delving into the deeper issues. Eddie mentioned the weather and how he never realized how cold it actually was. Megan continued the topic by mentioning that the leaves would be changing soon and that’s when it would really get cold. They discussed the menu and what they heard was good. Megan decided on the shrimp scampi while Eddie opted for the surf and turf platter. Once their food orders were in there was an awkwardly long silence as neither wanted to be the first to broach the thing that loomed over them.

Eddie finally decided to start things off. “I wanted to talk to you about…”

Megan cut him off. “So what does it feel like, not having any powers anymore? It must be weird.”

“Totally. I don’t even know how to describe it. I guess it must be what it’s like to go blind or deaf after having those senses your whole life.”

“Do you mind if I ask how it happened?”

Eddie seized up for a second and then exhaled, running his hand through his hair. He was obviously uncomfortable with the question. “Ask me again later.”

“You know, if you want me to trust you you’re going to have to let me in,” Megan said, trying to give him a hint in the right direction.

“I want to tell you, believe me. I just don’t think I’m ready to relive it just yet. But I will tell you.”

The appetizer came, a plate of fried calamari with a ramekin of cocktail sauce on the side. They ate in near-silence, commenting on the quality of the food, consuming it slowly to fill the time. By the time they were down to the last piece of batter-covered squid the main course arrived. Soon it was too long to go without talking and the conversation both were waiting for was unavoidable.

“Meg,” Eddie began timidly, “I want to get back together.”

“Eddie,” Megan said, her tone turning nervous, “I don’t think that’s such a…”

“Now wait,” he interrupted. “I know I wasn’t the best husband in the world. Hell, I was barely a husband at all. But you have to understand that being a superhero was all I’ve ever known. They kept me in a lab until I was almost a teenager. And after that my life was defined by using my powers to save lives. It was what I did and I was good at it. Then you came along and I felt things I’d never felt before. For the first time I wondered if maybe my life should be about more. Don’t ever think that I didn’t love you. But I guess being a superhero is like a drug. Or maybe there’s just so much bad in the world that those of us with special gifts get bogged down with so much work that we don’t have time for anything else. I don’t really know. All I do know is that that life is over now. I still have feelings for you and, now that they’re gone, my powers won’t get in the way anymore. I’m just asking for a second chance. Please.”

His voice changed as he spoke, getting more desperate as he went along. Megan genuinely felt for him. She never had powers but she was familiar with great loss. At the same time, softened as her heart was, she wasn’t ready to put herself back into the position she was in a year ago. She cared for Eddie, but she had to take care of herself first.

“Eddie,” she began.

He knew what she was going to say. It was all there in the way she said his name. His delusion crumbled fast and all that was left was desperation, the horrifying void of the future staring him down. “Don’t,” he said. “Don’t say it. You can’t…I just…you can’t understand. I need you. I know I’ve made a lot of mistakes. But this can’t be it. I love you.”

Megan’s lungs clenched as she heard the three final words. It was almost enough to sway her. Almost.

“I’m sorry.” She put down her napkin, left money for the bill, and walked out the door.


The light was blinking on the answering machine in Megan’s apartment. One new message, according to the display.

Tuesday, seven-forty-three p.m.

“Meg, hey it’s your Aunt Greta. Listen honey, something bad has happened. Your mom’s cancer has progressed. It doesn’t look too good. I know you have your reasons. I can understand why you left. I just thought maybe you’d want to know what was going on. The doctors don’t give her much time. If there’s anything you want to say to her, this is probably going to be your last chance. Call me when you get this. I’m at the house fielding the phone calls.”


Eddie Sanchez decided to walk back to his apartment. The air was slightly cooler than when he’d left, the sun finally gone down and the darkness increasing. He stopped on the Taft Bridge and looked at the lions. The stone figures embodied power and austerity in their simple quiescence. He leaned against the stone railing and down to the passing cars on the Rock Creek Parkway. It was a strange way to get from place to place to him, taking so long to get from one spot to the next, confined to established strips of asphalt. What would take a standard automobile an hour to travel he could traverse in about five minutes. Even the short walk from the bridge to his apartment was an interminably long span of time. It all just seemed so inefficient.

Before he could even turn the lights on in his apartment the phone rang. He didn’t care, letting the machine get it as he hung up his jacket in the hall closet.

“Eddie?” It was Megan. Eddie dropped his jacket and darted for the phone. “Eddie, if you’re there…”

“I’m here,” he said. “What’s up?”

“Were you serious about wanting to get back together?” she asked. Eddie noticed that her voice was different. She seemed harried.

“Absolutely. Meg, I will do whatever it takes…”

“Look, I don’t know if I’m sure about us. I don’t know if there can be an us. But right now I just need you to help me. I need someone I can trust. Despite everything that’s happened, I’d like to believe I can trust you. Can I trust you?”

“You know that you can.”

“Good. Then pack a bag. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

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