“At least you have your power back now.”
“Yeah, no thanks to me.”
“You should be thankful,” she said, her body tensing.
“Sure, it beats working at the bodega. Now I’m a fucking government assassin.”
“You’ve been given another chance,” Ava said, so agitated now that the stem of her wine glass started to melt. She took it by the bowl and quickly finished it, setting what was left of the glass on the table. “I need a new wine glass.”
“You know where to get them,” Roman said, feeling mean now, feeling like he needed to say some things.
Ava stood, her arms crossed over her chest. She walked to the kitchen and stopped just before she reached the bar. She turned back to Roman. “This could be a lot simpler, you know.”
“Which part?”
“All of this. If you’d just do what you’re told, you wouldn’t be in this situation. This whole situation is because of you.”
“You try having some psycho bitch animate your dead spouse’s body and see what it does to you,” Roman said, getting to his feet. “Let’s see if you just follow orders!”
“Orders are there for a reason! They keep… they make…” Ava’s hair flared up. “They are why this country works and the other countries are shit. We have order. We have laws.”
“The government has a different law than the people,” Roman said. “If that weren’t the case, I wouldn’t be assigned to ‘removing’ a friend of mine.”
“You mean the Eastern spy? She’s a friend now? You never thought she tricked you into traveling to the East with her so she could have her country try to crack your power? That seriously never crossed your fucking mind?”
“What? That’s not what happened. She had to risk everything herself too!”
“So you care about her then?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course…” Roman chose his next words carefully, especially now that Ava’s hands were rimmed in fire, the heat already reaching his face. “I care about all of my friends.”
“But not me—not someone who’s been there since the start.”
Roman almost said that Nadine had been there from the start too but stopped himself just in time.
Ava was the most unstable he’d seen her, a drunken, fiery mess. It wouldn’t take much more to push her over the top, and while he could control fire as well, he knew he’d be in for one hell of a fight.
“Let’s not do this,” he said, sitting back down. “Sorry.”
“I came over here…” Ava swallowed hard. As she did, a fiery tear fell down her cheek. It reached her chin and she wiped it away. “Fuck, Roman. Fuck.”
“You came to fuck?”
Ava gave him a funny look, which was interrupted by a hiccup that sent a small fireball across the room.
“Shit!” she cried, covering her hand with her mouth. Roman quickly took control of the fireball, sending it to the kitchen sink and turning the water on.
There was a dark spot on the wall where it had hit, something Celia would most certainly notice.
“I don’t have to pay for repairs or anything, do I?”
Ava started to laugh. It was angry laughter, but Roman had finally broken through.
“I’m… sorry for showing up like this. Shit. I’m too drunk to call a teleporter. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“The floor?” Roman moved over to her, Ava stumbling as soon as he reached her. He helped her stand, and he could tell by the way she was puckering her lips at him that she wanted to kiss him.
But it also felt wrong. And even if he’d been attracted to her before, Roman really didn’t know where he stood with her now.
“I’ll sleep on the couch; you take my bed.”
“No, we take your bed.”
“Ava.”
“Roman, I want someone to goddamn hold me tonight.” She started to sob again. “It’s been a fucked last couple of days. I need someone right now.”
Ava glanced at him, a fire igniting behind her eyes.
“Sure,” he finally said.
“I’m sorry.”
“My sister…” she said, more fiery tears sliding down her cheeks.
“I know,” Roman told her as he tried to avoid her tears.
“She wanted you to have your power back, for you to be happy.”
Roman shook his head.
He had a feeling there was more to this than what Ava had just said, especially since his power was something their government wanted to exploit. But he didn’t say anything to correct her; he simply guided her to his bedroom, where he asked her to wipe her fire tears away.
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.
“Let’s just relax. Let me hold you.”
“Yes…”
He lay down on the bed, Ava cuddling up next to him. Roman hesitated for a moment before placing his face near the back of her head.
“I’m sorry for all this,” she whispered.
“So am I.”
Chapter Three: Glass Houses
“I am not a super-powered individual. I am not an exemplar. I have never had a superpower. I am not a hero, nor will I ever be a hero. I am not a superhero. I am half-powered. I will always be half-powered. I am a non-exemplar. There is nothing about me that is extraordinary. I am not a hero. I am not a superhero. I am half-powered. I will always be half-powered. I am a non-exemplar.”
Roman Martin recited the words by heart, watching as a man with bandages cascading up his arms took the podium.
Once everyone was finished with the H-Anon mantra, the man started explaining how he had tried to convince some neighbors that he was an elementalist and ended up catching himself on fire, accidentally burning down an entire city block.
At first his voice was clear, but then Roman couldn’t make out what the man was saying, like he was mumbling or something.
As Roman stared up at the podium, his focus turned to Bill, the leader of Heroes Anonymous. The huge non-exemplar had a stern look on his face, his muscular arms crossed in front of his chest.
