Chapter Text
Finally! His thirteenth birthday! Jimmy could barely contain his excitement, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet as he looked through his closet. He needed the perfect outfit for today. Humming and hawing, he finally picked out his favorite blue flannel and a light gray graphic tee that had "Superhero in Training" across the front in bold letters. He matched it with a nice pair of jeans, rolling up the sleeves of his flannel so they reached just above his elbows and leaving the front unbuttoned to show off the shirt underneath.
Swinging around his bedroom doorframe and into the hallway, he rushed to the dining room. His mother called out front the kitchen, lightly chastising him for running in the house, before rounding into the dining room holding a plate piled high with pancakes. She set the plate down in the middle of the dining table to share. Three empty plates were already set out at their usual spots along with forks and butter knives.
"Sorry mom," Jimmy hastily apologized, grabbing a seat in the spot he always chose.
"It's alright honey, I know you're excited." She turned towards the hallway afterwards to call out, "Grian! Breakfast!"
His older brother audibly opened and shut his bedroom door before walking into the dining room and unceremoniously plopping into the seat next to Jimmy. He was two years older than Jimmy, at the age of fifteen and currently in high school. No girlfriend, but he often brought his best friends BigB and Taurtis home with him after school to hang out in his room. Jimmy assumed they mostly played on his gameboy or something.
Pulling a few pancakes onto his own plate, Grian wordlessly dug in, not even bothering with syrup. Jimmy followed his lead in grabbing some pancakes for himself, pouring a reasonable amount of maple syrup on top before taking a bite. Once they finished breakfast, Grian got up to go back to his room and their mother cleared her throat, catching his attention.
"What?" Grian asked in confusion, stopping in his place.
"Aren't you going to wish your brother a happy birthday?" She prompted in a way that was gentle but somehow still stern, in the signature mom voice.
"Oh yeah. Happy birthday Timmy," Grian dismissively commented before continuing towards his room. Their mother sighed softly.
"Just ignore him, sweetie. You go have a great birthday, okay?" She rounded the table and placed a motherly kiss into Jimmy's hair.
Jimmy smiled, getting up from his spot at the table. "I will. Thanks, mom." He went back to his own room to gather up his backpack before heading to the front door, pulling on his black converse and leaving to start his walk to school.
School was largely uneventful. Jimmy didn't have many friends, but his buddy Martyn wished him a happy birthday at lunch. The teen was a few months older than Jimmy and therefore just recently discovered his power of super hearing. He claimed that it was lame, but Jimmy thought it was pretty cool.
After school, Jimmy walked home with a slight skip to his step, looking forward to his birthday party tomorrow. He was technically born really late at night, so he likely wouldn't notice his new powers until tomorrow. Even still, the idea had him super excited. Besides, his birthday was on a Friday. Why wouldn't he be excited?
Saturday came and went, Jimmy's party going off without a hitch, but the teen couldn't help but be disappointed when his new power wasn't immediately obvious. His mother reassured him that sometimes they weren't always that straight forward, and it may take a little bit of time to figure it out. His older brother, Grian, had been lucky in figuring out pretty quick that he could fly. Wings as dark as a raven would appear against his back, seemingly whenever he wanted, flapping gracefully to carry him up. Jimmy totally wasn't jealous or anything.
A week passed, then two, then a whole month. Jimmy still hadn't figured it out. Martyn and him had gone over everything that they could think of, trying to find what the heck Jimmy's power could possibly be. His yearly doctors appointment was coming up soon, and Jimmy decided that he would ask them if they could just tell him then.
Jimmy fidgeted nervously as the doctor listened to his heart. A few more generic tests and the doctor politely asked if he had any questions or concerns.
"Um, yeah actually. My thirteenth birthday was over a month ago now, and I haven't really been able to figure out my power yet. Is there some way you could just tell me what it is?" Jimmy looked at the doctor hopefully. They hummed softly in thought.
"Sometimes, on rare occasions, a person can be born without the capability of obtaining special abilities." You could almost hear Jimmy's heart breaking then and there. He looked down at his lap in defeat as the doctor continued. "Scientists aren't sure what causes this phenomenon, but it's more common than you might think. Now, I know it may hurt for a while to hear this news, but there are plenty of people in the same shoes, who felt the same way that you do now. I can recommend some support groups if you would like?"
