Chapter Nineteen
"Aviva Arlington," the woman's voice calls.
Walking onto the stage, I accept my second diploma in three months. Six distinct voices cheer me on from the crowd and I can't help the smile on my face. Sitting back down in my seat I space out until the rest of the names are called and then we finally throw our caps. Wandering around I look for my family. I don't get very far before I am nearly tackled to the ground by a familiar redhead.
"We are so proud of you Aviva!" Genève practically yells in my ear.
"Thank you," I say, and I hug my dad. I had missed him, things can still be tense at times, but he is making a genuine effort to deal with everything.
"Congratulations honey, I am so proud of you," he says into my ear and I can't help my huge smile.
"Thanks, Dad," I say.
"Aviva!" Alexander yells and I hug my four friends, even Greyson. They all congratulate me, and I feel on top of the world.
I have never needed a lot, but I am more than happy with everything that I have. I am acclimating to M4 and they are in the process of redesigning everything to accommodate me. I would make my official debut at a press conference next week. I am actually pretty excited to be a part of the team. I have been training with them for a while and it has gotten progressively harder, yet more natural. Using my abilities and channeling the energy has gotten easier and I am not quite as restless as I was before.
"I'm starving, are we going to grab something to eat?" Alexander asks slinging an arm around my shoulder.
"We can," I say.
"I have a meeting downtown and I know Genève has to get back to work. But we can meet up tomorrow for dinner if you want Aviva," my dad says.
"Perfect,"
I say goodbye to my dad and Genève and the five of us all head out to lunch. We go someplace nice that I never even heard of it. As we are leaving the restaurant, I feel a massive energy shift somewhere downtown. My stomach churns violently as an uneasy feeling forms in my stomach. Lena turns to me and we exchange a look before she grabs me, and we are swallowed by shadows. We land in some back alleyway and she hands me a mask. I slip it on and switch out my flats for sneakers. I am already in pants, but I make my blazer disappear back to my apartment. We both pull our hair back and run out of the alleyway.
Looking down the street I see a slender frame standing in the middle of a huge four-way intersection. Cars have screeched to a halt, but two still have collided. Lena grabs me again and we land in the middle the sidewalk, right by the intersection. She runs over to the smashed cars and I turn my attention to the person in the middle of the intersection. I can't see their face, but I know exactly who it is.
"I was wondering how long it would take you to reappear," I say cautiously stepping through the cars into the middle of the intersection.
"Did you miss me?" Her voice grinds out, but it sounds even more choked and distorted than before.
"You are taking in a lot of energy, you need to stop, or you'll overwork yourself," I say trying to be the voice of reason.
"Silly child," she drawls out before she condenses the energy and hurls it at me. The ball starts to glow a faint green and I am startled by this.
Focusing on the mass of molecules and it disperses around me a mild burst of air. She throws another gust and I stop that one in its tracks. I hear her let out a growl of frustration before she starts shaking the ground. I drop to a knee and calm the vibrating atoms while drawling all of the extra electrical charges towards me. My body is buzzing with how much energy I am absorbing. She tries to rip the ground up around my feet, but I keep everything still.
She uses my attention being on the ground to throw cracked asphalt at me and I don't have time to stop it. I force the rocks upwards and they shatter from the impact in the change of direction before sprinkling back down like rain on us. She puts her hand out to the side and throws a car at me. I focus on the frame of the car and slow it down. I hear the screams of people inside and try to put the car down gently. Somebody jumps in front of me and takes the brunt of the blow she just threw.
I grab onto the molecules of her limited clothing and she freaks out. She keeps shaking everything around me violently and I try to calm the storm she is creating but, in my efforts to save everything around me, I lose my grip on her and she disappears.
"Damn it!" I yell frustrated. I know I am going to hear it from G later.
"Alpha, start making sure everyone is okay," G yells at me and I jump into action helping check on people and get people out of the totaled car.
When all has calmed down and it is safe for us to leave, we return back to M4 headquarters. Pulling the mask off of my face I sit down on the floor and stretch out as everyone unwinds. I keep waiting for G to chew me about my mess up, but he remains quiet as he completes tasks on the tablet. I plop back down on the couch next to Lena and check my own phone until someone clears their throat.
"Let's break down what happened today," G says taking a seat on the couch across from us. He grabs the tablet we keep all of our notes on.
"Well Lena and Aviva were the first on the scene so they should be the ones to break everything down," Macie says while playing with a piece of metal.
"Avi, why don't you start," Lena says too busy on her phone. I roll my eyes at her antics.
"Well Lena and I both felt the energy shift and we immediately went downtown..." I start and recount everything that happened.
"How do you think you did today Aviva?" Greyson asks me, and everybody's attention is on me now.
"I messed up," I say flatly.
"I think you are being a little harsh, nobody died today and on top of that, there were very minimal injured. You also managed to contain all of her attacks except for the one which you deflected to an area that didn't cause any harm," Macie says sitting up.
"I let her go," I say shaking my head.
"You didn't let her go; you had a choice to make Aviva. You could save the people or keep your grip on her. You'll get another chance to face her and then maybe we'll have a plan to actually take her down," Greyson says, and I stand up from the couch and grab my things.
