Roan was starting to get really annoyed with these reporters. It had been a week since the conference where they had unmasked themselves, and apparently it was almost the breaking point for those vultures.

"Geronimo! Geronimo!" The gaggle of reporters called. She glanced over for a second, and saw they had a TV crew with them. And some poor freshmen caught behind them, trying to get through the school gate. Time to be a hero. She walked over, and they ruffled their feathers.

She smiled politely, and said "Good morning, I'm sorry but you're blocking the way of a couple students trying to get through." There was a slight shift in the crowd, and two small bodies squeezed through. The reporters were clamouring for her attention. One of the kids shot Roan a grateful look, and the other didn't even look at her. Not bad.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," she said to the cameras and recorders in her face. "I need my education, and you are still blocking the school entrance. The other students need to get in too." She turned to leave, and the calling got louder.

"Why didn't Rellik unmask himself?"

"What about Mayhem and Nova?"

"What does the Director think about the Indian laws?"

That was the last straw. She whirled around and stalked back to the vultures, their teeth bared in grins. "Who said that?" She asked. Her tone had an edge to it, and the reporters picked up on it. A thin man in the middle of the pack raised his hand and repeated the question, much to Roan's distaste.

"How very ignorant of you," she said coolly. "They aren't Indians, they are First Nations, Aboriginals, Indigenous Peoples, and so on. We stole their land, and now the mayor wants to make them register for citizenship, so he knows how many there are. It is inhumane, and I expected a reporter to at least know proper terminology." With that, she turned on her heel and walked back towards the school door, the vultures screaming after her.

Anger simmered underneath her skin, threatening to tip over the edge. She was so angry she didn't notice the person standing in front of her.

"Are you okay?" A timid voice came. She looked up to see a familiar face. A beauty mark right beside her cupid's bow, high up on the left side of her nose, and almost in the centre of her forehead. Moon Myoui. Her crush. Her crush!

"Uh, what?" Roan said dumbly. She could feel her face starting to get red, and she tried to shove it down. Moon smiled a little.

"I asked if you were okay," she repeated, her voice laced with laughter.

"Oh, yeah, I guess," Roan stumbled over her words. Come on this was her crush, act normal!

"I saw what you did outside, but I didn't hear. You looked angry when you walked into the school." Moon remarked.

Whoops.

"Yeah," Roan said, trying to calm her racing heart. Dang this girl is cute. "It's just something they said about Hestia, it bothered me and I couldn't say nothing about it. I probably should've thought through what I said though, who knows how they're going to spin it."

She looked down, her anger suddenly swept away. "Hey," Moon said softly. "Don't feel too bad about it. Reporters are good at aggravating people into making them spit out words they don't want to say." She smiled a little a Roan, making her hear melt, and then walked off up the staircase.

Man she is so pretty.

. . .

As Moon walked away, she thought about how Roan had gone back for those freshmen, and how she had stayed and spoken to the reporters politely, before they insulted Hestia. Then she thought about Bast and Schism. How could they be so cruel? How could they be so mean? They're just kids, and these adults want to hurt them? That's not right. She suddenly realised that she was now expected to help them.

She didn't know how long she could play the part.

Roan seems sweet, and besides, Moon isn't a violent person. Sure she may have initially been annoyed that the main superheroes were all from one friend group, but that doesn't mean she wants to do something about it. They were doing a good job, there were less and less attacks every year, and now they mostly helped out with regular crimes.

Which Moon also didn't understand. How could people be so mean to other people? Why would you want to hurt or kill someone, or even just rob them? Okay, Moon could understand why, but at the same time, she didn't understand it. They were hurting people like themselves, it just didn't make sense.

She was sure of one thing, she was not going into psychology.

. . .

Walking into her Writer's Craft class, all eyes turned to her and the room went silent. Hey, there was the anger again. Roan looked down and made her way over to her seat, not saying anything. She sat down, looking around the room again and surprise surprise they were still looking at her. She bit back a sneer and instead pulled out her binder and notebook, preparing for class. It was going to be a long day.

As she made her ways through the hall to fourth period English, she noticed that people we looking at her. She glanced around, and every eye was either on her or on Jay, who was walking in the opposite direction as her. As they passed Roan reached out her hand and grasped Jay's lightly, letting her know that she understood, she's here. They broke apart and continued off in their different directions. Just as Roan was about to enter her class, a girl walked up to her.

"How old were you?" She asked, rather rudely actually.

"Pardon me?" Roan said quietly. She wanted to avoid this, she just wanted to go to class and be done with school for today. It had been a more taxing day than any exam study period.

"How old were you when you were recruited?" Can these kids not do math? She's a senior now, which means the oldest she can be is eighteen. She was recruited publicly, six years ago, and the youngest she could've been at the time was eleven. She stared at the girl for a second, then sighed.

"I was twelve," She responded. Without waiting to see what would happen next she brushed past the girl and into her classroom. Here come the stares again. At least this time she had a friend in this class. She walked over to her table where Luke, Penny, and Kieran were sitting. Kieran gave her a look, and as soon as she sat down started going off at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, being very forward. His face was tight with anger, and he wasn't going to back down. "Why didn't you tell any of us."

She sighed again, she's been doing that a lot recently. "You know I couldn't K, even if I wanted to. I only unmasked myself now because the others did too. It was only fair. Plus, I couldn't keep lying."

He still looked angry, but he shut up. He pursed his lips and pulled out a book from his bag, shoving his nose into it. They weren't going to get anything out of him for a while. Roan looked at Penny and Luke and shrugged, not knowing what to do. Before any of them could say something, their teacher walked into the room, drawing the attention.

"Okay guys," Mr. P said. "I have an assignment for you." Groans. "Don't worry, it's a fun assignment!" More groans. "I'm going to pair you off next class and you'll have to write a short story in one of the genres provided." He turned around and started writing them out on the board. Romance, Adventure, Dark Humour, Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery and Dystopia.

Oh fun.

. . .

"Are we really going to trust them," Bast murmured to her brother. They were sitting at that kitchen table in that abandoned house, empty mugs in front of them. "They're just kids. They don't know what they want."

"The little guy said he did," Schism rumbled. He liked the boy, but he was uncertain about the girl. Something about her was off. Not to mention he didn't know what her power is. If he could just figure out her intentions, he could fix everything.

"I know that look, brother dear," Bast said. "What are you planning?"

"I don't like the girl, something about her. I feel like," he said slowly. "she would betray us the moment she could, however she could."

"So," Bast replied, stretching out like a cat. "We convince her not to."

. . .

Running. Heart pounding in her chest. Feet pounding against the ground, the roof. Ba bum, ba bum, ba bum, ba bum. Flinging herself through the air, not a care in the world Laughter sprung up from down the line. Bubbling over the edge and tipping down the sides, infecting everything around it. The night was young, still a little sun to see by. Feet racing, laughter ringing, bodies flying.

Roan had never felt more alive.

She loved this part of her job. The carefree part, where they would just race each other on patrol, forgetting for a while who they are. Who they are is hard. Roan's body is physically at it's peak, and she's only eighteen. Her muscles can only deteriorate from here. This job is taxing on their bodies, demanding every part of the person, never just a bit. Because you can't only give a part of yourself when you save someone. You have to give it all of you.

This job sucked every last ounce of energy out of them, and it was times like these that Roan felt like a kid again. Just running around with her friends, making up games and scenarios, pretending. But she wouldn't trade it for any other job in the world. She loved everything about it, and she loved helping people. Being a role model, an inspiration. Being something to look forward to, something good in the world.

She touched down on the ground just outside the cave, leaping off a storage unit. Rellik touched down right beside her, a large smile still on his face. "That's what I needed," he said, lifting his arms up and stretching them out.

Roan glanced over at him. "Uni getting to you?"

He rolled his shoulders. "Yeah, it's coming up on the end of the school year so basically I'm working on a giant essay. Multiple giant essays. It's not fun."

Roan let out a light laugh. "But then you're done, and the essays are in subjects you're actually interested in. Plus, you didn't suddenly become the new thing to stare at."

He glanced over at her, concern in his eyes. "I meant to ask, how are things at school now that you're unmasked?"

She sighed, stretching her neck out and leading the way to the cave. "It's not horrible, but it's not fun either. Reporters are showing up outside of school, sometimes harassing other students for information. They're incessant. It's like they forgot common courtesy as soon as they got their job."

Rellik laughed at that, then sighed heavily. "I've been thinking of telling my family and friends, so I don't have to lie about where I am all the time. It's getting exhausting. I hate it too. I'm usually so honest, and they can tell I'm hiding something." He looked at the ground, and Roan could practically see the gears turning inside his head.

"That might not be a bad idea," Roan said lightly. "You've always been an honest person, I'm surprised you were able to keep it a secret this long. What's it been, four years?"

He looked up. "Yeah, I think so," he said. "Huh, it doesn't feel like years, it feels like yesterday."

"That's what happens when you get old," Roan jokes.

"Hey!"

Moon lay in her bed, twirling her phone in the air, a meter above her head. She's a telekinetic, if you hadn't noticed. She'd been laying here for a few hours, just thinking about the news. So, the new Director went to her school, was someone in her grade. Had recruited people from her friend group, but not outsiders. No one like Moon. Only the popular kids. Figures. 

Her phone started to buzz in the air, and Moon considered just letting it buzz. She twirled it over, so the screen was facing her, and the very ugly close up photo she had saved for her best friend stared back at her. She sighed and dropped the expensive thing into her hand, sliding her finger across the bottom of the screen and putting it to her ear.

"Y'ello?" She said into the speaker.

"Did you watch the news?" Adam wasted no time getting to the point. He was always like that, he hated small talk. He preferred to get straight to the point, instead of beating around the bush. He found sugar coating to be meaner than the truth. 

"I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count," She said in response. Why did he bother asking stupid questions. 

"No, I'm not talking about our classmates being superheroes, I'm talking about what happened after." He said quickly. 

Moon sat up. "I didn't see it, I turned off the TV. What happened?" 

