#SuperViral, Ch 6: Collateral Damage & Clickbait Pt. 1

With Connor's arm casually draped around her shoulders, his hero suit gleaming under the studio lights, Jenna felt the familiar algorithmic hum of a successful #CoupleGoals stream, even as a tiny, traitorous voice in her head whispered, 'Is any of this real anymore?'

She pushed the thought away and put on the bright, practiced smile that was a key part of her @JayGlowsUp brand. "Okay, Glow-Getters, we've got time for one more question before I have to finish this look and we head out to the Windy City Heroes Gala!" she said cheerfully, her eyes moving quickly to the fast-scrolling chat on her monitor. She quickly chose a perfect, easy question. "This one's from @HeroWorshipper12: 'Connor, what's Jenna's most SUPER annoying habit?'"

Connor chuckled, a warm, deep sound that she knew made his fans go wild. His arm tightened around her playfully. "Oh, that's easy," he said, leaning into her microphone. "It's the way she steals all my official Windy City Guardians hoodies. I go to get one after a long, cold patrol, and my drawer is empty. It's a real security risk." He winked, a tiny movement behind the smooth, dark front of his mask. "But then, I see her curled up on the couch in one, looking all cozy, and I guess I can't stay mad."

Jenna rolled her eyes for the camera. It was a perfect, fake look of annoyance. "They're just so comfortable! And you have, like, twenty of them!" she replied. Inside her head, she made a mental note: clip that part, add a cute 'swoon' sound effect, post to Current tomorrow morning. It was great content. The comment section filled up with heart emojis and different versions of "Awww!" and "So cute!" This was the kind of video that paid the bills and helped her channel grow beyond just makeup tutorials. This was the work.

"Alright, speaking of getting that perfect gala 'glow'," she said, smoothly segueing, "I'm using the 'Starlight' liquid foundation from Nova Beauty. It gives you this amazing, bright look without feeling heavy, which is perfect for a long night of avoiding reporters and, you know, possible attacks from bad guys." She gave Connor a playful nudge.

"Hey, I've got that covered," he said with heroic confidence. He held up his hand, and with a faint shimmer of blue-white energy, the blush brush on her makeup table lifted into the air and did a little spin. "See? Kinetic energy. Always on alert."

The chat went wild. Jenna laughed, a bright, light sound she had perfected. "Okay, show-off. Just don't knock over my setting spray." His arm. The playful shimmer of his power. It was a perfect fantasy, and they sold it so well. God, it was tiring. The camera angle, the viewer count, the constant mental math - a second job running invisibly behind her smile. She reminded herself this was their truth, or the parts of it they sold. A highlight reel, polished for everyone to see. So why did it feel so exhausting? He made this hero act look so easy. For her, it was careful, hard work.

"Okay, my loves," she said, putting on a final spray of the hairspray she had just mentioned. "That's the finished look! We have to run, but we promise to post tons of pictures from the gala later tonight. Thank you all for hanging out with us!"

Connor leaned in, his masked face close to hers. "Stay safe out there, citizens," he said into the mic, his voice dropping into a deeper, more heroic sound. They waved together, a practiced, perfect goodbye. Jenna tapped the screen, and the live video ended. The brightly lit room was suddenly, shockingly quiet. The digital buzz of the stream in her head faded, leaving behind a dull, empty echo.

The moment the red recording light blinked off, the performance ended. Connor's arm slid from her shoulders. He pulled off his mask with a sigh of relief and ran his fingers through his perfectly messy brown hair. The easy charm of 'Kinetic' faded, showing the more distracted, restless energy of Connor Feder.

He didn't look at her. His attention was already on the glow of his phone. His thumb immediately started a quick, endless scroll. The change was so abrupt it was almost rough, like a curtain dropping on a stage.

Jenna turned to her makeup table. The bright lights now felt harsh and interrogating. The silence in the room stretched, thick and uncomfortable. It was broken only by the faint, steady tap-tap-tap of Connor's thumb on his screen. She began carefully cleaning her brushes. The soft swish of bristles against a cleaning pad was the only sound she made. This post-stream quiet, a familiar vacuum. The silence that rushed in to fill the space where their public image had been.

