Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
ALEX
I fidgeted in my seat; the waiting room was colder than I would have liked.
I craved Leo’s heat and was ready to crawl out of my skin with each minute that he stayed in Dahlia’s office.
Reed sat beside me, flipping through the channels of the TV as soft voices came from the speakers.
Endless footage had been shown about the Splinter attack, and the conspiracies were running rampant.
Something caught my ear, and I held out a hand to signal for Reed to pause.
“… could be linked with the Villains that escaped a failed operation three years ago. The Variant Intelligence Agency has called this group ‘Splinter’, yet haven’t made any official statements on a possible connection between the events.
The collapse dominated the media, and this attack is only a reminder of the tragedy that was suffered,” a news anchor looked straight into the camera.
“Nightmyre hasn’t forgotten, and we will not forget this.
In a time where Villains run rampant, it is imperative to remember the ones that laid down their lives for us.
We honor the fallen, the Heroes that were sacrificed. ”
I snatched the remote from Reed’s hand and turned the volume up.
Old footage began to play, and my throat started to close up.
I’d been avoiding it for so long—but everything felt right now.
After three years, I knew the world wouldn’t collapse.
Leo had been working to change, but I wasn’t done yet, either. I needed to take the next step, too.
“You’ve never watched it, right?” Reed leaned back.
The reporter continued. “Among those who lost their lives in the collapse were Heroes AngelDust, Spitfire, Hopper—”
My hand trembled, and Reed raised an arm to turn it off. “You don’t have to—”
“—no,” I interrupted, “I do.”
I’d seen snippets, of course. Flashes on TV screens in restaurants or frozen pictures in newspapers.
But I’d always turn away from them, always shield myself from the ugly of it all.
Joon was dead. That’s all I needed to know.
But it had kept me from moving on, and I was finally ready.
I didn’t spend my nights lost in a daydream of the past, or run to a bottle every time the grief washed in.
Going on with my life didn’t mean I would forget him; it didn’t mean I was betraying his memory just by living.
“It’s not pretty,” Reed mumbled. “… just a warning.”
“In a communication failure that resulted in the chief operative enforcer resigning from his position; an all-clear order was sent, followed by the green light to use lethal force. Eight Heroes were still in the building at the time the order was enacted. The outcome devastated the VIA, and the city of Nightmyre.”
My stomach swirled as the footage began to play.
A burning building, with the roof beginning to cave in.
Shaky camera angles darted around a debris covered street, and police lights flashed against the orange blaze.
The camera zoomed in on figures struggling in front of the chaos.
Blond hair and a black uniform made my body go rigid.
Leo pulled against four Heroes, fire spitting out as he shouted, attempting to run back inside.
I recognized two of them; a Hero that had an affinity for ice, and another whose body was made of steel.
Frost pushed against his skin, attempting to stifle his flames, and keep its own damage minimal.
They held him back by his arms and torso, shaking their heads as he writhed.
I’d never seen him look so desperate.
“… Hero Cinder had tried to go back in after learning of the mistake. In a heartbreaking display, his comrades held him back—”
“—Leo was there,” I breathed.
I knew that, but seeing it now made my heart break, made tears well in my eyes as something started to chew in my mind.
Reed tensed beside me. “… You two haven’t talked about it yet, have you?”
“About what?”
A nagging, gnawing fact made my chest burn as my breath started to come in quick gasps.
It had been a communication failure, and the building ended up in flames.
The truth poured into me, and I wanted to reject it, wanted to act like I’d never seen the footage.
I couldn’t face this, couldn’t let the reality destroy me.
“I started the fire,” Leo’s voice was a husk behind us. “It was my fault, Alex.”
I was drowning.
My chest was too tight, my skin suffocating, the new implants on my head making my dark apartment flash blue each time my ability attempted to push me into a daydream I didn’t want.
It would have been easier—sleep, and live in whatever paradise my mind created.
This pain, this overwhelming sense of dread — it was going to undo everything.
Leo and I worked to change. We put in the effort, made decisions that were hard, that would make us better. I thought we were healing together. Piece by piece, recreating ourselves and leaving the past behind us.
He didn’t tell me.
After a month, he didn’t say a word. Didn’t confess, or explain anything. I could understand why in the beginning. But now? After everything — getting closer, fuck—sleeping together. Everything had fallen apart. Again.
It took only thirty minutes for a knock to come at my door; record time, for five p.m. in Nightmyre. I couldn’t hold back the tears as it swung open, and Minnie rushed in.
“Oh, carino.” Her dark eyes softened as her purse dropped to the floor, and she brought me in for a hug. “It’s alright. You’ll be okay.”
Minnie couldn’t lie, but I didn’t know how to believe her. Everything collapsed just as it had hit its peak. My lips pulled into my teeth as I suppressed a sob and nodded.
“I’m sorry,” my voice was a broken whisper. “I didn’t know what to do.”