Adam sighed. "You need to see past your emotions. Some villains popped up. Showed up at the venue, introduced themselves as Bast and uh," he sounded like he was reading off of something, he was probably scouring the internet for more information. "Schism. They said they weren't going to let a bunch of teenagers tell them how they should live their lives, and they encourage more to join them."

Moon frowned. He sounded like he had more to say. "What is it," she asked. 

He paused. "What." She asked again.

"What if we did," he said slowly. "What if we joined them. I mean it's not fair that they get to be superheroes, they're only going to recruit their own friend group. Half of them are already up there. I want some recognition."

Moon sighed. She had heard this whole spiel over and over. Adam has a big family, he was often lost in the mix. He was the middle of seven, why someone would have so many kids in this day and age is beyond her, but she knows Adam hates it. He never gets a word in, and it was the same at school, he was always getting stepped on by the more popular kids. 

Like Roan.

Moon could understand Adam's frustration, but she also didn't quite get it. So what if it was mostly one friend group, they were doing a good job. It doesn't matter who gets recruited as long as they actually care about the people. 

"I know you do Adam, but is this really the best way to get it? By becoming a villain? What would you even do, steal candy from a baby?" Honestly, sometimes Adam was a little unreasonable. He still sometimes threw temper tantrums. 

"I'm actually with them right now." He said. 

"What?" Moon yelped. What was this idiot thinking. 

"I reached out to them, I want to do something. I want to be something." He said, his tone now stoic. 

"Adam come on this isn't the way to do things. You could hurt people!" She pleaded. 

"Then join me, Moon. Make sure I don't do anything I'll regret. Please?" That wasn't fair of him to ask her to do that. She's not responsible for him. But you could be, the little voice in her head said. You could protect him. You know you could. 

Stupid voice in her head. 

"Where are you."

Moon stared up at the building with apprehension. It didn't look like an evil lair. It didn't look like much of anything. In fact, it kind of looked like an abandoned house. Ivy was growing up the walls, and the glass was so dirty you couldn't see through it. There were no lights on, and Moon couldn't see any evidence of people being here for a long time. 

She walked up the steps slowly, and knocked on the door. Less than a minute later a tall woman opened the door and beckoned her inside. She turned around to lead the way, revealing a brown cat's tail flicking behind her. Moon guessed this was Bast. She was taller than she expected, with an angular face and a proud straight nose.

Moon followed Bast down the long hallway, into a big kitchen in the back of the house. A few lights were on, casting a warm yellow glow around the room. Adam was sitting and the table across from a short man, engaged in conversation. Bast cleared her throat, getting their attention. "We have a visitor."

"M!" Adam exclaimed, getting up out of his chair and coming over to hug the apprehensive teenager. "I'm glad you came."

"Yeah yeah," She said, waving him off. "I need to talk with Schism." She turned to the man, showing no fear despite not knowing his powers. "No killing." 

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Who are you to tell me what to do, little girl." He stood up, flexing his muscles at her, trying to intimidate the smaller girl.

She was not impressed. 

"I'm telling you, no killing, or I'll ruin your whole operation." She took a step forward, her hands balling into fists. She was not going to be pushed around by anyone, let alone a man. 

"You do that, and your little boyfriend over here loses his head." He wasn't joking. She saw the hardness in his eyes, and the fear in Adam's. 

"No killing," she said again, this time with less force. 

He advanced on her, and before she could react, he had slapped her across the face. "You're either in," he hissed down at her, "or you're out."

Moon clutched the side of her face, her lip split, tears in her eyes. She looked up at the man standing over her, and for a second she was scared. She doesn't know him, she doesn't know what his power is. She could die right now, and nobody would know. Adam wouldn't do much, he'd be too scared. And if he did try to do something, he'd probably get killed right along with her. Her decision made, she stood, her hand dropping to her side. 

"I'm in."

He smiled, a creepy smile, with ghostly light flickering across his face. He reached out a hand and grabbed hers, firmly shaking it. "Welcome to the team." He turned around and walked back to the table. While his back was turned Moon shot a glare at Adam. How could he get her involved in this? Did he understand how dangerous his actions were? He shrugged in response. Ohhh she was going to have words with him later. Some very strong words. 

Bast finally moved from the doorway, slamming her shoulder against Moon's, heading for the table. She was nice. Adam grabbed Moon's arm and dragged over to the table beside him. They sat down across from the two villains, nobody saying anything. 

"So," Adam started awkwardly. "Did you two have a plan, or are we supposed to come up with ideas together?" 

Schism's lip curled up with distaste. "Let's get one thing clear," he said. "You two, are muscle, despite how small you both are. We," he flicked a finger between him a Bast. "We're the brains. We have plans, big plans. You two are like the getaway driver. You only know parts of the plan, the parts you need to know. And all you need to know now is that you two need to be outside your school at five o'clock on Tuesday. Hide." He pushed himself up from the table and leaned over them. 

"If you tell anyone about our plans, about anything, we'll know, and we'll find you." 

With that, Bast leaned over the table quick as lightning and scratched down Adam's cheek with her claws. He let out a scream, clutching the wound. He had a hurt look in his eyes, like he didn't expect that to happen. Moon didn't expect that to happen. These guys were serious, they weren't joking around. She wondered what they had planned. 

. . .

Somewhere across the city, Roan was in a meeting with her school's principal and vice-principals, Luke, Jay, Quinn, Cole and Hestia. 

"Now that we know who you are, that changes things," Principal Monroe was saying. "All of your absences will be excused, and you automatically qualify for extensions on your assignments."

"Thank you, sir," Hestia said. 

"If you fall behind in your classes, I expect that you will go to your teachers yourselves and work something out together. You job may cause you to miss school, but your education is still very important, and all the staff here just want what's best for you." He continued, putting his hands in his pockets and looking at each of them carefully. 

"We appreciate it, sir." Cole said. "We wanted to ask you something." He nodded, signalling for her to continue. "Unmasking ourselves has drawn some attention to who we are. That means the school isn't as safe as it used to be. We were wondering if we had permission to use our powers if the need arises."

He considered it for a few minutes. "Schools have always been safe zones for powers, but I can understand where you are coming from. There's also the issue of damage during battle. We have insurance, but not a lot. And honestly, our government wouldn't be able to fix our school fast enough. So I'm going to say that you can only use your powers on school property if we are being directly attacked. But your goal should be to drive them from the grounds, not to keep the battle in one place."

Roan listened carefully, making sure she caught every word. Using powers at school has been forbidden for almost as long as powers have existed. They weren't toys you could play with, powers are dangerous. They can cause serious damage, and some schools have even taken the precaution of setting up dampeners.

"Mr. Monroe," Roan started, a thought nagging at her. "How long do you think it would take to set up power dampeners at the school?"

He looked at her. "Not as long as it would take to rebuild the school, that's for sure." He took his hands out of his pockets. "That's a good idea, I'll bring it up at the next staff meeting. Thank you," he said, the conversation coming to an end. "For doing what you do." 

"Thank you sir," they chorused, heading out of the door. Roan was the last one out, shutting the door behind her, and immediately walked into Luke's back. "Why are we stopped," she said, looking up. "Oh," she realised. Standing in the foyer was dozens of student, staring at their little group. Some of their faces were easy to read, Roan say disgust, anger, pity, worry, and some faces were blank masks.

"I'm assuming a lot pf people are looking at us right now," Roan heard Hestia say from the front of the group. "Shall I give them something to stare at?" She snarled, taking a step back. And there was that familiar anger. Roan knew it wasn't all gone, no matter how hard Hestia tried to hide it. Her eyes flickered back to the crowd, and she saw them slowly disperse. 

"Good," Hestia sniffed, hearing the sound of dozens of feet moving. "Let's get to class."

Roan felt like she was going to throw up.

"Are you sure," Hestia was saying, looking right at Roan's nose. Close enough. "That you want to unmask yourselves?"

They were sitting in a conference room in the school library, the door closed and their voices hushed just in case someone was walking by. Luke nodded in agreement with their new Director. He had been public for a while now, and he was basically friendless at school. As soon as he unmasked himself, his friends stopped talking to him. Roan had heard that he and his best friend Jason had gotten into a huge argument about it. People were still polite to him, but he sat alone at lunch, and did most of his projects by himself. She didn't want that.

But she couldn't keep living a lie.

She's known some of these people her whole life, and since she was first recruited she's been lying to them. She's been lying to them about what she does, and what her powers are.

That was kind of taboo in this society.

Powers are sacred. They're a massive past of who you are, and greatly affect how you'll grow up, what you'll become. Her family power has always been in the fighting area, she was a combat expert, like Legion. They weren't related though. It's a common power. But paired with healing? That's too easy to narrow down. She's always had to keep that a secret, otherwise she'd be like the local doctor for all these kids getting bruised and scraped.

"I'm sure," Roan decided, looking Hestia in the eye. She sometimes forgot her friend couldn't see anymore.

"Yeah me too," Jay echoed.

We all turned to look at Quinn. Except Hestia. She doesn't know where anybody in this room is, except Cole, who was therapeutically rubbing the back of her girlfriend's hand. He looked up after the room went silent for a bit, glancing first at Jay and then at the rest of us. He clasped his hands together, thinking hard.

"I'm in, but I tell my extended family first. I need at least a week." He finally said, his tone leaving no room for discussion. He had gotten more confident over the months, coming into himself. Finally. He raised a good point, though. Roan felt she owed it to her family to tell them before they found out on their morning news. Sure her mom and dad and step-mom knew, and her older sister, but what about her grandparents? Her cousins? Her aunts and uncles? They need to know.

"I agree with Quinn on this one," Surprisingly it was Jay who spoke up first. "I want to tell my uncle before he finds out on the radio."

"Me too," Roan confirmed when Cole looked at her with those big brown questioning eyes.

"Okay," Hestia said. "I can hole off the press for about a week, but you won't get much longer. If you want to back out, please don't do it the day of. I have to tell them how many chairs we'll need and I've discovered I hate being a liar, all things considered." She let out a short laugh at that, of course, finding her own jokes funny. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by the bell ringing shrilly. We all stood up silently, lost in our thoughts.

"Come on, Cammie," Roan said absentmindedly. "We've got English now." She started to walk out of the room, until she heard a cough behind her. Right, she's blind. "Sorry, sorry, I'm coming back. Jeez this is hard to get used to," Roan muttered.