Her own frustration was a harsh line she could never quite blend away. A mix of small things, tiny fissures spiderwebbing across the golden surface of their life.

His patrols had been ending later and later, sometimes not until just before dawn. His explanations were always vague, hidden behind the excuse of his superhero duties. "Secret information," he'd say, sounding important. "Long-term watch on a new threat." "You know I can't discuss active cases, Jenna." He made her feel small for even asking, for wanting the simple decency of knowing when he'd be back.

Then there was his obsession with his follower count. His @KineticFlow account had plateaued. It was a good number for a mid-level hero, but it chafed against his ego. She knew his obsession with his follower count wasn't just ego; it was a balm for the hero work he secretly feared he wasn't good enough for. Meanwhile, her @JayGlowsUp channel was doing very well, mostly, she knew, because of their #Conna videos.

Instead of being happy for them, he'd become critical.

"You need to be more exciting, Jen," he'd told her last week, scrolling through his own social media. "Less… just pretty. Look at RoxxiHardbody's stuff. It's bold. It's edgy. That's what people want." The comment had hurt. It wasn't just because it sounded like he was looking down on her, but because it felt like he was comparing her to a type of person she could never be, and would never want to be.

Tonight's gala was his stage. A chance to meet important people, to talk to the bosses at the Windy City Guardians, and to remind everyone that Connor "Kinetic" Feder was a hero on the rise. She was just part of his look, like a coveted accessory on his arm.

Sighing, she picked up her own phone. She planned to start writing captions for her gala photos. She opened her direct messages to clear out the flood of fan mail after the stream. Then she saw it: a message from an account with no profile picture and a name made of random numbers. It read: "Just thought you should know. Your hero isn't always flying solo."

A cold shock went through her, sharp and digital. The air in her lungs seemed to freeze solid. Below the text was a file. With a trembling finger, she opened it. The photo was blurry. It was taken in a dimly lit bar, and the quality was terrible. But she clearly recognized the line of his jaw, the familiar way he laughed with his head thrown back. He was out of costume, in his regular clothes. He was leaning in very close to a woman whose face was turned away from the camera. The woman's body, however, was clearly visible - strong biceps, a very toned back showing under a tank top. Athletic. Edgy. Bold.

Jenna's mind immediately started making excuses, trying to deny the upsetting thought. It's a troll. It's photoshopped. He has people who give him information. He has teammates. It could be anyone. He has to meet people for his job. She repeated these reasons in her head over and over like a mantra. But the image was burned into her brain.

A bitter, sharp feeling of irony rose in her throat. She remembered how she and Connor had started: the secret meetings, the flirty texts while he was still officially with Valora. Valora was a powerful heroine whose own busy patrol schedule had caused problems between them. He had complained to Jenna that Valora was too demanding and too suspicious. He said Valora didn't understand the pressures of his job. And Jenna had been the cool girl, the understanding one.

She gave him space and didn't ask too many questions. She had won him by being everything Valora wasn't. And now, here she was, staring at a blurry photo. Her heart was pounding with the same suspicion she had once smugly dismissed as Valora's failing. The ugly little piece of doubt wasn't just there; it was twisting deeper, threatening to break everything.

With a sharp, quick tap, she deleted the message. It was as if erasing the image from her screen could erase it from her mind. She stood up. Her reflection in the mirror showed a woman whose makeup was perfect. Her glow was, as advertised, bright and shining. She looked perfect. She felt like she was about to shatter.

***

The Windy City Heroes Gala was in a huge ballroom downtown, filled with glittering chandeliers and the quiet hum of the city's most important people. To Jenna, it felt like a different kind of stage, with more to lose and brighter lights.

The blurry, upsetting photo was like a poison dart stuck in her mind, but she was a professional. She pushed the image down, locked it away in her thoughts, and got out of the car with a smile so bright it could have powered a small city. She wore a stunning, deep sapphire dress that shimmered under the camera flashes. Her makeup, which she had just shown on her stream, was absolutely perfect. Connor, looking sharp in a perfectly fitted tuxedo, was the ideal partner, his hand resting possessively on the small of her back.

