"I'm right here," said Hunter with her arm wrapped around Will's body, pressed against him to keep away from the chill of the winter air. "You can do this."
They stood together on the doorstep of a very large London home, grand and historic, more of a castle than a mansion. Every window was lit, warmth radiating from the stone walls draped in overhanging vines. With snow covering every tree and sloping lawn around them, it was hard to keep the heat inside. But somehow the ancient house stood tall against the winter winds.
Hunter and Will stared at the brown oak door under the light of the porch lamps, a Christmas wreath adorning it, and listened to the footsteps that approached after Will rang the doorbell. With a lump in her throat, Hunter squeezed Will's gloved hand and held her breath.
The door swung open to a glowing entryway complete with a coatrack, a long carpet runner and a woman wearing a white turtle-neck sweater and slimming black pants. She held a mug in one hand. Her hair was blond and curled to perfection, her face flushed in surprise. The moment she saw Will, her hand released the door and rested over her heart.
"Oh ... my ..."
Will didn't move. Hunter had never seen him so stiff and rigid, and she knew enough about him by now to understand his fear. This house, this woman ... it was just like Hunter returning to the shack, only there were no fond memories here.
It took a lot to convince Will to return to his home in London. After the White House rescue and their defeat of Dr. Wolfe, everything took a drastic turn for the better.
The world was taken by surprise after the public announcement of superheroes. Hunter, Will and all the others became celebrities. It was too much for some of them, who preferred to keep their identities a secret. Hunter and Will moved to the shack to keep away from the paparazzi, and because it was their paradise.The rest of them officially joined the SSS, which became their center of operations for any other cases that begged for the help of the world's first superheroes.
The Chinese and Korean soldiers and officials were ordered back to their country and matters were taken into the parliament's hands to keep them away. But even if they made plans to attack, it wouldn't be hard to stop them. Not with Jack on their side.
After a long and grueling trial, the authorities were able to overlook Jack's crimes if he agreed to undergo a year of observation at a special facility that studied human genetics – the right way – and he couldn't have been more grateful. After everything he'd caused, he was happy not to be executed. The public saw the soft, innocent side of Jack who presented his case with heart-warming apologies and his story of being overpowered by darkness and a madman. They couldn't say no. He was then moved to the facility called GENE Corp in upstate New York, where he was often visited by Clare.
Those who were arrested included Jet. After being found in the White House quite unconscious, he was marked by the SSS as 'highly dangerous' and taken to GENE Corp, only they had to sedate and secure him before deciding what to do with him long-tem. Mikayla wasn't allowed anywhere near Jet, which of course sent her into a furious frenzy and destroyed half the building, until the SSS was notified and Hunter and the others came to the rescue. Both of them are now under heavy observation.
From the wreckage of the army base, several Men in White and mutants were rescued. One of them included Jamison, who miraculously survived being trampled by Alfie. After recovering in a highly monitored hospital, they, too, were put up for a delayed trial and held in custody.
That left Alfie the dinosaur. With help from Marcus, Alfie was detained and turned into his normal self again. But he was unstable and sick in the head. Sadly, Alfie was put in a coma until geneticists could find a way to either reverse his power or psychologically condition him not to turn when he was angry. Until then, he was also moved to GENE Corp for further analysis.
Eli took Amelia back to New York to reunite with his father and fix whatever issues they had to start with. Jenny became a lecturer at Colombia University and assisted Eli part time with the opening of his own marine research and activist center, of which the SSS was always happy to fund. Joshua bought back his old apartment and Jenny moved in immediately. They often flew to Cuba to visit Hunter and Will, sharing stories of their lives and news from the SSS, because Will and Hunter preferred to stay away from telecommunications and just be with each other.
Others like Ryo, Chantal, Zac and Marcus went on their own adventures, but were always there for special occasions. Will's twenty–first birthday was a celebration to be remembered when Chantal convinced the local circus to perform a private show for them and Zac thought it would be funny to disguise himself as one of the clowns and sneak backstage to let all the monkeys loose on Seattle. It took them three days to find all of the animals and bring them back. The FBI rained hell upon them, reminding them of the agreement they made after the war never to use their powers unless in a crisis, otherwise they would be under arrest.
Holidays like Christmas and New Year's, where everyone would gather at the cabin with their families, were Hunter's favorite times of the year. She looked forward to campfires and hearing all of the mischief and adventures they were having across the globe. It was in those times that they missed Fearne, Mosi and Benji the most.