Hestia snorted. "Try being the one who can't see who he's talking to," he joked. Guess Hestia is a he today, maybe Roan should make those bracelets she found on that Tumblr post a while back. The one where that teen had a bracelet for if they were female, male or neither. Classic Tumblr.

Roan grabbed Hestia's arm, and led him out of the conference room and out into the hall. She didn't acknowledge Luke, he still wasn't public friends with them. It sucked, but it wouldn't be that was for long, she hoped.

A week later and they found themselves in the same conference room, having a similar conversation.

"Well," Hestia was saying. "We're all here, again, I think." She muttered the last two words. Roan snorted. Hestia was just too sarcastic sometimes, it was so funny.

"So you guys are serious about this?" Luke said, looking each of them in the eye. His hands were clasped together on the table, and he was leaning forward. He looked a little nervous, as if he expected us to all say, surprise it was a joke!

"They're not backing out now, I paid a lot of money to get the good reporters to come." Their Director answered for them. The corner of Roan's mouth tugged upwards as she looked at Hestia. She had really come far in these past few months since the this winter. After everything she had been through, Roan was thoroughly impressed that she had almost gotten back to normal.

"So what time tomorrow, and where are we having the meeting?" Jay asked.

"Twelve," Cole answered. "At the front entrance of the cave."

"Alright," Quinn spoke up, stretching his arms across the table. "I guess by Monday we won't be living with secrets anymore. That'll be weird."

We were all silent for a while, just thinking. Slowly and silently, some people left the room. Finally it was just Roan and Hestia.

"Okay guys, let's get to class." Oh man, Hestia didn't hear them leaving. Roan stayed quiet, biting back her laughter.

"Guys?"

Hestia went silent again, looking a little mad. She slapped her hands lightly on the table, a decision made. "I'm getting a seeing eye dog," Roan couldn't help it anymore, she started laughing loudly. Everything was going to be okay.

. . .

"Good afternoon, and thank you everyone for coming out today." The Director was saying on TV. Moon was watching carefully, her family sitting beside her. They were all staring intently at the TV, watching the live news broadcast. The Director and the Secretary were sitting in the centre of the table, with Aerglo and Geronimo on one side, and Phoenix and Mazus on the other side.

As the Director was talking, Moon took the time to look at Aerglo. She was pretty sure his name is Luke, she's seen him around school sometimes. He was always alone, keeping his head down. He unmasked himself a couple years ago, and lost all his friends. Some friends they were, Moon thought. If they didn't stick it out with him.

She tuned back in when her grandmother elbowed her in the side.

"But enough with the pleasantries," the Secretary was saying. "Let's get to what this meeting is really about. We at the Agency have tried our hardest over the years to do right by you, and for one of us that was revealing his identity." She gestured down the line to Aerglo, and the camera panned to him.

"In the recent events that occurred," the Director continued, "Many of our members have retired. In fact, the ones you see at this table, and three others are the only ones who remain. Those of us at the table are here today to show that we will not back down, and that we believe in you, the people."

"That is why we are unmasking ourselves," Phoenix cut in. What?

Everyone went quiet on the TV. Moon's family was already silent, but now she could hear a pin drop. Were they really going to do this? As she thought that, Jay stood and pulled off her mask, revealing green eyes. Guess so.

"My name is Jay Wong, and I am a senior at James Peter Collegiate Institute." Moon recognised her.

Mazus stood up beside her, taking off his mask too, revealing dark messy hair and brown eyes. "My name is Quinn Budan, and I am also a senior at James Peter." Moon recognised him too. They were both part of that giant group of friends. Funny, how that worked. The Director stood, the Secretary helping her up. They both pulled off the masks they were wearing.

"I'm Hestia Whitehead, and I'm a senior at J.P. I was also Chameleon, but you can understand why I am not anymore." A few gasps were heard in the crowd in response to her face. Her skin was dark, but was marred by light coloured scars. They disfigured her face slightly, and she could see they went up into her hairline, probably covering her head and making her hair grow in patches. It was horrible. The worst part was her eyes. They were covered in a while film, and something wasn't right about how she was using them. She's blind, Moon realised with a jolt.

"I'm Cole Samai," no way, her too? "And I'm a junior at J.P."

Moon was starting to notice a pattern. Just that friend group alone, they were the main supers. How is that fair? Geronimo was the last to stand up, Aerglo already without his mask. Ten bucks she's from that friend group too.

She pulled off her mask, revealing a slightly hooked nose, fair skin and crystal blue eyes, dark brown hair tumbling out around her shoulders. "My name is Roan Michaels, and I'm a senior at J.P.C.I." Moon shut off the TV and stood, ignoring the questioning looks from her family.

She needed to lay down.

. . .

"Hestia! Hestia!" Calls were coming from all over the room.

"Roan, Roan!"

"Quinn!"

"Jay!"

"Quiet down, please." Hestia almost shouted. Roan could feel a headache coming, and it was probably going to be worse for Hestia. "We will be answering all your questions, despite the fact that we all have homework."

The crowd chuckled, and took their seats, calming down. A couple people called out to be asked first, and Cole selected a young looking woman in the third row. "What happened to the last Director?" Of course this question was coming. They all sat down and looked to Hestia. Nobody wanted to answer this question, not even her.

"I'm going to assume you saw the battle between us and the villains this winter in the park?" The woman nodded, and Hestia continued. "One of the members we took down was Genocide. When we removed his mask, it was revealed to us that he was in fact our previous Director. Next question?"

And so they came. Questions about when they are inducted, because that was apparently very difficult to remember, how old they were exactly, what direction the Agency is planning on taking, how they are going to recover, what they plan on doing with the old Director, if they were going to recruit. Hestia answered all of them honestly, telling them if she was unsure.

"What do you think about the mayor's new laws regarding your people?" Whoomp there it is. Roan knew this was going to happen as soon as Hestia mentioned her last name. She saw her friend's face crumple for a second, not having been prepared for something so rude. Anger welled up inside of Roan.

"That will be all for today," Roan called out stiffly. "Thank you for your time, we look forward to serving you as long as we can."

Protests rose, and some close to the man who called out that question turned on him angrily, having unanswered questions themselves. How could he say something so insensitive? After everything she had done for the people, how could he be so rude. Roan signalled to Cole to get her off the stage, and briskly followed after them. They ducked into the cave, Cole's hand resting on Hestia's back.

"Are you okay Cammie," Luke whispered coming up beside her.

"I was trying to forget about that," Hestia said hoarsely. "How could he do something so cruel as that. Making us register for citizenship even though we were here first. We were here first." She repeated, slowly leaning against the nearest object, which happened to be the wall. "We were here first." She slowly broke down into tears, and Roan felt helpless.

Adjusting after that fiasco was tough. I went back to the orphanage, Cole helping me find the way. After whatever that was with Kev, I collapsed. I woke up however later it was, blind, but not alone. I love my powers. Both of them. Kev lost his mind reading powers, but he still had his family powers. Nobody else died. And, we captured all the villains.

Huzzah!

The mood was muted. I was quick to make jokes about my blindness, making everyone less awkward around me. I missed it. Seeing the sky, watching leaves dance in the wind, admiring my friend's smiles. I can still picture them.

I was shaken out of my thoughts by approaching feet. "Wait, don't tell me," I said, and smile forming on my mouth. "I want to guess." I listened hard, hearing soft breathing and light footsteps. "Phoenix?" I guessed.

Silence.

I'll take that as a no.

I groaned. "Alright I give up."

I felt light wind brush across the top of my patchy head, ruffling the bunches of hair that could grow. I need a wig.

"Martha," I said steadily.

"Cam," she said. "You're talking to me now."

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. She took that as an invitation to continue. "I needed to tell you something." I motioned for her to continue. "When I woke up, last year, I was in that same room you were. The Director, he was there. He explained everything to me, and I was angry, so angry at first. I was a captive, I had no choice. Then Peculiar, she got inside my head. I don't think she really wanted me to go insane, because I could still function on my own."

She sighed, and I heard something that sounded like her sitting down. "All I really remember from that time is flashes. I didn't have any solid memories. So I'm sorry, that I didn't reach out before."

She stopped talking then, apparently not knowing what to say. "I forgive you," I said quietly. I imagined she was looking at me questioningly, wondering why.

"You, so full of hate and anger, forgive me, just like that?" She asked.

Way to hit the nail on the head. Ouch.

"I've had enough anger inside of me, I think I'm done being angry." I heard her hair ruffle, and I imagined she was nodding her head. She could have been shaking it, though.

"How very mature of you," she complimented. Or insulted. "There was something else I wanted to tell you," she said. "Waya and I were talking, and we want to retire. Take things slow, I know Houdini and Legion want to take a break too. Honestly, I think that last fight might've pulled a lot out of everyone."

I nodded, agreeing with her. "I think the only ones staying are Aerglo, Mo, Phoenix, Mazus, Mayhem, Nova and Rellik. I think Mo is also thinking of ditching her mask, along with Mayhem."

It was quiet again, and the only think keeping me thinking Martha has left was her steady breathing.

"That'll be good for the public, knowing who's protecting them. They'll do a fine job." She said.

I nodded, not knowing what more to say.

"Tom and I were also talking about something else, something that concerns you. We want you to be the new director."

Well there's a surprise.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you are the best candidate. You know these people, you know the cave, you know the system, plus, you and I both know you won't be able to stay away from the fight too long." She has a point.

"I don't know what to say."

"Say yes," she urged.

"Okay," I said, plunging into the unknown.

. . .

We were sitting in silence, just enjoying each other's company. I felt her hand brush against mine, and I opened my palm so she can lace our fingers together. She rubbed her thumb along the side of my hand, repeating the comforting movement. It set off butterflies in my stomach.

"Aella and Waya want me to be the new director." I broke the silence.

She hummed. "I think you'd be great at it."

I imagined her face, the one from school. Cute cheeks, full lips, dark eyes filled with love. Why did it take me so long to realise that she loved me, and I her.

"I want you by my side," I murmured.

