Chapter Seventeen
"Hadley!" Click screams startling me from my room. Quickly stepping out of the room, I see my little sister beaming from ear to ear. Pulling my scarf down, my face twitches for a moment but I try to return her smile.
"You called me by my real name," I say as I lean against the island in the kitchen.
"I like your real name, it's unique," she says, and I chuckle.
"Well you wanted my attention, out with whatever has you so happy," I muse, and she beams.
"I made Dean's list! Straight A's!" She screams excitedly and she shows me on her phone her grades. Pride bursts from my heart and I pull her into a massive hug. She laughs joyfully in my ear as I rock us back and forth.
"I'm so proud of you!" I say happily and when she pulls back there are tears in her eyes.
"I wouldn't be here without you Hadley, thank you so much for everything," she says, and the tears spillover. Pulling her close again, a small smile graces my lips.
"I would do it a thousand times over Click; I've never regretted for a moment intervening that day," I say genuinely, and she squeezes me so hard it hurts.
"I want to send a letter to my father with a photo of my grades from the last few years. You have the phone number for the psychiatric ward he is in, can you give it to me when you have a moment?" She asks me and I nod.
"We will have to go out and celebrate once I get back from my meeting," I say, and I grab my workbag from the counter and my phone.
"Okay, why are you home again?" She questions confused.
"I had my meeting with Macie about the court case this morning, I am heading into work now," I say, and I ruffle her hair before all but running out the door.
Bustling into work, I am joined by Alexander and Aviva and I don't even question where they just came from. Pulling my scarf down in the elevator, my face twitches some more, and the burning kicks in again. We get off on a different floor and walk into an unfamiliar conference room. I am greeted eagerly by a breathtakingly beautiful Hispanic woman.
"This is Camila Hernandez, she is an electrical engineer and the lead on the team for the three-dimensional modeling software you've been working with," Alexander introduces happily.
"It's nice to meet you, Camila, I am Hadley Winters," I introduce, and Aviva beams when I use my real name.
"Any relationship to Cathleen Winters?" She asks curiously as we all take a seat around the table. I plug in my laptop quickly and pull up the things I have been noting before handing the packet of notes I've made around the table.
"What gave it away?" I muse and Camila grins at me.
Launching headfirst into the notes I have been taking, Alexander speedily types everything going on in the meeting and I am impressed with how hands-on he stays with the employees. I guess that's the advantage of having two CEO's, he can take the time to sit in on meetings like this. I present the bugs I have found, and then I follow up with the research I have been doing and where I really think the project could push further to make it more applicable.
"Can I ask what you went to school for?" Camila asks as we wrap up the meeting.
"Of course, I did my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering. I then perused my graduate degree in Electronics Engineering," I say, and everything clicks in her head.
"All of your notes make a lot more sense now," she says sweetly, and I grin.
"I spent four years as a beta developing engineer and tester, I'm good at finding what is wrong with things," I say, and the conversation continues. Alexander excuses himself to another team development meeting and he gives me a sweet smile before leaving.
Click stops by at the end of the day and somehow, she makes her way upstairs to my lab without me having to sign her in. Where there is a knock on my lab door, I rush over and open it. Seeing her slick grin, I usher her inside and put my door on override mode so no one but me can get in.
"Let me see!" She squeals quietly, I clear off the worktable some and put all four pairs of boots on the table.
"Hadley, these look insane!" Click squeals excitedly and I can't help but giggle happily. I had worked with our suit designer to rework them after I figured out how to slim down the boots.
"Do you think she'll like them?" I ask curiously and Click nods her head enthusiastically. I peer over at the new boots excitedly; they were all black material with golden seams to match the suits to an extent. I had slimmed down the souls and the boot as a whole so that now it is the size of a normal work boot, it also has half the weight which would make it drastically easier to run around. I even added zippers for ease of convenience, but they have the same locks as the suits.
"They're gorgeous and I know they work perfectly because you made them," she says grinning.
"They are even more efficient than the last pair, they can now go even faster and I increased the stability," I say proudly, and Click laughs.
