The Spark. (001/Peter Ballard/Henry Creel Fanfic)

- 04

(lil bit longer of a chapter)

--------------------------------------

 Once again, 001 had lessons.

They weren't interesting, nor were they useful. It was usually just over an hour of Papa telling him to do something, him refusing to do it, both yelling at each other, and Papa leaving with his favorite line, "This is why I had to make more of you!"

Of course, that didn't stop 001 from rebelling, if anything it made him more inclined to. After all, Papa had backups, so it wouldn't matter if 001 messed up. Additionally, he could always snap Papa's neck with the tilt of his head if he really screwed up.

Unfortunately for him, Papa never went that far. He likely knew that 001 had no issue dealing with him, so he always stayed right on the line of being a pest but not enough for 001 to act. And of course, last time after he murdered his family, he had nearly died doing so.

Luckily, he had been practicing. Without Papa knowing, he spent most of his free time and nights harnessing his abilities and pushing his limits, growing stronger each time. This time, if he went on a spree, he wouldn't be so foolish and weak as to pass out. This time he was ready.

This time he would have backup.

As Papa continued to drone on and on about abilities and control and all that other useless stuff he liked to rant about, 001 formed a plan.

He was mentally putting together the pieces, seeing who would work out where, seeing where she would come into play, and how best to escape this place.

For a brief moment he wondered if she was doing the same.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(A1s POV)

She was not. Her lessons were hard, mostly learning to fight with and without her abilities. And yet she lost control nearly each time. And each time she did, she wanted to snap at Papa, yell at him to try and do the same, curse him for trying to turn her into some brainwashed soldier.

But of course, the lessons had helped. She was getting better each time, and her competitive spirit drove her on. That and the fact that she had already won against 001 twice. The arrogant bastard had Papa bragging about him and his abilities day after day, along with the fact that his blood and tests had helped create numerous other powered children. "I bet 001 could've hit that, I know 001 would have ducked that, 001 this, 001 that" Papa would remind her of every damn lesson. But it was fine. She knew she could win. She just had to keep learning to dodge faster, punch harder, strike first.

"Hit." Papa commanded.

She hit.

"Kick." Papa commanded.

She kicked.

"Duck!" Papa commanded.

She ducked.

"Fire!" he ordered, and she let the tight-held tugs in her mind unravel, the blaze sparking in the air and darting around her, as if it were alive. However, once one spark had been brought to life, the rest of the endless fire within her wanted to be too. More fires sparked to life, and she heard yelling.

"Stop. Stop. A1, stop!".

She snapped back into reality to see the flames around her, lighting up the room, spinning and twirling around in a mesmerizing dance. And through these ever moving flames she saw Papa yelling at her. She closed her eyes and brought her hand up, gathering the flames in the palm of her hand before clenching her fist, pulling them back within with a quick breath and a sharp, mental tug.

She opened her eyes again, the room seemingly cooling back down, and she opened her palm. All that was left were sparks, ash, and embers, the sad remains of her captivating flames. She glanced up again as Papa came over to yell at her once again, her lips curling into a soft, almost hidden smile when he started discussing that arrogant teenager, 001, once again.

Little did he know, 001 was on her side now.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------

(001 POV)

Once the daylight fell away, 001 went out to find her again. This time, when he turned onto the cold corridor, it smelled strongly of smoke and ash. Casting a somewhat worried glance around, he knocked on her door.

"Finally knocking this time?" a solemn voice asked from the other side. He gave a short laugh, and leaned back to let her open the door.

"Huh. You were actually on time." she remarked, stepping back inside.

"As if I wouldn't be!" he proclaimed, acting offended.

"Oh please, the other two times you came were both at completely different times of the evening, don't start acting like you have a routine."

"I can make one," he offered.

And that right there was the reason he had made this pact, gone through all this trouble to see her. Because the way her smile crinkled the corner of her eyes, softened her face, turned up her mouth, caused sparks in him he couldn't even begin to describe. Not that he would ever admit to it out loud, of course.

He made his way over to her desk, claiming the chair as he spun it around to face her. "So, what's got you all dejected?" he asked, noticing her less snarky mood.

She opened her mouth as if to tell him, then hesitated, her eyes flicking between his, as if searching them. Then she softly shook her head and laid back on the bed with a frustrated sigh.

"Papa expects me to be able to easily control my abilities. Mid fight. Not only that, but he then starts going into this whole lecture, '001 could do this', 'I bet anybody with powers could do better than you', and on and on and on, like be realistic about this, I'd like to see your old, white haired ass do this easily." she snapped, rambling it all out in one go. She then dragged her hand down her face, looking exhausted.

"Well, while he's right about the 001 part," he commented, getting up from his chair to sit on the edge of her bed, next to where she lay, "the rest is bullshit. I know what it's like to get carried away by your abilities, I know how it is. You let yourself slip and suddenly you never want to bring it all back into that nice little box of control. However," he paused to also lay down, propping his head up on his elbow to face her, "I can help you with that. I could teach you much better than Papa could. Trust me, his lessons are just as useless to me as they are for you."

She smiled softly again and his heart did about a million bad things it shouldn't have.

"I'd like that." she replied gratefully.