She lifted my hand, pressing a kiss to it. I smiled. "Always,"

"Always and forever."

. . .

Cole stared at her, taking in the sight of her girlfriend. Her girlfriend. That was weird to say, it finally happened. It was all a rush of spilling feelings and then suddenly she was being hugged, arms wrapping tightly across her back, Hestia's face buried in her shoulder. She smiled at the memory. She revelled in the quiet. She knew as soon as this moment was over, Hestia was going to go back to pretending like she wasn't affected by Cole.

"Ew," came a voice. Cole looked over to see Jay in the doorway. "Keep the PDA to a minimum." They both grinned, and Hestia huffed and let go of Cole's hand. Cole tried not to show her disappointment at the loss of contact.

"What do you want," Hestia asked. Cole tuned them out, choosing to stare at the amazing woman in front of her.

Her hair sprung out in dark curly patches, sparse across her head. She had mentioned getting a wig, just for the public, but Cole thought she looked beautiful. She had burns running up and down her arms and legs, and probably more covering her torso. Her eyes, that's what Cole missed the most. Her beautiful blue eyes were covered by a thick white curtain, only the faintest of the once brilliant blue shining through.

Her skin was still just as soft, and her right hand was mostly unscathed. She loved Hestia's hands. Her fingers were long, and the knuckles a little bit big. They were perfectly imperfect.

"Cole?"

"Huh?" Cole was brought out of her thoughts to see Jay looking at her and Hestia looking over her shoulder. Close enough.

"We were wondering what you were going to do." Jay clarified.

"Um, I wasn't listening."

Hestia rolled her eyes. "No duh,"

Jay snickered. "Are you going to be on the team or in charge of the team?"

"I'll go wherever Nessa goes." Yeah, Cole is cheesy. Despite her not having to lie anymore, Hestia still went by Nessa. Cole called her Hestia in private, but Nessa with all the others. The others still called her Cammie, though.

"Well I won't be much use on the team being blind," Hestia quipped. Jay and Cola laughed, and Hestia grinned. "Come on babe," she said to Cole. "It's time to go visit the slime bag.

Interrogation time!

He was locked up in the cave's prison, Hestia didn't trust regular prisons. Besides, we had a power dampener just for him. They walked down the steps slowly, thinking. They came to the door he was behind, and slowly opened it up.

"Hey there, Killer." Hestia said coldly. Cole itched to take her hand, but she understood that now was not the time.

"Chameleon?" He didn't recognise her.

"Ding ding ding! You got it in one. So, I have some questions for you. If you answer them, I leave you alone, and you get regular meals. If you don't, I'll haunt you in your nightmares and you'll starve. Got it?"

He nodded, then said yes when he realised she couldn't see.

"Great. So the first lie you told me was that the experiment that gave me my powers was an accident, and that it wasn't supposed to hurt anyone. You and I know that's not true. I know who you are. You're a racist misogynistic white man, who can't accept that there are other people in this city, this country, who deserve to be treated like equals."

Cole was confused. She did not think this was how it was going to go. Maybe something along the lines of yelling about murder and lies and all that, but definitely not this way.

He chuckled. "You've done your research. Your kind should have assimilated when we got here."

"First of all, racism. Blatant racism. But you don't care about that. You mean to tell me that your plan the whole time, was to only recruit people who fit you ideal version of a person, and also kill people who you didn't consider human?"

He tapped his nose. "Swallow was a mistake, and I never authorised your team to be recruited. I didn't even authorise her." He gestured towards Cole.

"How long have you been planning this?" Hestia but out, trying not to show her anger. Too bad the Director wasn't the one who was blind. He was smirking.

"For as long as Rhea and Zephyr Whitehead have been on the run."

A pregnant pause. "You knew my family." It wasn't a question.

. . .

My blood was boiling, and it took everything in me to not launch myself at him. I'd probably end up smacking my head into the wall or something. He knew my parents.

He knew my parents and he lied to my face.

He's known who I am this whole time. No I understood why he hates me so much. Because he's a racist misogynistic old man who can't get with the times. I'm done here. He can rot for all I care. I turned around, forgetting I was blind, again, but Cole got the idea. She lightly placed a hand on my shoulder and steered me towards the door. When we got outside she led us back to the lounge, and I sat heavily on the couch. 

"Want to talk about it?" Came the soft question.

I shook my head, perplexed. "If he knew who I am this whole time, why. Why bother letting me live. Was it just ton cause me so much pain and misery? Why not just kill me?"

I felt a hand in mine. "I think," Cole said slowly, you should focus on who's alive, and who really matters. Have you even been back to the orphanage yet?"

"You're right," I murmured. "Take me there, please?"

I could practically hear her grin.

. . .

Cole was saying we were standing outside of the tall building, but I couldn't see so I'd just have to take her word for it. My hand was on her shoulder, and I was tugged along until we reached the steps. No, I did not trip. I need to get one of those canes too. I heard knocking, and steeled myself for the questions about to come.

"Hello?" I heard Helen say. "How can I help you?"

"Hi," Cole responded. "I know you don't recognise her, but this is Nessa."

Silence. 

I missed my vision. 

"I don't think so, Nessa is just inside." Helen remarked. Clever, lying, but you see, it really is me.

"Nessa Carter, your oldest orphan at 17, birthday April 23, has been here since she was six, and when you first met her, you gave her a stuffed parasaurolophus that she named Perry, because she couldn't pronounce the name." I smiled. "That stuffed dinosaur is in my room, on the second shelf over my bed."

"Ness?" I almost rolled my eyes. This was like a scene from a movie. Boo, too cheesy.

"Yep, hey Helen. I was captured for three months by the villains and then I was on TV and then I was recovering and now I can't see." I said all in one breath, using sarcasm to cover my emotions.

"Well," I heard. "That's certainly a good enough reason for Mason." I grinned, and I knew everything was going to be alright. 

. . . 

Months later, I was still getting used to being blind and in charge.

Cole was my saving grace. She really is wonderful, she did so much for me. I pressed a quick to her cheek, after a few seconds of trying to find her cheek and holding her head still so I wouldn't miss. I'm great at this whole blind thing. I felt her cheek curve upwards, and smiled too.

"What do we have," I asked her, listening intently. I had noticed my hearing had gotten better since losing my vision, but I still walked into people by accident. 

"Uh, a cat," she said. "Stuck in a tree." I snorted.

"Sounds like a job for our esteemed team." I leaned forward and pressed a button, speaking into the comms. "Hey losers, you're up."

I am not sane, I decided. That much was apparent when Heathen interrupted a conversation I was having with him, by walking into the room. Or did he? He disappeared so quickly, maybe he was never there. So I'm not fully there, I thought, but I'm mostly there. As if her mind was listening and wanted to prove her wrong, she started randomly babbling, startling Mime who was sitting in the corner of the room.

"Jeez," she said, putting her head in her hands looking bored. "It was fun for a bit but now you're just boring. You don't banter anymore. You just sit there, talking to yourself. I bet you can't even hear me, huh?" She stood up and walked over to me, sticking her face in mine, making weird expressions, trying to get a reaction.

Quick as lightning, I drew my head back and smashed in into Mime's as hard as I could. I needed to knock her out, and I have healing powers. I can survive this.

She crumpled to the ground, and not a minute later the door opened and in rushed Heathen and Peculiar. I laughed like a crazy woman, and they faltered.

"Is he still wack?" Heathen muttered to Peculiar.

She frowned, "I think."

"What do you mean, you think?" Heathen rounded on his companion. "Can't you feel this or something?"

Peculiar rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "It doesn't work like that. I just kiss them and they go crazy. "

I laughed again and they looked at me, seemingly satisfied with my answer. It was then I noticed something. I could feel my shapeshifting powers. The door being open lifted the dampener. I grinned, and shifted into a small snake. Hiss hiss.

Peculiar glanced back at me and let out a scream, jumping as far back as possible. Ha ha! I slithered down the chair, ignoring the burns in weird parts of my new body due to the ropes. I practically flew at the door, my freedom in sight. Until a boot came down, narrowly missing my head. Whoopsie.

"I don't think so," Heathen growled. Well too bad, because I say so.

I shifted again, my body becoming taller and thicker, muscles straining against my suit, pushing the limit of the fabric. I was now Dwayne the Rock Johnson. He intimidated everyone, there was no denying it. Heathen took a step backwards, and I smirked.

I bowled him over and dashed for the door, coming out into a hallway.

A hallway I knew.

There was no way, I had to be seeing things.

There's no way.

. . .

The Seniors were gone again.

Cole and Legion came back to a quiet cave, finding Rellik, Aerglo, Mayhem, Nova, Phoenix and Mazus sitting together in the lounge. They had the news on, and it wasn't good. On the screen, Waya and the other Seniors were walking across the clearing in the park, and on the other side was Aella, Genocide and Mime, standing behind dozens of hired hands.

Totally not fair.

"What's going on?" Cole asked.

"Waya got a message an hour ago, from Aella, saying that they wanted to meet. They want to trade Chameleon for something, he didn't say." Mazus answered, eyes glued to the screen.

"For power," a voice said. They all turned to look and lo and behold, is was Nessa, standing in the doorway.

What the hell.

. . .

I knew this hallway. It was the one that led from outside to the entrance behind the fridge in the kitchen. I saw this hallway almost every day, it was the closest to the orphanage. How long have I been right under their noses? I followed the path until I got to the gap behind the fridge. While in there, I noticed how hungry I was, and grabbed some food. Munching on a Clif bar, I hurried through the halls looking for people. I finally found them, eyes glued to the TV in the living room.

Kids these days.

"Waya got a message an hour ago, from Aella, saying that they wanted to meet. They want to trade Chameleon for something, he didn't say." Mazus was saying. Hey, Chameleon, that's me. Nova, Phoenix, Rellik, Aerglo and Mayhem were sitting on the couch, and Legion was standing next to me.

Someone was wearing my body. I hope it's Cole and the villains didn't find a way to replace me. Unless I am the replacement. Huh. My mind was still a little messed up. I was speaking before I fully registered everything, saying, "For power."