Something caught Roman’s eye, and he glanced up to see that the ceiling above them was missing. It had been replaced with a darkened sky, stars twinkling, a purple rainbow twisting toward him.
After a sudden flash, Roman stood in an empty field surrounded by hills, tall grass blowing in the breeze, the dreamwalker known as Abby slowly floating down to him.
“I thought there was something wrong about all this,” Roman said as he took in the masculine-looking woman. Her short brown hair was parted as usual, and she wore a bow tie that matched her high-waisted slacks.
Abby’s hazel eyes softened as she looked him over. “You seem distracted.”
“Do I always seem that way?”
“Sometimes you seem horny.”
“Also accurate, but less lately. I’ve been trying to get my act together.”
“And the forces have been closing in on you, haven’t they?”
“You can read my thoughts. You tell me.”
“I try to stay away from thoughts, especially yours, and I can’t read them in the way you think I can,” Abby reminded him. “I thought you might like to see Celia. Would you like that?”
“Of course I would like that,” Roman started to say, “but… not this time. I’ve got too much going on to be distracted by my past. Does that make sense? I haven’t moved on, but I’m trying to. I’m really trying to do something different here.”
“Closure can be helpful, but it can also be incredibly painful.”
“I am glad you came, though. I was wondering how I would reach out to you.”
A purple rose lifted from the ground, its petals wilting and hardening as it formed into a seat. Abby sat down and crossed one leg over the other.
“They want me to go after Nadine,” Roman told her when she didn’t say anything. “And by ‘go after,’ I mean they want me to kill her. I need to get a message to her.”
“That is something I’m capable of,�
� Abby said. “What would you like me to tell her?”
Abby merely nodded as he relayed his message to Nadine, as if she had expected Roman to say this the entire time.
“You know I can trap you in here, right?” she asked after Roman had finished.
“Trap me? Why are you telling me that?”
Before the words had left Roman’s lips, the ground began to change as he took control of the environment. And for a moment he felt powerful, like he could do anything he wanted. But then everything flattened, Abby taking to the air as Roman noticed his form starting to shrink. “Remember, I am in control here.”
“I remember…” he said with disdain.
“The reason I mention trapping you here is so you don’t have to face what happens out there. I’ve done this before, and it is something I wouldn’t mind doing for you. You would be alive here as long as I am alive.”
“You told me this before,” Roman said. “I wasn’t ready then, and I’m not ready now.”
“Just remember it’s an option. As long as you can dream, I can make your dreams come true.” Abby chuckled. “I love saying that last part.”
Roman started to shrink, the environment around him swelling and then becoming beautiful again. Tall grass grew as flowers bloomed along the hills that surrounded the meadow. “Thanks for visiting me. I still don’t know much about you, but if you ever…”
“We have met once in person,” she said, interpreting his thoughts, “and that will be the only time we meet. You wouldn’t be able to find me in Centralia, even if you had your colleagues join you in the search. I exist when and where I want to exist.”
“Okay,” Roman said. “Please pass the message along to Nadine then, and thanks.”
“I will. And Roman…”
“Yes?”
Abby smiled. “Lighten up a bit. The end is in sight, and while it will be difficult, I believe things will work out in your favor. If not, I’m always here.”
“Thanks.”
Roman awoke with a gasp, his heart thrumming in his chest.
He was in his bedroom, Ava next to him, his teacher naked aside from a pair of panties.
It took him a moment to remember why she was there, how she had shown up drunk and nearly burnt his place down.
He also remembered how he felt about who she really was.
But looking at her nude body, Roman had to wonder if she shouldn’t be judging him for who he really was. Or perhaps she already had. Perhaps he was overanalyzing all of this.
He sat up, not sure how he should interpret any of this, a morning haze coming over his mind.
Roman ran his hand through his white hair and looked over his former teacher through the exit of his bedroom to his living room, where his dolls were.
Being in Ava’s good graces would aid him in the end, and Roman wasn’t foolish enough to turn away a nude woman from his bed.
But he had to be careful.
Not yet knowing how she was going to react, he lay back down and slowly lowered his arm around her, pressing his body closer to hers.
Ava stirred, but rather than turn to him, she arched her back a little, pressing her rear against the front of Roman’s boxers.
She began to rotate her hips ever so slightly, her panties becoming increasingly wet as she did so and Roman’s erection growing in response. He slowly lowered his hand to pull her panties to the side. His erection pressed out of the slit at the front of his boxers, courtesy of his powers.
He still wasn’t stupid enough to actually try to control his erection with his ability to animate inanimate objects, but he was able to form a larger opening at the front of his boxers, making it a lot easier to move past the fabric.
The head of his penis rubbed against Ava’s clit for a moment as he kissed the back of her neck and his hand came around to cup her breast.
It was tight once he entered her, Ava letting out a subtle yelp, but the two were able to get into a rhythm as things became wetter.
She still hadn’t looked at him.