"Kinetic! JayGlows! Over here!" The group of reporters and cameras was a feeding frenzy.

Connor handled them with practiced skill, his "off-duty hero" personality turned on. "Just Connor Feder tonight," he'd say with a charming laugh. "The suit's at the cleaners. But don't worry, the city's in good hands!" He'd wink, and the reporters would love it. Jenna played her part as the proud, supportive partner, laughing at his jokes, her head tilted at just the right angle. She talked about her channel, her excitement for the gala's charity auction, and how proud she was of the work the Windy City Guardians did. Every sound she made was perfect, every pose for their Lens social media posts carefully planned. They were the golden couple, a perfect mix of superhero glamour and friendly charm. They were the very picture of #CoupleGoals.

But once they were inside, away from the first rush of camera flashes, the perfect picture began to fracture. Connor's hand left her back, and his phone seemed to appear in its place. While Jenna tried to talk with sponsors and other influencers, Connor was looking at something else. His face was tense as he scrolled and typed, with a small, tight smile that wasn't for her.

"Just talking with the team," he murmured when he saw her watching, before putting the phone away. "There's a situation starting in the West Loop. Always on call, you know?" But his eyes didn't have the focused look she knew from when he was really on a mission. They held a different kind of excitement, a secret energy that made her stomach clench.

He made several trips to the bar, saying it was "to network." He left her to make small talk with the wife of a company executive or answer questions from a rival beauty blogger. From across the crowded room, she watched him. He wasn't talking to the older, more famous heroes or the important business people. He was the center of attention with a younger, flashier group of powered influencers. Their laughter was loud. And in the middle of that group, commanding his full attention, was RoxxiHardbody.

Dressed in a blood-red dress that clung to her incredibly toned body, Roxxi was all sharp edges and bold confidence. Connor was leaning in close to her, just like in the photo. His body language was open and excited. He was completely captivated. As if feeling Jenna's stare, Roxxi looked up, met her eyes across the ballroom, and gave her a slow, knowing smirk. Roxxi's gaze held a sharp, territorial claim.

Later, as Jenna was politely extricating herself from a conversation about city funding, a firm body slammed into her with practiced carelessness. "Oh, my god, so sorry!" a voice said with fake sweetness. It was Roxxi. "Clumsy me." She steadied herself, placing a hand on Jenna's arm. Her grip was surprisingly strong. "Wait, you're JayGlows, right? Big fan."

"Hi," Jenna said, her own voice cool and professional. "Roxxi, isn't it? Love your fitness content." The words felt thick and dry on her tongue, a gloss applied over a crack.

"Thanks! I'm just trying to keep up," Roxxi said. Her eyes glittered with amusement. "Connor talks about you all the time. Such a supportive boyfriend. You know, always going on about how you… keep him grounded. You're lucky." The way she stressed "supportive" and "grounded" was deliberately weaponized. It was like she was calling Jenna the boring, stay-at-home anchor to his heroic adventurer.

Jenna offered a tight, fake smile. "I like to think we support each other," she said, her voice even. "It was nice meeting you." She turned and walked away. Her back was straight. A frantic, angry pulse throbbed in her throat. The poison dart of doubt, which started as just a small splinter, was now a venom coursing through her veins. The gala felt less like a party and more like a beautifully decorated battlefield. Every polite smile was a parry, every casual conversation a skirmish for ground she was steadily losing.

The click of their apartment door shutting behind them was like the fall of a guillotine blade. The silence that followed was heavy and suffocating, a huge change from the gala's lively hum. Connor was already loosening his tie, humming a tuneless, happy song. He was the picture of a man feeling good after a successful evening. For Jenna, the forced smiles, the hidden insults, and the cold knot of suspicion in her gut had turned into a hot core of anger. The carefully built wall of her composure finally broke.

"Who is she, Connor?" Her voice was quiet, a single sharp edge in the heavy silence.