They all turned to look at me, and a few jaws dropped. I wiggled my fingers at them, taking another bite. "We don't have time to be mushy, we've got a big problem.

I got hugs anyway. Aw, nice to know they care.

"Okay, so that was very much a distraction, because I know where the villains lair is. Yes, I'm going with lair, probably because my mind is still broken." Legion snapped his head up to look at me. "Peculiar," I waved him off. He only frowned. I looked back down at my food, my stomach rumbling. Stupid powers being based off how much I eat.

"Nessa," Cole said softly. "You've been gone three months.

I froze. All you could hear was the sizzling of my burger. "Three months." I asked. Was I still talking to myself?

"Three months," Jay confirmed.

"Jesus," it slipped out. I sighed, shaking my head. "No wonder,"

"No wonder what," Rellik asked.

"No wonder they got careless with me." I scoffed. I didn't have the words to explain how I was feeling right now. Anger? Sadness? Apathy? Was I even feeling anything, was I even really here? "Not only was I insane, they had had me for three months without you guys finding them."

"We tried," Rellik said quietly. "We really tried Cammie but there's so much we can't do, you know this. And the Director wasn't even helping."

Splash!

The Director.

My mind felt like something in it had snapped again, and I bent over clutching it. I didn't realise I had let out a shout, but Nova, who was closest to me, reached out and held me up. I was practically putting all my weight on her. I gasped, the sensation of cold water dripping down the inside of my head, down my spine. It wasn't on the outside, it was on the inside. How is that possible? And then everything sharpened.

"The Director." I murmured. I stood up straight, my food abandoned. I took off down the hall and too one of the exits, remembering that he had been on the TV across from Waya. Their meeting. He was planning something.

"Come on," I shouted over my shoulder. "They'll need our help."

. . .

We got to the park not five minutes later, pulling up on the far side of the grass. I rushed out of the van, sprouting wings and flying over as fast as I could. My energy was already low, I couldn't afford to keep them. "Genocide!" I screamed, the familiar red washing over me. My body felt like it was charged with electricity, but the electricity felt temporary. I ignored it, focusing on the words coming back to me.

Genocide is the Director.

Why did Aella tell me that? Why did she go with them in the first place? I had so many questions and a strong feeling next to none of them would be answered.

Go figure.

"You!" I screamed, practically falling on Genocide and punching him directly in the face. "You lying evil little cockroach!"

He stumbled backwards, waving his arms wildly to regain his balance, nearly tripping over his own feet. He stabilised, and looked right at me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Aella shaking her head wildly, but I was too far gone. My rage had consumed me.

"You sit there, high in your comfy seat, while people die for you and you pull this?" I was screaming. Everything was silent. You could head my laboured breathing. Somewhere in the distance I heard footsteps, and assumed it was my backup. Or it could be the hired hands. Either way I'm going to get to punch someone. Good.

He said nothing, just staring at me. "Ahhhhh!" I screamed in his face. I got rid of my wings and launched myself at him, leading with my fist.

The fight didn't last long. He had never been good at defending himself, and my second home was the Training Pit. The others just watched as I beat him, doing nothing. They knew who is he. They understood.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Cammie," Legion said softly. "Enough."

"Never," I whispered harshly. "It'll never be enough. Not for all the pain he's caused."

"You're acting like you know something we don't," came the reply.

"That's because I do," I turned to face him. "Kev, he's not who we thought he was. Or maybe he's exactly who we thought he was going to be." I turned back to the man knelt on the ground at my feet, and ripped off his mask, revealing Ryan K. Thomas.

Murmurs from the crowd of surrounded heroes broke out. "How could he," I heard somewhere off to the back. "He deserves a longer beating," Rellik spat angrily. He was there, he was there the whole time. He was right underneath our noses. He killed so many of my friends, and for what. To have control? I didn't want to know.

"Matt, Tina, Keegan," I said heavily. You killed three of my close friends, and countless others. Does the K stand for Killer?" And it clicked. Jacks said beware killer. That's what he meant.

He started laughing, laughing slow and quiet and then fast and loud. And he wouldn't stop. Before I could process he leapt up,

grabbed my shoulder,

and thrust his arm forward.

But nothing ever came. No fire, no ice. No nothing. Because Legion was standing right in front of me, with the tip of a knife sticking out of his stomach, right above his belly button.

Splash! No more buddy.

My heart beat loud and slow in my ears, and almost in slow motion Genocide ripped his arm backwards, pulling the blade from my dearest friend's body.

"NNOOOOO!!" I screamed.

His body crumpled and I caught him, falling to the ground together. I heard screams of rage behind me and bodies hitting bodies. I glanced around quickly, seeing Nova blast two men at once, Rellik manipulating another man holding a wicked looking knife coming right for me, Waya yelled Flight! somewhere in the distance, and he appeared in the sky, carrying Aerglo. Mazus and Cole stood on either side of me, defending us from those who would wish us harm.

I am eternally grateful for my friends. One of which was dying in my arms.

I was sobbing, I knew Geronimo wouldn't be able to heal this.

"Hes...tia..." I heard. I leaned down and pressed my forehead to his.

"You're gonna be okay," I said thickly. "I'm going to fix you."

I pushed gently, moving my magic through my arms into his shoulders, feeling it travel down to his abdomen. The wound was surrounded in blackness, and it took me a while to realise the blade had been poisoned. No, no no no this couldn't be happening. Not him. Stop taking my best friends from me.

I pushed harder, feeling him slip away from me. This couldn't be happening.

And then he was gone.

I screamed and screamed and screamed,

and my body answered back with it's own scream.

Something exploded inside of me, and waves of energy poured off of me. I opened my eyes, barely able to see, almost unable to believe what I was seeing. Lightning was arcing off of me, the exact shade as the lightning that hit me. I didn't understand what was happening. I looked down at my hands, and they were glowing. A faint blue light was emanating from underneath them. I held them up to my face in wonder, and then as if possessed by someone else, lightly placed them on top of Kev's chest.

And pushed.

Clear!

He gasped, back arching upwards. He breathed heavily, staring up at the sky. "Ohhhh that wasn't fun."

It had been three months.

Things weren't easy, for anyone. 

Cole hated her job, but she refused to quit before finding Nessa. Unfortunately, they had no such luck. They were searching every abandoned building they could get their hands on but without permits their hands were tied. And to admit one of their strongest supers had been kidnapped by the villains was basically admitting defeat. All they could do was sneak around like the very people they wanted to stop. 

Morale was low. 

Cole was sitting in the lounge when Legion approached her. "I've got an idea on how to find Cammie, but we have to move quick. Waya vetoed this idea as soon as I brought it up"

. . .

Swirling. A mix between the past, the present, and was that the future? It didn't look like a good one. I laughed maniacally, not really there. Not really understanding. Some days were good, I could hold a conversation with whoever was in the room, or were they in the room? Other days were bad. All I could do was sit there and scream until my throat bled. But throats don't bleed, Chameleon. Hmm, you may be right. But you may be wrong. Are you insane? That's what I thought. 

Am I insane? I'll ask the person in the room. No answer. Or is that an answer?

I didn't get along well with the recruits from before my group. Rebel, Ang, Rellik, Arctic and Artisto. Arctic thought he was so much better than me because he was inducted a year before me, but I was still on the Senior team so he could stick it.

Why didn't we get along? Was it him, or was it me?

I think it was him. He was haughty. I didn't like how he thought he was all that, he thought he was as cool as Swallow. Swallow who was collapsing on the ground? 

Why did he do that?

I walked over, the others noticing now that our first member was currently face down on the ground. "Swallow?" I asked, pushing his shoulder. He rolled over, and looked like he was sleeping. His eyes shut peacefully, his chest not moving. 

What.

His chest wasn't moving. Panic washed over me and my world started to crumble. "Waya," I called out. "Pull up the news, I think something's wrong but I need to double check."

Then Legion walked into the room. Seeing his best friend lying on the floor was cause for concern, but then he because hysterical when he noticed his lifelong friend wasn't breathing. 

"Swallow." Legion said, the fear creeping into his voice. "Matt buddy come on." He knelt next to me, and started chest compressions. He counted out loud, not noticing the tears dripping down his face. All I could do was stare as this strong person slowly crumbled before me. He leaned down and breathed into Swallow, one breath, two breaths, three breaths, then started chest compressions again. 

"Waya," I snapped. "The news."

He turned on the TV, and we got our answer. 

Genocide.

. . .

I opened the door, mentally preparing preparing myself. "Hey Jacks," I said softly, seeing him sitting by the window. He didn't acknowledge me. I waled into the room, changing the flowers in the pot and tossing the old ones before sitting next to Jacks. He didn't even look at me. 

"How have you been?" I asked, knowing I wasn't going to get an answer. He didn't even know what he was saying anymore. He refused the hospital clothes, not knowing why he wanted to keep his suit on. At least he knew it was important, that it meant something. 

"Forty-two," he mumbled. I looked up, not expecting him to say anything at all.

"That's good," I agreed with him. I had no idea what he meant. "Ace is on ice now, we think it'll preserve her body. Waya couldn't stand to watch her waste away. It seems Mime isn't going to unfreeze her." I rambled slightly, not knowing how to fill the silence. I told him about missions, about new inside jokes. I reminisced with him, thinking back to our glory days. I missed him. 

I wanted to try something. It was horrible, but I wondered if it would work. 

"Peculiar," I whispered. At first I didn't think he had heard me. Then he snapped around to face me and grabbed my head with both his hands. 

"They're closer than you think!" He hissed. His eyes were alight, and he was more alive in this small moment since we found him. "Beware, killer." Ah, so he wasn't really there. Unless I had killed someone, which I didn't think I had. 

. . . 

I was here again, I think. Maybe this was a memory too. I wonder what happens next. The door creaked open, and in walked Aella. "Hey, that's not right," I said leaning forward. "You're dead?" I didn't even know what I was saying anymore, it was like I didn't have control over my mouth. She looked at me, and I couldn't read her expression. There were no words on her face. No story being told. She advanced and I giggled, wondering what she was going to do.

Was I wondering out loud? Who knew. I certainly didn't!

"Cam," she said. 