"Where are you going, Avi?" Lena asks.
"To work out," I say before leaving.
I'm not at the gym very long before Lena walks in. I'm not sure what compelled her to follow me, but my dad found my grips the other day and I want to use them on the bars they have. Chalking up my hands, I climb onto the high bar and start warming up. This is a lot harder then I remember it to be.
"Can you stop ignoring me already," Lena calls out as I flip up to the higher bar and nearly miss.
"Who said I was ignoring you, I thought you were just enjoying the show," I drawl out as I hop down. I'm going to need to work back up to this.
"I've been standing here for almost half an hour," she says flatly.
"Do you honestly think I have a sense of time when I work out?" I ask because we both know the answer to that.
"Probably not," she says as I walk over to the beam.
I take off my grips and re-chalk my hands. I find the old springboard and mount the beam. I start warming up and Lena walks over with an unamused look on her face.
"Can you stand still for more than two seconds so that I can carry a conversation with you," she snaps, and I do an aerial.
"Aviva!" She yells startling me.
I wobble and try to complete a balance check. My toes slip off of the beam and my body is falling towards the mat. Two arms catch my upper body and my feet smash into the ground, I am disoriented for a few moments and someone puts me back to a standing position.
"Can you not yell at me while I'm suspended on a beam?" I ask her frustrated.
"I'm trying to talk to you, and you are ignoring me," she says to me.
Sighing I make a gesture that I am listening, and she tilts her head down ever so slightly since I am almost three inches shorter than her so that we can make eye contact. I can see how frustrated she is from her posture and I just stand there quietly waiting for her to say what is bothering her.
"Why did you leave so quickly? We weren't done with the debriefing," she says uncrossing her arms.
"I thought we were done," I say honestly.
"You're upset about letting her go even though Greyson was right, it's important that we protect the people and you did a good job of that today," she says.
"I should have been able to do both," I say trying to hold back my anger.
"And one day you will be able to but for now you can train to get to that point," she says simply.
"Are we done here?" I ask walking away and remounting the beam.
"Is this how you deal with your problems Aviva? You work out until your body is ready to break? That's not exactly very healthy!" She says to me while I continue practicing my skills.
"It's better than a lot of coping mechanisms," I say back.
"Whatever Aviva," she snaps before disappearing.
I contemplate going after her for a few minutes before going back to my workout. I spend a few hours until its dark outside before leaving. My body is stiff as I walk out of the gym. I check the stupid smartwatch that M4 gave me and see that there was a fire somewhere that Lena handled along with a building collapse that G and Metallica handled.
My feet hit the floors in my apartment, and I go and throw my stuff down in my room while still checking my phone. I pause for a moment as I realize there is somebody sitting on my couch that I just walked past without even noticing. I feel the energy in the air and easily pick up on someone's enhanced electric energy.
"I can't believe it took you that long to notice me," Xander draws out from the couch.
"It's been a long day," I say leaning against my door frame.
"Well you graduated, saved the day, and worked out for over four hours. I would warrant that a long day," he says.
"Is something wrong Xander? I have a feeling this isn't a social call," I say.
"Lena is angry, and nothing good comes out of her anger," Xander says frustrated but almost in a whine.
"I'm not quite sure as to why," I say before walking the ten feet to my kitchen and starting to prep dinner.
"First of all, you shouldn't have left before the briefing was over," Xander says.
"I thought we were done!" I exclaim frustrated, I'm still learning how all of this works!
"Second of all, everyone and their brother knows that Lena is into you and when you blatantly ignore her while she is trying to help you, it makes her upset," Xander says.
"If she's so into me then she would have the balls to tell me herself. Also, I left to go work off my frustration. There is nothing wrong with that, okay? I know my limits and I didn't push them," I say frustrated.
Alexander sighs and I just continue to whip up the meal I had planned early. We stand in tense silence for a bit before I pull out two plates and serve the food. He gives me a confused look as I pull out two forks. I sit down and start eating. He sits down across from me with a questioning look on his face.
"This isn't the first time you have seen me cook, so why do you look like a lost puppy," I say.
"Is this for me?" He asks.
"Your electrical signals are low which means you haven't eaten recently. So yes Xander, the food is for you. I don't exactly plan on eating two plates of food," I say in a faint teasing tone and he chuckles before digging in.
"Don't forget you have your final fitting tomorrow for your suit," he says after he finishes eating.
"I haven't forgotten," I say amused.
"Please go talk to her; she's my best friend and so are you. I don't want to see you two fight," he says.
"I didn't do anything wrong! I wanted to work out!" I say throwing my hands in frustration and I accidentally send water droplets everywhere.
"You were clearly upset even though that was your first save as a hero," he says and my mind flashes back to all of the little events that led up today, but I keep my mouth shut, those are for me to know about.
"Yes, Alexander I was upset. The longer that woman is running out the more people she can hurt, my father included. I am allowed to be upset about that, that's why I went to work out. I worked through my emotions and now I am okay," I say in a slightly patronizing tone. Alexander pauses for a moment.
"Talk to her," he says.
"I will tomorrow, okay? I am tired and want to sleep. I don't want to be late for my fitting," I say with a smirk.
"Fine," he says before giving me a hug goodbye and leaving.