Connor stopped, his back to her. "Who is who? What are you talking about, Jen?" He turned around. His face was a mask of tired confusion, but she could see the flash of alarm in his eyes.

"Don't play dumb with me," she snapped, her voice getting stronger. "The woman in the photo. Roxxi. Don't lie to me. I saw you tonight. You barely spoke to me, but you couldn't take your eyes off her." She pulled out her phone. Her hands were trembling as she found the blurry photo she had tried so hard to forget. She shoved it in his direction. "And this! What is this? Someone giving you information? A teammate? Because it looks a lot like my boyfriend getting cozy with another woman in a bar!"

Connor looked at the photo. His expression curdled into righteous indignation. "That? Jenna, that was weeks ago! I was meeting an informant for a major case involving illegal power-enhancers - secret, obviously! You know I can't discuss patrol details. The fact that you're even bringing this up, that you'd believe some anonymous troll over me…" He shook his head, a look of deep disappointment on his face.

"And tonight?" she challenged, not backing down. "Was Roxxi your informant too? Was leaving me alone all night 'networking for the Guardians'? Because it looked a lot more like flirting."

"Jenna, it was a high-profile event! Of course I have to network! It's part of the job!" His voice rose, defensive. "And yes, I was on my phone talking with the team about a potential threat downtown. A hero's work doesn't stop just because there's a party! I can't believe I have to explain this to you."

"So what about Roxxi? Why her? Why does she look at me like she's won some kind of prize?"

"She's a colleague in the fitness and hero world! We were talking about a possible charity project to raise money for Super youth programs!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "You're being incredibly insecure right now. This is exactly how Valora used to get. I thought you were different. I thought you understood the pressures, the sacrifices."

Bringing up Valora was a deliberate, cruel hit, designed to hurt her where she was weakest. He was making her out to be the jealous, needy girlfriend he had left, the very thing she had tried so hard not to be. And it almost worked. Doubt fought with her anger. Was she overreacting? Was this the price of loving a hero?

As if sensing her hesitation, he tried one last, flashy move. A shimmer of blue-white energy flared around him. A faint, ghostly copy of his body flickered for a split second across the room. The air crackled with electric tension, and Jenna felt a sudden pressure change that made her ears pop. The sharp scent of ozone filled her nostrils as his kinetic echo knocked a small decorative vase off a side table with a crash. The wave of displaced energy washed over her skin like static electricity, making her hair stand on end. "See?" he said, his voice softer now, pleading. "The stress of the job… sometimes my powers even act up when I'm tired. I've been on edge for weeks with this case. I was probably just… 'echoing' from a tough patrol earlier, still feeling the effects." It was a spectacular, but ultimately empty, show - a kinetic smokescreen for his emotional manipulation.

Jenna stared at the shattered vase, then back at his sincere, pleading face. Every instinct screamed that he was lying, that this was a performance just as planned as their live stream. But the memory of how she had won him, by being the "cool girl," the "understanding" one, held her trapped. The fear of becoming the suspicious woman he claimed Valora had been was a powerful restraint. With a shaky breath, she let her anger collapse. It was replaced by a tired, hollow acceptance.

"Okay," she whispered, the fight draining out of her. "Okay, Connor."

Later, lying in the dark, the space between them in the bed felt like a miles-wide canyon. Connor was sleeping soundly, or pretending to. His breathing was deep and even. Jenna, her own heart a frantic, aching drum, stared at the ceiling. The glow of her phone lit up her face as she gave in to the urge she'd been fighting all night. She opened Lens and went to RoxxiHardbody's profile. It was a shrine to sweat, steel, and unapologetic confidence. Post after post of intense workouts, flexed muscles, and captions full of aggressive self-love. And there, posted just an hour ago, was a gala selfie Roxxi had taken. Her red dress was a slash of color. In the background, out of focus but definitely him, was Connor. He was looking her way with a smile that was nothing less than adoration.

Jenna's own gala photos, the ones she and Connor had posted, were already getting lots of likes. The photos of her own gala look, so artfully constructed, felt like relics from another lifetime. The comments filled with #CoupleGoals were a hollow echo.

***