"Of course, you did that," she says and I put my pair on and drop my work shoes into the corner.
"What did you end up doing to Alexander's, so that he doesn't destroy another pair?" Click asks and I pull the tongue out.
"I had to special order and mix this material; it was a nightmare to do. But the compound sits under this normal sole here and the solid can absorb about forty thousand times its own weight. It probably isn't the final solution but it should work now," I say.
"And our boards?" She asks me and I grin and grab the experimental one from the docking station. Sitting down I expand it and put my one foot on it, it locks into place, and the section of metal under the shoe slides into the internal mechanism.
"It can work on its own, or it can work in conjunction with Aviva's technology," I say excitedly, and Click claps. I laugh at her antics and collapse the new one and tuck it into my wallet.
"So, what are we doing tonight?" She asks me excitedly.
"I figured I could take you to your favorite Italian restaurant and then whatever you wanted," I say. Checking my bank balance, I see I got paid my normal check plus the insane amount of overtime I've been working. It was totally worth it to finish all of this right before Christmas and working on Maverick technology is something I get paid to do now.
"Sounds like a great evening to me," she says with a grin. I wrap the boots up and put one pair in my bag and Click grab's Alexander's and slides them into her empty backpack. Unlocking my door, I almost bump into Aviva.
"Heading out?" She asks and I nod.
"Come on Click," I say, and I usher her and make sure the door locks before we all walk to the elevator together. We are joined in the elevator by Alexander and he gives us a big smile.
"Lyle let you in, right?" He asks her and she nods and smiles.
"Good,"
We start walking down the street when I feel a massive energy pull. Aviva and I glance at each other before we hear a massive thud. Turning on my earpiece, we all follow suit.
"Go play superhero," Click teases and she takes my bag.
"Are you sure?" I ask as Aviva and Alexander dart away.
"Of course," she says, and I give her a big grin before easily catching up with the two. Grabbing my mask out of my pocket, I feel my shirt transforming over me and I am in half of a Maverick uniform. Alexander is wearing the same thing.
"I swear if this another giant robot," Aviva grumbles as we take off. As soon as we clear some low-lying buildings, we see the robot.
"How many have there been?" I ask confused and Alexander darts down to start clearing people away. I see Orion on the ground doing the same.
"This is the second one this year," she says with a laugh and I join in before zipping closer to the robot.
Searching for signs of life within the robot, I keep buzzing around it and trying to figure out the best way to attack it.
"We're almost finished clearing people, we need to bring this thing down gently or the city is going to be pissed," Alexander says, and I nod.
"I can start killing the power," I say.
Trying to figure out how to land on the thing, I wait as it goes to take another step and drop down onto its shoulders. The magnets in the bottom activate instantly and I am secure on the robot. Touching the metal, I immediately start slowly absorbing the massive quantity of electricity the hunk of metal is generating.
Controlling my breathing, I feel the electricity shooting through me and I create a charge in my hand and let it fizzle out. The robot starts to slow down and Aviva zips past me and I can tell she is analyzing what it is made of and the internal workings.
"Influx, that Robot is coming down!" Alexander states alarmed and I touch my watch and kick off with ease. Zipping low, I turn off the power and drop and land next to him. Swallowing hard he runs forward to try and catch the one hundred and fifty-foot beast from destroying the entire area.
"Where's Omni when I need him," I hear Alexander grumble as he braces himself.
"I've got your back, Alpha start taking limbs off," I order as I run forward. Feeling for all the energy in my body, the random strings of electricity bouncing through me unify and I do as Alexander taught me to do. I feel all my muscles surge and I brace myself with all the strength I have as we both struggle to hold up the robot.
"Now Alpha!" I scream and my body trembles from the exertion, I don't have super strength, this is not my forte. But I wasn't about to watch Alexander get crushed. The first arm is dropped onto the ground and then the second starts to fall as sweat drips into my eyes.
"Influx, let go, you are going to hurt yourself," Alexander grits out as Aviva severs the head. Inching closer to him, I draw the last remaining electricity from the robot. The second wind I don't hold onto long as I form a charge and shoot it at Alexander. He grunts and I feel hands on my waist, and I disappear and land fifty feet away.