There were some challenges ahead of them. It seemed that the birth of superheroes brought with it doubt in society's mind. They were, as Joshua and Dr. Wolfe had warned them all, blamed for the horrible acts that were committed around the world and their inability to stop them. But they accepted it and understood that a world who believed in evil had to also believe in good, and they would try their hardest to do good for those who judged them. Humans, as Will said, need a higher power to blame because they themselves aren't strong enough to face their own sins.
It was easier to forget about the world when Hunter and Will lived in paradise. They would walk the small coast between the shack and the rock cliff and the path that lead to the volcano caves, where Hunter had sealed the entrance in a wall of solid magma so that no one could abuse the power of Ravenadium ever again. She knew she could not stop those that were hidden around the world; more people were coming forth with superpowers, joining the growing number of SSS members. The society was now the most successful rising organization in the world.
Sometimes they would swim in the ocean, sometimes they would laze about and stare at the wide, blue sky. When it rained, they would sit out on the porch in the humid air and listen to it, talking of the future and what it had in store for them. Hunter simply liked to be close to the mountain, feeling like a part of her existed in it. It was a soothing voice in her mind, a gentle warmth in her soul.
"This is definitely paradise," said Will, his tired, loving eyes happier and more peaceful than they'd ever been before.
And now, after seventeen years of bad memories of a home he was cast away from and parents who considered him a freak, Will couldn't speak or even smile at his mother. She remained speechless also.
"Who is it Rose?" called a sharp, masculine voice from the room down the hall and Will's entire body flinched. "I'm in the middle of-"
A man appeared beside Rose. He wore a business suit with a pinstriped blue tie, suspenders and shiny black shoes. His hair was graying on the side and his eyes like brown beetles glimmered at them both. Judging from the white sheen of sweat on Will's handsome face, this had to be his father. They were incredibly different from each other. While Will was tall and muscular and had strong, dark features and warm eyes, his father was just a head shorter with slim bones and an unevenly shaped upper lip that twitched the moment he laid eyes on Will. His mother – though beautiful and elegant as Hunter imagined her to be – remained completely shocked.
For a moment, nothing was said. The snow swirled around them as they stood on the doorstep, and everyone but Hunter was pale. Not knowing how this reunion would pan out, Hunter half wished she wore warmer socks.
When Hunter first saw Joshua after everything he'd done to destroy her, there was so much hatred in her mind that it was hard to keep the fire at bay. But she knew that forgiveness was the only way to solve their problems, and she was thankful that she did.
Will, however, had a childhood worse than anything she could have imagined. It was because his family deserted him that he was stuck in ICE for the majority of his life. Even now, a year after the White House incident and the public announcement the President made about the Impossibles, his family still had not made an effort to seek forgiveness or even apologize for their actions. If it were Hunter, she would have at least thrown a punch or set their Christmas tree on fire.
But Will was better than that. He gripped her hand tighter and cleared his throat.
"Mother, Father," he nodded at each of them. Rose made a small squeak in the back of her throat. "I'd like you to meet Hunter."
She looked up into his eyes as he smiled down at her, as if to say 'I don't care that they don't love me, they better love you'. She'd never been more proud of him.
"Hi," she said to the two of them, following his lead, joining in the game. Apparently Will found it easier to pretend that he knew his parents better than anyone and was simply bringing home a date. It didn't matter that he hadn't spoken to them in over seventeen years, nor that they were possibly the most disgusting people Hunter had ever known for doing such a thing to their son, because they were his parents, and it was better to forgive and forget than to hold on to resentment. "You have an absolutely lovely home," she added.
"Uh-" Rose stuttered. "We uh-"
"Saw you on the television," his father grumbled. "What a bloody mess that was."
"Elliot-" Rose snapped in a sharp tone. Will's father shut his mouth and puffed up his chest as Rose turned back to them, and for the first time, she actually gave Will a smile. It lit up her entire face, making her more radiant than she'd already been. It was a smile just like Will's. "William ..." Just his name was spoken with a thousand apologies and more sadness and love than a name could ever carry. "Hannah has made a lovely roast for dinner," she said through tears. "Would you both like to come inside?"
Will let out a long breath of air and nodded. "Yes," he said, "I mean ... we would like that."