Super Spy (Book 2)

15. Faded

"It's nothing personal," Nia continued, fishing a first-aid box out of a cabinet. "I don't trust most people, and especially not people who used to be accomplices to supervillains."

"Grayson wanted me to become a secret agent again. She trusts me enough for that. Isn't that enough?"

"It's enough for Tristan," Nia said, plucking a nutrition bar from a different supply box and peeling off the wrapper. "Not for me."

Jace snorted. "Yeah, right," she said quietly. "I don't think Tristan will ever fully trust me."

Nia eyed her sharply. "You really like him, don't you?"

"I— what?"

"Oh, don't pretend. He likes you too, you know." She hopped up onto a supply shelf, biting into her nutrition bar, and made a face. "Yuck. These things taste like sawdust." She took another bite.

"He does?" Jace said, then felt embarrassed at herself for asking the question, even as warmth flooded her chest at the thought. It was stupid, and juvenile, but as many as Jace had pined over throughout the years, no one had ever given any indication of liking her back. 

Nia watched her for a moment, uncharacteristically quiet as she chewed. Finally she said slowly, "Did I ever tell you about what happened right after you left?"

Jace shook her head.

"Tristan had a relative here too, a cousin," she said. "I think a distant cousin, I'm not sure exactly. But she got transferred to a different Super Sector in the City after you left. I think the Council was trying to avoid another fiasco like what happened with you and Luke." 

Jace felt suddenly cold. She hadn't known that her actions had impacted others in the Super Sector too, that they would go so far as to transfer other people because of it. Tristan must hate me, she thought. I was the reason she had to leave! She hadn't even known he had a cousin; he'd never talked about knowing any of his relatives.

"So she left." Nia shrugged. "But she and Tristan were close before that. She was training to be an Enforcer, and they hung out all the time, training together and doing stupid contests. Anyway, she went psycho and injured a bunch of other Enforcers after the transfer, and then she escaped and became a supervillain. So Tristan got contacted, 'cause they wanted info to help track her down."

"And?"

"He had all this info, about her exact capabilities as a super, because they'd trained together so much, and he told them all of it. And then, he had something else of hers, a necklace that was really important to her for some reason. I think it belonged to her girlfriend that she had to leave behind when she transferred, or something. But she'd accidentally left it behind. And Tristan gave it to the Enforcers." Nia gave Jace a meaningful stare. "Do you get it? They didn't ask for it, but he gave it to them just in case they could use it as a bargaining chip or something, to catch her again."

"I . . . did they?"

"Don't know." Nia shrugged, biting into the nutrition bar again, and spoke in a muffled voice through a mouthful of food. "He never talked about any of that again. To me, anyway."

Jace swallowed, her mouth feeling dry. "Why did you tell me that story?"

"Because Tristan has a very specific set of priorities," said Nia. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but it's just something you should think about. That story doesn't mean that he's disloyal, by the way. He's the most loyal person I've ever met, and people who say otherwise just don't realize what he's loyal to." She chucked the half-eaten bar into a nearby trash can, dusting off her hands.

Leaning back against a shelf, with the weight of the supply bag on her shoulders, Jace looked away, thinking. I probably would have done the same thing, a few months ago, she thought. I was going to turn Kara in, at one point. She could understand being loyal to the Council, to rules. All the story meant was that she and Tristan were even more similar than she'd thought.

"Thanks for telling me," was all she said. Nia was finally being somewhat nice to her, and she didn't want to ruin that.

"Sure thing. Anyway, you wanna get out of here and get some actual food? Whoever made these nutrition bars should be fired."

"I thought you didn't trust me," Jace said.

"I don't." Nia grinned. "But that doesn't mean we can't eat dinner together. You coming?"

"Just one second," said Jace. "I need to drop something off in our room." Specifically, a giant bag of stolen supplies.

"Race you there," Nia said with a wink. First-aid kit in hand, she jumped up and ran towards the door. In less than a second, she became a blur of color super-speeding away, making Jace's hair flutter around her face and the door slam shut behind her.

Jace tried to smile, but anxiety twisted in her chest at the reminder that her own superpowers weren't working. Maybe eating a meal will help, she thought, though she didn't really believe it. 

Fighting down the urge to curl up into a ball and let the panic overwhelm her, Jace followed Nia out the door, hoping and hoping that her superpowers would come back in full strength.