Staring at Alexander single-handedly holding up the massive robot shocks me back into reality, while everyone else was continuing to grow and become a stronger superhero I ran away. I can see that he is burning through the extra boost I gave him, and I pull from some of the surrounding powerlines.
"Need another boost?" I ask him slightly winded.
"Yes," he grunts and the black lightning shoots from my hands and hits him square in the back. Aviva takes off the second leg and Alexander slowly backs up before dropping the body of the robot as carefully as he can. There is a massive thud and I am almost knocked backward.
"He can absorb your electricity?" Orion asks me curiously and I catch my breath.
"Yes, and I can temporarily control all of my electricity to turn it into super-strength. We were a fantastic and dangerous duo when we were kids," I admit, and I hear Alexander laugh.
"Boy did we love to get into trouble," I hear him say and we reconvene. Aviva starts breaking down the robot into smaller chunks and I help Alexander control them as the clean-up crew comes in. We work for another hour before things are calm again.
"Damn it's late now," I say disappointed, the restaurant would probably be closing soon.
"We've got this, go celebrate with Click," Alexander says quietly to me and I knock his shoulder playfully before taking off. Ordering take-out from Click's second favorite restaurant; I walk downstairs from the roof and am surprised to see her and Faith chatting on the couch.
"Foods on its way, I'm glad I ordered extra," I muse exhausted.
"You did a really good job controlling your heart today," Click says and there is pride in her voice.
"I'm working on it," I say tiredly before dropping down onto the floor to stretch. I just lie on the floor for a few moments before getting up to shower. Click heads down to grab dinner while I clean up. We all stand around the island and eat and chat.
Later that night, well past midnight, I sit down on the rooftop with a single drink in hand. I am bundled up tight considering it's two days to Christmas and the winds are howling like crazy. I stare out at the skyline and all the twinkling lights and let my mind wander. I really enjoyed today, being a part of the team again, even if it is only sometimes, it's something I didn't realize I missed. Working like that, using my abilities to help people, it is absolutely exhilarating. I loved every difficult moment of it.
I hear something and turn my head and see someone landing on the roof. Putting my glasses on, the form clears I see what looks like Alexander walking towards me. Squinting my eyes to see, I can make out his features under his mask.
"Who's landing on who's roof now?" I ask him and he laughs. He sits down next to me without even asking but I don't shove him away.
"Isn't it a little cold to be out here?" He asks me and suddenly I am on edge, is this really Alexander.
"You know I love the cold," I respond.
"What's wrong?" He asks me quickly catching on.
"Where did we have our first kiss?" I ask him carefully and he ruffles his hair.
"It was the day you turned eighteen, I asked you out with a massive bouquet of lilies, the yellow and red ones because they are your favorite. I took you out to dinner and then we went ice skating together, after we were done you grabbed me by the zipper on my jacket and kissed me," he says, and I relax.
"Good to know you're not an imposter," I mumble, and he chuckles.
"Better safe than sorry," he says before bumping my shoulder.
"Why did you stop by?"
"I saw a figure on the roof and wanted to make sure everything was alright," he says, and I hear the faint chatter in his earpiece as Alpha finishes rounds.
"I'm okay, I am just thinking," I muse, and he grins.
"The roof was always your place to think, I guess some things never change," he says. I hum in agreement as we fall into a comfortable silence. We both stare out the twinkling lights and I relax slightly. It's hard not to around him.
"I need to apologize to you, but I want you to be willing to talk about it," he says quietly. He turns off his earpiece and takes it out.
"I didn't want Aviva to only get my side of the story, I didn't want her to get offloaded onto about an older version of her wife. I've been willing to talk for a while... I just didn't want anyone to get thrown for a loop," I admit. My reasoning might not always be clear, but I've wanted to protect Aviva for a while. She's a good person with a beautiful heart, I didn't want to be the one to shatter her world. Even if she is a sneaky pain in the butt sometimes.
"Well Aviva isn't here right now," he says.