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" I tilted my head all the way to one side, putting my ear on my shoulder. Could I hear my blood flowing? Maybe if I listened hard enough.

"You need to listen to me," she said. I could barely understand her words. "I just found out who Genocide is. This changes what I previously thought."

"Soup!"

"Cammie," she knelt down in front of me and put her hands on my shoulders. Wheeeeee!

"Genocide is the Director."

Uh oh spaghetti o. 

. . . 

"Why are we at the hospital I thought we were going to save Nessa." Cole said, just a little annoyed. 

Maybe more than a little. 

It's been three months eight days and 9 hours. 

"There's only one person who's survived the villains, but his mind isn't quite there." Legion explained, looking around before leading the way into the building. Cole didn't ask why he bothered to look around, their suits were drawing attention. The cape felt weird to her, she wasn't used to something so heavy on he shoulders. She did like the flow of it though. 

They marched right up to the front desk. "We're here to see Jacks, please," he sad to the man behind the desk. He looked up for a second and did a double take. 

"Ah," he said, clearly trying to mask whatever he was feeling. "Of course sir, go right ahead."

"Thanks," he said quickly leading the way down the hall to the elevator. "Jacks was inducted with Cammie, and is the only other surviving member of her team." Cole choked on her breath.

"What?"

"Jacks got captured by Peculiar years ago, and when we finally got him back his mind was beyond repair. Cammie used to come visit him every weekend, but, well you know." Avoiding the elephant in the room ever so eloquently, Cole thought drily. 

"And why am I here with you then," Cole wondered out loud. 

"Because," the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. "You can access his memories. Come on."

Cole now understood why Waya vetoed the idea, it was a horrible one. Let's do it!

. . . 

Beware!

JACKS? 

Swirling, falling, swooping, healing. 

Healing.

Healing?

Was she healing, or was she dying.

Again? She'd done dying before, let's try something new. 

Healing it is.

I pushed and pushed and pushed, and then a pop!

My eyes cleared, and I was face to face with Mime. Why is it always her like seriously. I was getting tired of it. I tilted my head to the side, and made weird faces. There is no was I am going insane again that was not fun.

"Chicken noodle soup. I! Want! Chicken! Noodle! Soup!" Mime cracked up, backing up a little.

"Man he is so funny when he's insane. I wonder what I have to say to get him to spill the secrets of the cave."

The cave? The cave. 

"Where's my mommy?" I whined, hoping Mime wouldn't realise that I was playacting. Was I playacting? I didn't know, everything was still fuzzy. I couldn't remember much from before. Just something nagging at my mind, something important. Ah well, nothing I find out here can be of much importance. 

"Mommy's in the basement," Mime cackled. Whatever than meant.

. . . 

"Never again." Cole said, when she had finally regained control over her own mind. She felt weird, like her mind wasn't quite there. She didn't think it would be anymore. She had tried to sift through memories, but couldn't find anything solid. Just a lot of memories with Chameleon and a few people she barely recognised from the Wall of the Fallen. 

"Did you find out anything?" Legion hovered worriedly over Cole. He had watched anxiously as Cole turned into Jacks, then watched as she went rigid. Her eyes had glazed over, and she swayed a little, seemingly in a trance. 

"I never want to access someone's memories again that's what I found out." Cole muttered. She was still trying to settle her mind, her eyes kept switching between the hospital room and the months of torture Jacks had endure. 

She was going to have nightmares. 

"Cole please," Legion begged. He couldn't stand it much longer. Cammie was in trouble and she could have all the answers.

"I didn't see anything, just a concrete room and the villains. This guys mind, it's completely shattered. If they did this to Nessa she might not be able to come back from this." Cole murmured the last part.

"What do you mean by that. If she's gone insane, not even Geronimo could help her. She'll end up in here just like Jacks." 

Cole shook her head. "I don't know what she's told you but she has healing powers, the strongest I've ever come across. She might be able to heal herself, as long as she doesn't let them get to her. But she may already be gone." 

Legion looked out the window, thinking hard for a moment. "You know, she told me her real name is Hestia. Paired with the healing, I think I know who she is."

Cole turned to face Legion, eyes wide. "I know that name! Hestia Whitehead. The Whitehead Clan settled this land, didn't they? The name was mentioned briefly when I was in grade nine. But they were all killed, weren't they?" Cole started to connect some dots, understanding why her shapeshifting friend was so secretive.

That wasn't the only thing Cole found out when she copied Nessa. Her body, it was like it was at war with itself, there was so much inner turmoil, physical turmoil. Cole didn't understand how Nessa could walk let alone fight with all that going on inside. 

"Lightning..." Legion muttered.

Lightning, lightning was an apt description. It was like there was lightning trapped inside Chameleon's body, destroying her from the inside out. 

I struggled against the ropes, glaring at them all. 

How the hell did Heathen even end up here? I asked as much, and nobody answered for a while. They just glanced between Genocide on one end to Aella on the other end. 

I felt a calming wind surround me, brushing against my suit. "Stop it," I snapped at her. She had the audacity to look hurt, but she stopped. "Just answer my question or do whatever it is you still have me for."

"Cam," Aella sighed. 

"Don't you dare," I warned her. "I don't want anything from you. I will only talk to Mime, which just goes to show you how pissed I am at you right now."

She backed down, and Mime laughed. I winced. Just because I'll listen to her doesn't mean I'll like it. "Poor little Cammie, first her team dies, the little Jack in the Box goes kooky, then, Aella here realises what's really going on and joins us!" My heart stopped,

"What?" I exhaled. Then I got angry. Oh how I missed the familiar anger. "What the hell do you mean, 'joins us'?"

Mime giggled again, and Heathen barked out a rough "Enough!" She went quiet. I looked closer at him, noticing freeze burns along his side, mixed with a few regular burns. I squinted. Was that a hospital bracelet?

"How did you get out?" I asked him. My voice was steady, a complete 180 degrees from just a few minutes ago. He just sneered at me. I then noticed most of their masks were pulled back, revealing their real faces. 

"Why are your masks down," I stated, more than asked. "What's going on here."

Aella smiled tightly and tried to speak again, but this time Genocide stopped her. The only one still masked. "Shut him up," he said, turning away from me and walking towards a door. Through the gap he left I saw the walls were concrete, and there was a slight drip somewhere in the room. It was cold, and there were two bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

"With pleasure," Heathen growled. He advanced on me and pulled out a small towel from seemingly nowhere. Mime, still standing too close for comfort, pulled out duct tape and ripped a strip off, grinning at me wickedly. 

Why don't I ever try to control my anger?

. . . 

Somewhere across the city, Ditto was freaking out. "Where is she?" She screamed at Waya. 

"Ditto please," he sounded close to tears, but Cole didn't care. Nessa was missing. It had been a couple hours since they had gotten back. Geronimo patched up all the cuts and bruised and pulled muscles. Jay's wing was fractured, from her fall with Peculiar into Rellik. A Rellik who was not too happy to have been fallen on top of. 

"Don't, Waya." Cole spit out sharply. "How the hell do you lose an entire person?"

"Hey, calm down a bit Ditto," Houdini finally spoke up. She had been there standing behind Waya since they got back, her expression blank, a few tears falling down her cheeks. "We just saw someone who is supposed to be dead kidnap our friend with the person we believed had killed her."

"What?" Ang choked out. "Aella is alive? And she's with the villains now?"

"No way," Artisto muttered. "That's not possible. You said she fell into the river after Mime froze her. Chameleon said there was no-" He cut himself off. "No body," he muttered.

Waya sagged into Houdini, unable to process the fact that his girlfriend came back from the dead to kidnap Cammie. Cole felt herself breaking, frustrated that she couldn't do anything. Being one of the newest members, she was ordered back along with Ang, Rellik, Artisto, Arctic, Nova, Rebel, Aerglo, Mayhem, Oracle and Mazus. There was another fire downtown, which now that Cole thought about it, seemed very coincidental. Ang, Nova, Rebel, Arctic and Oracle went to deal with that, and the five 'newbies' were left at the cave to see if anything else would come up. 

"What are we going to do," she said, trying not to let the panic she was feeling seep into her voice. "What's the plan. How do we get her back."

Geronimo shook her head. "Cole," her voice wavered. "I've been part of this team for three years, almost four now. We've never found where they hide out. The only one of us who would know now is Aella," her voice broke when she said her old friend's name. If Mo has been on this team for three years, and she was only a senior in high school, that means she was just thirteen when she was recruited. 

Cole sat down. Hard. She didn't notice the tears dripping down her face. Nova came and sat next to her, wrapping her arm around Cole's shaking shoulders. Chelsea, Cole remembered now. Nova's name is Chelsea. She's a sweet girl, was just inducted before Jay, Quinn and Pluto. 

Cole didn't know what to think. Nessa was out there all by herself, in who knows what kind of condition, face to face with the villain who killed her best friend who also happened to be alive. When did this become the simple part of her life.

"Ditto's right," Legion spoke up. "We need to get her back. Right now."

Houdini turned on him. "How do you suppose we do that, huh? We don't know where they are, we never do! Not to mention our leader is barely holding himself together after seeing his dead girlfriend on the opposite side of the war from him!" 

Legion's jaw locked, and his eyes turned to iron. "I know that. But Cammie is my best friend. After Matt," he trailed off then continued again, slightly quieter. "After Matt, Cammie was the one who helped me. She'd told me things none of you know. Her entire team was killed by Mime and Genocide and the one member she was able to save was immediately captured by Peculiar, going insane; have you forgotten? You really think she'll last long?" His chest was heaving up and down, his face slightly red from his rant.

Everyone was silent. Slowly, Waya straightened his spine. All Cole could hear was hard breathing and her own heartbeat in her ears. "You're right," Waya spoke finally, his voice barely a whisper. "We need her back. Ditto," he said, turning to face her. "In the meantime, you need to be Chameleon. Can you do that?"

Cole nodded. She'd do anything they asked her as long as she got to come rescue her.

"Absolutely not."

"What?" Cole asked.

"None of you are coming on the mission to rescue Cammie. Seniors only." Houdini said, looking Cole directly in the eyes.