She guided me to the couch, sat us down, and pulled my favorite oversized blanket across our laps. “You call me; that’s what you do.”
“This feels unethical,” I hiccuped as I attempted to smile. “Like a patient-therapist boundary or something.”
Minnie took my hands in hers and leaned in with narrowed brows.
“Alex, honey, we are so far past that. You work with my husband—it’s been a conflict of interest from the start.
That was a risk I was willing to take, and I’ve never regretted it.
You’re family now. And, I may have omitted the fact that since you’ve returned to the VIA, I technically can’t be your therapist anymore. ”
I cocked my head, confusion breaking through the all-out despair I’d been feeling since I got home. Minnie had continued to see me every Wednesday, just like normal.
“The VIA is strict; everything is so confidential, you know. Luckily, that woman—Dahlia, I believe—gave us some leniency. I wasn’t going to bring it up until I felt you were ready. In fact, I was planning on breaking the news this week.” She grimaced. “Bad timing, I suppose.”
The whole despair thing? That came back twofold. I put my head in my hands, sobs wracking my body, while Minnie rubbed gentle circles between my shoulder blades. After the news and Leo, it was all too much. I hadn’t said anything to him before I left. He didn’t chase me this time either.
I thought a therapy session would help, but I couldn’t find the words, and didn't have anything to say. This, at least, felt right. Having someone I trusted by my side, sitting in silence, holding space. How was I supposed to react? What was I supposed to feel?
It was a mix of sadness and anger. The strange part was that I wasn’t angry with Leo; I was furious with myself.
For three years, I’d put it off, run away from the morbid details that would make Joon’s death real.
Even without my ability, I’d put myself under a daydream.
If I didn’t have the facts, it didn’t really happen.
This could have been avoided, if only I had a fucking backbone.
But what then? If I had known three years ago, when Leo was still someone to loathe, would we have gotten closer?
No.
“I know he didn’t lie technically,” I choked out finally. “I just…”
Minnie rubbed away my tears with a tissue as she tilted my chin up. “Betrayal can still exist without lies, and being upset about it doesn’t mean you’ve taken steps backward.”
But it was a step back, a mile behind where we’d gotten. I didn’t want to think about how his face changed when I stood up, how his lips parted like he wanted to say something more, or how I fled before giving him the chance.
“What do I do?” I whispered.
She patted my shoulder and hummed. “Since I’m not your therapist anymore, can I speak freely?”
I chuckled, my nose dripping and making the sound distorted. “You usually do.”
“Well,” Minnie settled back. “As someone who is no liar, but is familiar with the act of omitting truths, I have to admit that speaking freely is a privilege that I’ve never had.
When I was a child, my family thought I likedto start drama.
I couldn’t help it—every secret came out, no matter how hard I tried.
I had to learn how to speak, how to use my voice without causing damage. ”
Damage. That word hovered in the air, and it reminded me of Leo.
“Some people omit the truth because they’re scared of hurting others. Some do it to protect themselves. And sometimes… the words just aren’t right. Honesty is a fickle thing, Alex. It’s tedious, and overwhelming.”
My shoulders dropped, a headache beginning to creep in. “He told me he wanted to talk about something this morning.”
She nodded. “Maybe he was finally ready. The truth, unfortunately, came out before he could tell his side.”
“Joon…” I took a deep breath, my body shaking as I let it out. “I know it was an accident. So, why does it feel like I’m falling for his killer?”
There it was — that harsh cut through my heart.
It wasn’t Leo’s fault; he didn’t give the order.
But he set the flame, and it was his power that Joon died from.
Part of me wanted to tell Leo I didn’t blame him; it was the VIA’s mistake, and a risk that every Hero took when following commands. Things like this happened every day.
But another side of me — the one that still mourned Joon, that still wanted to scream from what happened to him—it told me that forgiving Leo would be outright betrayal.
Some sort of sign that his death didn’t matter, after all.
Or that I cared more about Leo than I had about Joon. I wasn’t sure which way was up anymore.
“My mother died in a car accident,” Minnie replied.
“I was seventeen, and she was already gone by the time we got to the hospital. They told me the other person involved was still in surgery, and I decided to pray for him. It had been raining, badly, and no one should have been driving that day. But they both got in their cars; they had things to do, schedules to keep.”
I held onto every word, anything to keep the thoughts in my head at bay.
“I was angry at first, but I saw his family, and they looked just like us. Shocked, afraid, and so terribly sad. Gabriel got out of surgery after three hours, and of course, he lived. He’s still convinced that my prayers were what saved him, and he still doesn’t look like a killer to me.”
The story was one I hadn’t heard before, and it gave me… something. Gabriel wasn’t a killer, and Joon hadn’t been in a car accident, but the sentiment radiated through me. They got through it, and they had a future even after grief.
“Minnie,” I leaned my head on her shoulder, tucking my knees to my chest. “Thank you.”