"Thank you, captain obvious," I grumble, and he spins and picks up his legs. I follow suit and now we are facing each other. I nudge down my scarf some but it is genuinely cold out and my nose starts to hurt.
"Can we take this inside?" Alexander asks me sheepishly and I notice he is shivering. Finishing the last swig of my drink, I hop off the massive unit and Alexander follows me inside and downstairs. Checking on Click, she is out cold, so I close her door.
"Alright, hit me with your best shot," I say as we both drop onto the couch.
"Shit... I've rehearsed this a thousand times in my head," he stutters slightly, and I take off my scarf and give him a soft smile. I don't want to be angry with him right now. I want to hear him out. Maybe this will help ease some of the unease I have been grappling with.
"Take your time Xander, I've waited ten years to hear this, I can wait a few more moments," I say, and I lean backward relaxing. He takes off his mask and pulls his Maverick shirt off revealing a t-shirt underneath. I try not to get distracted by how chiseled he's become.
"There is something you don't know about that day and I think that's where I want to start," he says.
"I'm all ears," I say.
"After you were rushed to the hospital, your father called me to come and watch after Lena to make sure she didn't lose her temper again," Alexander starts, and an uneasy feeling consumes me.
"And?"
"When I arrived, she had slit both of her wrists and was hysterically crying and screaming in the bathroom. She was wailing your name and everything else was uncoherent. I wrapped her wrists and got her an ambulance as well. When I had her admitted, they admitted her to the psych ward," Alexander says, and a shiver goes down my spine. I can't even fathom what to say in response.
"They said she suffered from a psychotic break due to the stress from school as well as the news...." Alexander trails off. The news that my parents chose me to take over the family's position on the team, the position Cathleen had chased for years. Not only that, all of the team agreed that I should be the new leader when I came of age.
"I have a feeling you're not done..." I mumble and he sighs.
"We all had to take continuous shifts to make sure she didn't hurt any of the doctors or herself. She was a meta in a normal hospital and it took her a week to calm down. At one point they even had to sedate her cause she almost hurt Dr. Hayes," Alexander says, and I curl my knees into my chest. The thought of her so unstable shakes me to my core. Cathleen has always had a temper growing up, we both did, but I never believed it could escalate that far.
"You were always the strongest of us all Hadley, nothing could stop you or shake you. I guess when this emergency hit, I just assumed you were going to be okay. But that was the second biggest mistake I've ever made," he says seriously, and I let out the breath I have been holding.
"She needed you more," I mumble.
"No, you both needed me, and I turned my back on my best friend and the only woman I have ever loved because I panicked," he says seriously, and I shrink away slightly. It's still hard to believe that someone as charming and pure-hearted as he hasn't fallen in love again.
"What's the biggest mistake you've ever made?" I ask him and he gives me a sad smile.
"Not chasing after you, we've learned to find each other across a city. I should have done more to find you," he says and my heart flutters slightly before I calm it down. Now is not the time to get all gushy.
"It's in the past," I say.
"No, it isn't, the pain is still so real for you Hadley. You can't hide that from me," he says and brushes my hair out of my face before I pull away.
"I'm still waiting for that apology," I say hoarsely. I hate how well he can still read me, it's like some things haven't changed at all.
"I hope you know from the bottom of my heart how horribly sorry I am every damn day that I didn't stand by your side when you needed me. I am sorry for not chasing after you and just letting things fall apart. I was a horrible boyfriend and an even worse friend, and I hope one day you can forgive me for everything," he says genuinely.
"You are forgiven, just don't ever make that mistake again Xander," I say before standing up; I look down at his shocked face, and I give him a small smile, tears fill his eyes and I easily bend down to wipe one away before going to bed. As I lay there staring at my ceiling, it's astonishing how much weight finally having that conversation took off of my shoulders.
Xander!!! I can't imagine the relief of finally apologizing to someone you loved so dearly after all these years. Sometimes clearing the air really has a way of changing your entire attitude. I'm being all philosophical about people that don't exist lol, that's my cue to end the chapter XD
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XX Cc