Rage built up inside of her. "Do you think," she spat, "that maybe, you're failing because you don't have the full force of the Agency behind you? I can do things none of you can. I can imitate your powers. I can access your memories. I can help. Let me save her, please." Cole was sobbing by the end of her rant, her words coming out in shouts. 

Chelsea squeezed her shoulder and pulled her back down onto the couch. Cole hadn't even realised she had stood up in her anger. She went numb, and collapsed into Chelsea. They had better get Nessa back soon. They needed her.

Cole rocked back and forth, letting out her tears and frustration, thinking of blue eyes and light skin, the first face she saw on Nessa. Then she thought her regular face. Brown eyes and curly black hair, dark as night skin. She couldn't decided which was more beautiful. She wondered what the real Nessa looked like. Even Cole had made some alterations to her natural form.

She sobbed and sobbed and sobbed and prayed for the first time since becoming a superhero. She prayed they could bring Nessa home in one piece.

. . . 

A waterfall of freezing cold water woke me up.

I tried not to chatter my teeth, knowing how much Mime enjoyed seeing me in any kind of pain. Sadist. I shook my head, now bare. They had done something to this room, something that dampens my shapeshifting powers. I know it dampened their powers too, and I heard Heathen muttering about it. My guess was that they programmed it specifically for types of powers, not a person, because I still had my healing. I couldn't use it though. They had to believe I was powerless.

 Just until I figured out a plan to get out of here. Wherever here was. 

As far as I could tell, we were in a basement. There really wasn't much else to say about the room. Two bare light bulbs, my chair in the middle of the room, concrete square. Aella visited me regularly, bringing me meals and sighing loudly. I knew what game she was playing. 

I don't think I ever wanted to talk to her again.

I opened my eyes to see Genocide standing in front of me with an empty bucket. Wonder where the water went? "Morning sunshine," I said brightly. Genocide offered nothing. I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, my suit now thoroughly soaked. I probably smelled disgusting. I had lost count of how long I had been in here. They were leaving me in solitary confinement, hoping to drive me mad. With my healing powers I don't even think Peculiar's kiss could make me go insane. 

Speak of the devil and she shall appear: Peculiar walked into the room, followed closely by the others. Huh. I haven't had them all gathered in my room since the first time I woke up. This doesn't bode well for me. 

"Are we sure about this," Mime asked, glancing around the room. If even Mime wasn't sure I didn't want to think about what might happen to me.

Aella jerked her head in a tight nod, and that was all the others needed. Heathen came behind me and held my head, making sure I couldn't move it. "What's going on, what are you doing?" I asked, very much panicked. I tried to whip my head from side to side but it wouldn't move an inch. As Peculiar walked forward my eyes widened in panic. No, I thought, I don't want to find out what happens to my mind when it really breaks. 

I tried to move my head again, but it was too late. Peculiar's lips were on mine, and I felt something shatter inside me.

Splash, no more Chameleon.

My dreams were tumultuous. They passed like daydreams, washed in yellow light and slightly fuzzy. I heard them slightly, moving around me, whispering words like 'healing', 'how' and  'Chameleon'. Must be the team. Wondering how I'm healing. I got hurt? It must have been the fall. What fall? Oh well, time to dream a sweet dream now.

"Mama," the little girl said, her voice a hushed whisper. They were sitting on the roof, wrapped together in a blanket. "What are stars?"

"Do you want the real answer or my answer?" The young woman said, rubbing her pregnant belly gently.

"Your answer," the little girl giggled as if it were the funniest joke she'd ever heard. 

"They're all your futures," the mother whispered to her little girl, burning as bright as the fire you were named after."

"Tell me the story again," the little girl pleaded. Her mother laughed, smiling wide and happy. 

"There once was a titan named Kronos, who feared the power his children were prophesied to gain, so he ate them up, one by one." The mother pretended to munch on her little girl, making sound effects that were barely heard over the little girls laughter. 

"Zeus, the youngest, was hidden by his mother, Rhea," at this name the little girl turned to her mother, excitement apparent on her face. "The same Rhea I was named after." She said nodding. "Zeus outwitted his father, and he barfed up all of his siblings."

At this part both the little girl and the mother made a face and yelled EW!, bursting into laughter afterwards. "The last one was Hestia, the first to be eaten, and last to be saved. But Hestia was incredibly important. She is the oldest god, and she is the goddess of the home, of the hearth. That's why your dad and I named you after her. You're our home." They clasped hands tightly, smiling at each other, slowly melting into another scene. 

. . .

He sat in a cold room in the police station, bundled in his blanket to ward off the chill. Two men sat opposite of him. To the untrained eye, it would look like two detectives interviewing a little boy. Except you couldn't miss the spark of rage in the little boy's eyes, his face screwed up with fury. 

"What do you mean an experiment!" He yelled, stumbling over the last word, showing his young age. 

"Please kid," The thinner man said, holding his hands in a placating manner. "No need to yell."

His chin lifted in defiance, and then he was a she, and she was no longer a little boy, but an old woman, standing up in anger, cheat heaving. "What," she bit out, "do you mean an experiment?" This time there was no stumbling over words. She said it properly. 

The two men stared in shock, not really able to process the fact that now they were interviewing an old woman. "Your experiment ruined my life!" She yelled, spit flying. She shifted again, now a non-binary teenager with orange hair. "Explain." They barked.

The bigger man stuttered a bit then finally found his words. "We were doing an experiment with the weather, seeing if we could create certain conditions, we didn't mean for it to get loose and hurt anyone." His words were calming but his tone wavered, showing his uncertainty. Or something else.

"Well it did," the angry teen heaved. "You killed my family and nearly killed me too. You'll pay for this, Mr. Director and Mr. Scientist. You'll pay off their life debts and then you'll die"

. . . 

She was crouched in the corner, staring unblinkingly at the people gathered around the coffee table. She knew they knew someone was in the cave. They had noticed whatever messes they left, if any, were quickly cleared away. Fresh fruit and vegetables would be cut up to go with their breakfast. There were three of them. Aella, Waya and Swallow. Civilian names Martha Gibson, Tom James and Matthew Neves. They were all laughing, something Tom had said. 

She started moving forward, keeping low to the ground, slinking over to them. She had been watching them for a few months now, and knew everything about them. Perks of having a high tech computer in the cave to tell her everything. 

She was a few feet away when Martha noticed her. "Hey there, little one," she said, crouching down and holding out her hand. The girl was startled at the wording and the action for a second, before remembering that she was, in fact, a cat. Not for much longer, if the rumbling of her stomach was trying to say anything. 

She inched forward, sniffing lightly. Martha smelled like strawberries and fresh air, grass and cleanness. Tom knelt down beside her, and he smelled like aftershave, freshness and something else she couldn't quiet place. (Coffee beans, her unconscious mind supplied, now looking back and recognising it.) Matthew sat down a foot away, just staring at her. He smelled like bird, like prey. The girl shook herself quickly, reminding herself that she was human, she didn't eat birds. Not even the fancy ones in french dishes.

She butted her head against Martha's outstretched hand, and was immediately attached to her. She never wanted to leave her side. 

It was a few months later that the girl finally revealed herself. She was in her cat form, purring quietly while Martha and Tom watched TV. She slowly uncurled herself and jumped down to the floor, stretching out her paws. She mewed once, just to gain their attention, and when she had it, she shifted. Fur receded backwards and faded to a light brown, eyes changed into dark brown human ones, and paws became fingers and toes, hands and feet. Her tail snaked back into her spine, and she stood on two feet, staring at the two shocked heroes.

Swallow walked in, holding a bowl of cut up fruit. "What t-" His voice melted away into another memory. 

. . . 

"Give it up for your newest additions to the team: Legion, Geronimo and Starbright!"  Waya shouted from in front of city hall. The girl was disguised as a street cat, watching from a perched position on a fence as the crowd in front of the building. She didn't understand why she wasn't up there. It was something the Director had said. Anger washed over her at the thought of the Director.

He still owed her four life debts, and he did nothing. She practically ran the Agency. He hadn't even noticed that she had stripped him of all his power and given it to herself. She groomed a paw smugly, wondering when or if he would notice. 

The memories started to pass even faster now, lasting no longer than a few minutes.

. . . 

"Welcome our newest members: Chameleon! Ace! Folly! Jacks! And Purrrrrrrge!" Swallow cried out. I grinned wide underneath my mask. I had finally made it. I came out of hiding and was now a public member of the team. Behind us stood Rebel, Ang, Arctic, Rellik, Artisto and the rest of the gang, cheering loud. After the loss of Swallow, the team too a hard hit. Which is why Waya thought it would be a good idea to add some more members. 

We needed them too. A new villain, Mime, had popped up. She was vicious, leaving no survivors. Paired with the fact that Genocide was now underground again, it wasn't a good sign. 

She revelled in the moment, hands clasped with Ace and Folly's, hovering above the ground in excitement. Now she could show the world who she is.

. . . 

"FOLLY!" She yelled out, looking around. "JACKS? PURGE. ACE!" She turned around and around, until she spotted something fall to the ground just behind the building. She flew over, moving so fast her cape snapped behind her.

She rounded the building and stumbled back a few steps in horror. Mime had her arms wrapped tight around Ace, Jacks and Purge were laying on the ground in puddles of blood. And Folly, Folly was hanging from Genocide's great big gloved hand. The blades on the back of his forearms were covered with red. (Red. Always that colour, her unconscious mind thought.)

"AHHHHHH!" She screamed, tears forming. This was her team, her responsibility, and she didn't listen to them. Why didn't she listen to them?

Mime looked up and snickered, while Genocide stoically turned his covered head. "Poor little Chameleon, no more friends for you!" Mime sang. 

"GO!" She yelled, buffeting them back with her wings. Genocide let Folly crumple to the ground into a pile, and the two of them took off. She didn't bother going after them. She raced over to her two friends laying in their own blood. She forced her suit back from her hands, hoping she could help them. Her hands, covered in the thick red substance felt nothing. Nothing but red and hate and anger and emptiness. She hurried over to Folly, hoping he was still alive. 

He was. 

"Folly, Folly please stay awake." She was close to hysteria now. Her hands fluttered over his neck, itching to heal. His hands came up to grab hers. 