Jimmy frowned softly but sighed in acceptance. "Okay..."
"It'll be alright, sweetie," his mother soothed from another chair in the room. "You know, your brother's friend, Taurtis, doesn't have any powers either. Maybe you could talk with him about it."
Jimmy didn't bother to respond. He slowly stood up and gestured towards the door with his head. "Can we just go now?"
"Of course," his mother gave him a reassuring smile. The doctor handed her a couple papers stapled together, along with a pamphlet, saying something that Jimmy didn't even try to listen to. They were guided back to the lobby and his mother held his hand as they made their way to the car.
The pamphlet that his mom later handed to him was titled "Living Without Powers" and seemed cheesy from the very first line. On the back were some helpline numbers to call or text, as if a lack of powers was equivalent to homelessness or domestic abuse. With a sigh, Jimmy tossed the pamphlet onto his dresser and quickly tried to forget all about it.
At school the next day, Jimmy brushed off Martyn when he said he came up with a new idea to try to find his power. It took him a few more days before he finally told the other teen that the doctor said he's powerless. Martyn was quick to try and comfort him, Jimmy begrudgingly accepting a hug.
He ignored all of his mother's attempts to get him into a support group over the years, falling into a slight depression as he aged and gradually falling out with his best friend as Martyn joined the school's theater club and didn't have time to hang out anymore. Still no signs of a late onset ability either. It took until he was almost sixteen for Jimmy to finally agree to go see a support group in town, the trigger of which was seeing his brother start going to therapy. The therapy was for a different reason, of course.
Jimmy didn't know the details, but one day Grian came home from his friends house early on the weekend looking traumatized and cried in their mother's arms for over an hour. He would later find out, when he asked about Grian's friends not coming over lately, that Taurtis had passed away on his eighteenth birthday. It terrified Jimmy when he thought too hard about it, imagining what Grian could've possibly seen that had left him so traumatized. He tried to push it to the back of his mind but deep down, Jimmy knew what had happened.
In the subsequent months, Grian had completely shut down, only speaking to Jimmy on occasion and being extra nice every time he did. He called him the correct name each time as well. It killed Jimmy inside to see his brother like that, but there was nothing that he could do.
The support group was a little awkward at first. It was kind of like group therapy in a way. They all sat in a circle and started by introducing themselves, giving their name and answering a different question that the leader came up with each time. A few of the people there looked around his age, but the range varied a bit. Although, nobody looked to be older than maybe their mid thirties.
Jimmy tried to sit between people who looked close to his age, but ended up next to somebody who looked like a young adult. On his other side was a girl who looked even younger than him by maybe a year or so. She had slightly wavy blonde hair and wore a light purple blouse and dark jeans. Going around the circle, Jimmy found out that her name was Kirsty, and she had indeed just turned fifteen years old. Everyone wished her a late happy birthday, as she stated that it was only a couple of days ago.
Throughout the meeting, Jimmy also learned that Kirsty was an only child and felt like she became a disappointment to her parents when she didn't gain any powers on her thirteenth birthday. Supposedly her mother tried to reassure her that it was okay, but her dad seemed mad about it, and she wasn't really convinced that her mom was actually okay with it either. Kirsty said she was probably lying.
Jimmy didn't really feel comfortable sharing much his first time there, but he did talk about how he himself was disappointed at not getting any powers, and still wanted to believe he could be a late bloomer. The others realistically told him that it was highly unlikely by now, but that it would be okay. That he wasn't alone anymore. Jimmy begrudgingly accepted their comforts but wouldn't let himself fully give up just yet. It was still possible to gain an ability late in life, just extremely rare.
Slowly, Jimmy got more comfortable around others in the support group. He gradually shared his thoughts and experiences growing up with a successful older brother who had a super cool power. He talked about how supportive his mom was despite everything. And, in the background, he became good friends with Kirsty too. Only once did he talk about Taurtis with the group, and he was pretty vague on purpose, leaving out his name especially. He didn't want to get too dark, but he did mention generally what happened and that he was pretty sure the teen's lack of powers had something to do with it.