Frost & Flames | Soulmate AU 2 |

Seventeen

Alexa and Matt depart shortly after everything is said and done, heading back to New Jersey to see what is left of their team complex. I apologized profusely for being the reason that they got dragged into all of this before they left. Alexa hadn't said anything, remaining just as quiet as she'd been since I first met her, but Matt had smiled calmly and insisted that it's not my fault.

"We'd be dealing with a whole host of problems right now if Key had gotten control of the League," he had said. "Things are going to be hard for Alexa and I for a while, but you were only used as a decoy and someone would have had to help Scofield no matter what. Our captain made the call to help your team, and she knew the risk she was taking."

I gave him my phone number, from the cell phone I had to leave in the tower, and make him promise to contact me if he needs anything or just wants to talk. He took it and said he'd keep it in mind.

My team is currently squeezed into an elevator, the six of us riding it up to the floor Cecelia's on. Tony's been with her the entire time, so she thankfully hasn't been alone for how long it's taken the rest of us to be dismissed from the scene at the assembly hall.

We find her room relatively easily. Tony's sitting in a chair beside her hospital bed. They're watching a YouTube video on one of their cell phones. Cecelia is clearly trying her hardest not to laugh, likely afraid that the movement will jar her injured shoulder.

"Hey, guys," Cecelia says when she notices us. "Lake! We're gunshot twins now!" Tony turns to us, exasperated, gesturing to his girlfriend as if to say "do you see what I have to put up with?"

I chuckle, nodding my head.

"I guess we are," I agree. "We'll start a club."

"I can be in that club," Max chirps, clapping me on the back.

"So can I!" Flint exclaims.

"Alright, fine," Cecelia says, rolling her eyes and brushing a lock of red curls from her face, "it's not really an exclusive club, but it's a club!"

We all laugh, the collective noise probably too loud to be acceptable in a hospital setting. No nurse comes in to scold us, though, which likely has to do with the fact that we're League agents. Us agents get a bit of leeway in places like the hospital, especially when one of us is hurt.

"Hey, listen, we need to talk to you about something," Cecelia says, her tone going serious. Tony pauses the video playing on the cell phone and turns it off, tucking it into his pocket. "So, Tony and I have been talking, even before all of this started happening these last couple of weeks, and we're planning on taking some time off from the League. Well. Tony's gonna demote to consultant and I'm going to take actual time off. Getting shot has made my mind up about it. We want to have a baby, and now is as good a time as any."

I'm a little surprised at the news, but I definitely understand an injury like hers spurring her into action. She was thrilled when Bella, Rowan's three year old sister, started living in the tower. She's available for babysitting quite literally whenever Rowan or I ask.

"Well, congratulations, then!" JD says excitedly with a grin.

"I'm happy for you guys," Max says, smiling as well.

I catch sight of Nick's face and a pang of pity hits me, because her face is intentionally blank and her hands are in fists at her sides. She never made it a secret that she was excited to meet her counterpart and get married and have a great big family. The death of her other half before she even managed to meet him, let alone find out who he was, through a wrench straight into her plans. It happened fairly recently, as well, so this can't be a great reminder to have right now. I make a mental note to talk to her later, because she's been pulling away from everyone recently and that can't lead to anything good.