"Jacks.... Alive...." He muttered. Then his hands dropped.

She felt his pulse and deemed Folly strong enough to last while she healed Jacks. She rushed over, not having any time to waste. She pressed her hands onto his chest and shoved her magic into him. She felt spring and dew drops and smelled freshly cut grass and lilacs and his chest started to move. She was so weak, that was all she could do. Barely heal one of her friends. Her teammate. 

"Help!" She screamed into the comms, hoping someone, anyone, was listening. 

"Where?" A voice asked back.

"The storage units by the woods," she rasped out, her body wavering. 

"Coming now," the voice said, sounding fainter and fainter. "Just hold on Chameleon."

"Folly, Folly, Foll..." she chanted. She slowly tipped to the side, noticing at the last second before passing out a figure leaning against Ace's frozen form. Oh good, she thought. Help is here.

. . .

I was woken by a blinding light. Someone had lifted my eyelid up and was shining a small flashlight into it, checking my pupil dilation. I groaned in protest, trying to move back from the light. 

"What's with the ancient technology," I rasped out, my throat parched. I was still caught up in my dreams, and I couldn't quite see yet. "Just get Mo to fix me."

"Who's Mo?" A high cold voice asked.

Three things happened then in quick succession. 

One, my eyes adjusted.

Two, I recognised that voice, and the face. 

And three, I wasn't in the cave.

Standing in front of me in a tight semicircle was Genocide, Peculiar, Heathen and Martha, and Mime's face was almost pressed right up against mine. 

I was at a weird point in my life. Through the haze of midterms I registered the date and suddenly all my actions became more and more sluggish. Aella died last year. Exactly a year ago. The first few months after had passed in a haze of tears and starvation, then the light at the end of the tunnel: Legion. He picked me up and helped me find myself again. I owed him so much. 

"Cammie," Jay said quietly, dropping her textbook on the desk next to mine. Oh boy.

"Jay," I spoke steadily, but don't let that fool you. I was more then definitely screaming very loudly in my head.

She huffed a little, then spoke. "Why didn't you tell me," she couldn't even look at me.

"I'll explain at the cave, there's a lot I need to tell you, but I am sorry I kept this from you. I wanted to tell you, but I didn't know how. I've been keeping these secrets for so long, it's hard to share them." I looked over at her, gauging her reaction. She nodded once, then flipped open her textbook. At least she was sitting next to me.

Our teacher walked in and pulled down the screen projector, much to the confusion of his students. "The principle pissed me off at yesterday's meeting and since we're so close to winter break, we're watching a movie!"

I love this class.

. . .

We weren't as lucky in our other classes.

By the end of the day, I had decided that not only did Jay need the truth, Quinn and Roan needed truth too. Which meant revealing Kiki and Penny. I had also decided that even though my teachers had assigned our midterm projects, I can risk not handing them in until at least early February. I had other things to think about. Like Christmas. And my inevitable mental break down.

Jay had to walk her dogs first, but then she would meet me at the cave. That gave me time to prepare what I was going to say, and let Kiki and Penny in on our little truth fest. I chewed on gummy worms anxiously, better than chewing my thumb. At exactly 4:43 (she was late), Jay walked into the living room to see Quinn, Roan and I sitting on the couch. I tried a smile but my heart wasn't in it. I was just full of nerves, I didn't want to do this.

I hate talking about myself. I hate letting people in. I didn't even like how well Legion knew me. Maybe I've always been this way, maybe it's because of what happened to my family, or to Aella. Maybe it's because of the Director, lying to me, prying at my cracks, trying to take advantage of a young child. Once again, it seems to be a theme, the mood felt sombre. Jay walked over and sat next to Quinn, expressionless. I cleared my throat, thinking of what I had rehearsed. 

"So before I tell you guys everything, there's two other people who want to join in, if that's okay?" Nods around the room. I called out and Kiki and Penny came into the room, sitting near me. At least I had their support for sure. They slowly pulled off their masks, almost in sync (that's a little scary) to reveal two faces that we were all familiar with. 

"Huh," Jay said, looking thoroughly stumped. 

"Okay this is so not fair," Quinn said, looking just a tiny bit mad. "So you think it's okay to keep who you are secret, but you get to know who we are?" He has a point.

"Quinn," Penny tried.

"No," He shut her down. He took a deep breath, composing himself, before speaking again. "I'm here to find out the truth from Nessa, then I'll decided whether I want to hear from you two." I found that a little harsh, but then again so was recruiting one of your best friends and not telling him that you understood what he was going through. Becoming a hero wasn't easy, it was so hard. The amount of stress we put our bodies through, the amount of stress we put our minds through. No salary can make up for it, but it can ensure some things. Like they'll get the best healthcare, and they will be honoured by everyone.

Everyone who knew.

"Okay," I said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. All eyes turned to me. "I guess I should start talking." I cleared my throat again, wishing I had washed down the gummies with water. Too late now. "I'm Nessa, and I've been Chameleon for 10 years. I was stuck by lightning when I was young, and it killed," I paused, trying not to choke on my words. "It killed my entire family. I was visited by the Director a few years later, and that's how the Agency started. I didn't have a home, so I lived in the cave, and spent my time testing my powers."

I clasped my hands together tightly, and felt a hand squeeze my shoulder. "Two years later, Waya, Aella and Swallow were inducted. The big three. You all know what happened to Swallow." The Director hadn't made the announcement, Waya and Aella had. One of the many reasons I dislike that man. "Aella and Waya took me in, we were like a little family. Then the Last Battle," I did choke on my words here. It was still too fresh.

"I'm sorry," I sniffled rubbing my face. "The Last Battle, Aella died, and I didn't know what to do. That's why Chameleon disappeared for months, and that's why Nessa wasn't at school the first few months." 

"Ness," I heard someone say. I couldn't tell their voices apart anymore. I could barely hear anything. I couldn't see anything. Sobs wracked my body, and I felt arms loop around me, cocooning me in a sea of support and love. We stayed like that for seconds or minutes or hours until my cries faded. Everyone pulled away slowly, leaving lingering squeezes. 

"I should have told you, there's no excuse for it." I said.

"Nessa," Jay began. "I'm still miffed you didn't tell us, and I'm sure the others are too, but we can understand why you didn't. Was it the right choice? No, but it was the choice you made, and you're making a choice right now. Thank you for telling all of us this, I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must've been to not only go through that but to live a lie. You don't have to lie to us anymore, I promise." She reached over and rubbed my arm, looking right at me while speaking.

It was like I could breathe again. This enormous weight was lifted off my chest, the ropes around my lungs were loosened, my head didn't feel as heavy. I started to feel truly happy again, like everything was going to be okay.

So of course something has to ruin that peace.

All six of us look up as the alarm goes off, listening for the computer to tell us the situation. "Mime and Peculiar spotted, twenty kilometres south of our location. Hired hand count, thirty. Threat level, eight. Backup required." Well that sounds fun.

I stood up, roughly brushing away my tears, the familiar anger building up inside of me. "Let's go get them."

. . .

It was chaos. 

When me and Mo got there, the others either trailing behind or staying back at the cave, we spotted Waya and Legion making their way through the wall of muscle standing between us and the two villains. My eyes threatened to go out of focus with rage, and I bit back a scream. I dropped Geronimo off near Waya and Legion, and took off towards the back off the pack, flying above their reach. 

I heard the telltale sound of Houdini appearing and glanced back to see her standing with Starbright, Met and Pluto. Good, I didn't have the willpower to stay away from Mime much longer. I focused back on my target circled twice, and dropped right down behind them. They were jumping up and down slightly, apparently looking for something, or someone.

"Hey there," I snarled. They turned around, shock registering on their faces. I grabbed Peculiar and took off into the sky, throwing her as far forward as possible. Phoenix swooped down and barely caught him, the two of them slowly falling to the ground, landing almost on top of Rellik. Whoops. 

I dove back towards Mime, who was now slinking backwards, trying to disappear into the crowd. "Oh no you don't!" I yelled, reaching out for her collar. I latched on and pulled her up into the sky, taking off towards the river. The exact river where she had killed Aella last year. Let's hope Mime dies this time. I set her down with her toes barely touching the edge of the cliff.

"Cammie, no!" I heard Waya's voice behind me. I knew he was coming towards us, but I didn't dare take my eyes off this villain. 

"Yeah Cammie, no!" Mime repeated in her high pitched voice. I shook her collar again, watching as she scrambled to find footing on the ledge. 

"You," I breathed, feeling Waya come up behind me. Risking a glance I saw his eyes hard with rage and his posture tight. He may not want me killing Mime, but he's fine if she sweats a bit first. "You killed her," My voice was rigid with rage. "You killed my best friend."

She tilted her head all the way to the side. "Which one was that again?"

I screamed in her face, shaking her again. Her cold laughter rang out loud and clear, and it was then I registered the lack of fighting happening behind me. I watched Mime's eyes trail across a line, meaning the others were there. 

Funny, everyone who was there last year was here again. 

"You know her! She was my best friend and you killed her." I bit out, my eyes blurring either with rage or tears. I couldn't tell at this point. 

She just laughed again. "Splash!" she shouted, rubbing it in my face. "Poor little Cammie, no more best friend for her!"

My throat was raw from screaming but I did it again anyway. All I could do was scream. Scream and fly. I pushed up off the ground, holding Mime tightly in my hands. "Splash," I whispered, loosening my grip. "No more Mime."

I let her go, my wings beating as she fell and fell and fell, all the way down, until she wasn't falling anymore. Instead, she was floating. Floating. Hovering. At a complete standstill in the air, waving up at me. That's a new one. 

"Hey Cam," I heard behind me.

I whirled around, seeing a woman in a red suit, floating in the air behind me. A woman in a red suit, with long brown hair and green green eyes. Oh so familiar long brown hair and green green eyes. Oh so very familiar. 

"Martha?" I choked out. This couldn't be happening. No. She wasn't real. Mime was dead and so was Martha.

And suddenly I was the one who was falling falling falling, staring at my best friend, floating in the sky like an angel, a ring or red surrounding her. She looked beautiful.

Then darkness.