His former teacher had her head thrown back, her eyes closed, defiance in her gesture even if this was what she actually wanted.
Roman’s thoughts started to trickle away as he focused on his stamina, on Ava’s cream-colored body, an intense feeling of warmth spreading over him.
He couldn’t remember if he’d felt the warmth the last time they’d had sex, but it made sense given her power. She was almost hot to the touch, the heat thick in the air now, making him start to sweat.
“Get on top,” she said suddenly, still with her eyes closed.
Ava pressed her face into the pillow as Roman mounted her from behind, the curves of her body heightening his arousal.
He tried not to think of anything.
His eyes half open, Roman watched himself going in and out. Then he focused on Ava’s face, the way it was pressed into his pillow, her head to the side, her mouth wide open as she moaned.
He focused on her face as he went even harder, wishing at that moment that things would work out between the two of them, but knowing it would be impossible in the end.
He saw Ava in the various ways he’d come to know her, from his teacher to his punisher, from someone he’d desperately needed to the way he’d felt after witnessing her behavior in the Western Province.
Roman stopped caring.
After all, what was the point of caring?
Everyone had their skeletons, and some just happened to be uglier than others. And again, thinking this took him back to the big question of who he was and what kind of baggage he brought to the table.
Everyone lived in glass houses.
All these thoughts came to him in a matter of seconds, Roman canceling them out and going at it even harder.
Ava’s hair started to catch fire, the smell of burning fabric reaching his nostrils, quickly overpowering the metallic scent of sex.
For some reason, the visual sent Roman over the top, his sudden orgasm taking Ava by surprise. She stuck her hand beneath her and started touching herself as Roman slowed, then convulsing when she finished.
Roman used his power to put out the fire on the pillow and waved his hand to open a window, giving the smoke an exit.
He wasn’t proud of himself, but pride was something he seldom felt. If anything, he was glad they had fucked.
Roman didn’t yet know how he would remember Ava in the end, but he definitely didn’t want to forget her passion and her power.
“We need to get to headquarters,” she said, still not looking at him.
“Let’s get cleaned up first.”
“Then let’s get breakfast. I’ll tell Rafner we’re running late.”
Chapter Four: Fall from Grace
Margo wondered how long it would take them.
She was surprised to see it was over twenty-four hours before they decided to come, the morning light just starting to appear on the horizon, the buildings glittering.
She was in the living room of Orange’s high-rise apartment with Paris, the doll she had stolen from Roman. Still in Catherine’s body, Margo could now feel the sensation of pleasure, which she’d definitely enjoyed in her time in the apartment.
It was a good escape, especially from the information that now lay in the documents spread out on the coffee table in the living room.
As it turned out, Roman was her half-brother, and rather than fight her in the end, Orange had simply given her this information.
She knew better than to regret killing Orange—no, regret was at odds with a soldier’s duty, and while she was no longer enlisted, she had been raised with that mindset. Regret was a pathway into the dark, a cloud of uncertainty that led to second-guessing, anger at one’s self, remorse.
Orange would have died at some point anyway.
It was better to die at the hands of an old friend. Margo knew his death had been sudden and quick, painless aside from his initial touchdown onto the pavement below.
She hadn’t wanted to leave th
e evidence in the street, so after he’d jumped she had lowered herself down to the ground and scooped up his splattered remains, formed them into a ball, and used the building’s glass to lift her back to the penthouse suite at the top.
That ball of bone, skin, and collapsed organs was also in the living room, sitting on a highly stylized leather sofa chair.
“Orange,” Margo said, looking over to the ball of flesh as she heard something land on the balcony. “Ready for one more fight?”
A blinding light tore into the living room, shattering all the glass and burning everything it touched.
By this point, Margo had already moved to the next room, the light searing after her as she ran through Orange’s bedroom.
Her doll knew what to do, going the opposite way, where Margo heard it engage someone almost immediately.
Another window shattered, water flooding into space.
Margo took hold of the water and sent it in the other direction, realizing they had surrounded the penthouse on all sides.
This meant they could all fly, which gave Margo an advantage.
The ground beneath her lifted as the ceiling formed into a cone that tore out through the top of the building, suspending Margo in the air so she could see what was happening. She was fast enough to count her enemies—three—before one of them, a man looking like he was made of light, fired a supernova’s worth of energy at her.
But a moment was all Margo needed.
Even as she dropped back into the building, she now held the man’s heart, ripping all the veins from it as the blinding light ceased to exist.
The water stopped, as did some of the scuffling from the other room.
At first, Margo didn’t recognize the man as the same assailant she had faced back at Prison South. Only now, after killing him, did she recall his power, and Margo wondered if this was actually a Centralian attack rather than one by her own country.
She would need answers.
A hole opened up in the wall, steps appearing in the air as Margo moved out, the wind whipping all around her.
Her steps were wide enough for her to maintain her balance as she came around, knowing the water user would be somewhere nearby.
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