Changed by Time ✔

fourteen.

"Thank you very much," Titan said as he closed the door. He turned back around with the silver dish in hand, dropping it as soon as he faced the two again – but now it was just one. "What the hell?!"

Nolan looked back towards Wendy's seat, letting out a surprised grunt as he realized that all that was left were the ropes and gag that once held her down. Titan stomped over, crushing the sandwich and the dish it was set on, and grabbed Nolan by the neck.

He began holding him up, lifting him off the chair but not completely as his feet were still bound to the legs. Nolan grabbed at Titan's arms, trying to hit his face but found it harder with his hands tied together.

"What kind of shit are you playing? What is this?" He jerked Nolan around a little bit. "Where'd the girl go?"

The curtain flapped a bit, causing Titan to snap his head towards it. His lips curled into a slight smirk as he scoffed. "I guess I jumped the handle a little bit." He dropped Nolan back into his seat, causing him to cough as he tried to get as much air in as he could.

Nolan turned back in his chair, watching as Titan pushed open his jacket to reveal the pistol stowed away in there. He used his other hand to grab the edge of the curtain.

"I can't expect that much in thirty seconds, can I?!" He ripped the curtain open, only to reveal the window. He let out a short chuckle, slowly closing the curtain again as he turned back around to Nolan. "I must say, I'm almost impressed. That Myer girl sure knows how to hightail it out of here – leaving just you and me."

Nolan's eyes flicked to a spot just above and behind Titan – a faint smoky blue glow. It appeared like a cloud of dust was gathering behind him, grouping together. Then, as if it were as easy as letting out a single breath, Wendy materialized from the dust and landed silently behind Titan.

She slowly pushed down the strap holding the pistol in and ripped it out. Titan didn't even have enough time to turn around before she leapt up, floating for a half second, and whipped him in the back of the head with it. He fell to the ground with a thud, fully unconscious.

Wendy threw the gun onto the bed as she flew over Titan and landed back on the ground walking. She kept going to Nolan as she said, "I would've warned you, but it was a little difficult with five armed government operatives in the room and a gag."

She pulled down the gag out of his mouth, letting the cloth hang loosely around his neck. Nolan looked her up and down with slightly wide eyes as he asked, "How did you do that? What did you even do?"

"Well, those were my genetically passed abilities," she said, following the statement with a mumble about the stupid knot.

She walked over to Titan's unconscious body, digging around his jacket and then his boot. She pulled out a knife with a sheath, shrugging as she readjusted the sheath's strap to go around her upper thigh. She walked back over to Nolan and pulled out the knife, swiftly cutting through the rest of his bindings.

"Okay, I got that. But what was that? Did you just appear out of dust?"

"No, that wasn't dust." Wendy fell back onto the edge of the closest bed, letting out a deep breath as she finally allowed herself to relax (not relax enough to use her abilities, of course). "I'm able to turn parts or my full body into a gas-like form. I can use the slightest partial to even fly."

"Shouldn't you be naked then?"

Wendy's face scrunched up in disgust. Nolan quickly followed up with, "You said that your body was able to turn to gas, not your clothes. So shouldn't you be naked?"

"No, Mom helped me make sure of that." She rubbed her arms. "Those were not my favorite lessons, especially since we learned I can't turn other people into gas with me or large objects."

"Is the gas poisonous? Like how your mother could emit toxic fumes?"

"No, it's pretty much harmless. But I am immune to all toxins." Wendy looked down at her lap, running her fingers over her bruised knuckles. "I think my parents knew that I'd get into a situation like this someday, so they taught me everything they knew when it came to ability-control and combat. They kind of skimmed over firearms, but I'm pretty good with knives." She gestured to the newly added accessory on her thigh.

Nolan sat on the bed next to her. "Abigail seemed to know more about that than you did."

Wendy's eyes widened slightly and she shot up from the bed. She quickly snatched the folder and opened it. Nolan followed her over, looking over her shoulder as she fingered through the pages.

There were brief files on every member of the covert ops unit created by the Clover program – including Wendy's parents. Her face fell slightly as she looked over the documentation that signified that they were killed. Everything else she saw was stuff she pretty much already knew about, except the papers closer to the back of the folder.

"What is all this?" she questioned as she set the folder on the bed. She pulled out the papers and laid them out for her and Nolan to read.

"It looks like... plans." He picked up one of the papers, pointing to a highlighted portion of it. "I think they're trying to restart the Clover Program and get not just one covert ops team out there, but multiple."

Wendy looked through the papers and pulled out another with highlighted information. "Not just a covert ops team, but a public team. They'll start out with two teams, one in Chicago and the other in New York City." She looked back to Nolan. "They're going to make themselves judge and jury."

"Maybe even executioner." Nolan grabbed more of the papers, him and Wendy continuing to read through them.

The SuperSource found in Wickward was not the original source of the superhuman abilities created by the Clover Program. The original source was in England in a small town called Keeneran underneath an old tower about three hours South of London. But about six years prior, right when they were really kickstarting the program again, the tower was destroyed – along with the SuperSource.

"It looks like they have Dr. Paul Clover working on the program again," Wendy said as she pulled out a classified article written by him on the program. "And his lovely daughter is the one guaranteeing it."

"Here." Nolan pulled out a profile, revealing a small portion of Abigail's many adventures and accomplishments. "She's twenty-five and has already been the leader of multiple covert squads and other teams that deal with international affairs."

"'Affairs' is the lightest term you could use for this." Wendy grabbed the paper from him, reading it over before putting it back in the folder. "There's probably no one else more qualified than her to take on this job. I'm surprised she hadn't pulled this off earlier."

"There's one factor she definitely didn't account for." Wendy paused from putting the papers back, not looking up at Nolan as he spoke. "You."

"But she did account for you." Wendy pulled up the paper, revealing Nolan's profile. It went from his birthday to his social security number to even the books he checked out at the library the day he and Wendy met. "We have to go. Now."

Wendy threw the folder into her bag and zipped it up. She zipped up her hoodie and walked back over to the chairs, grabbing the ropes from them and continuing over to the still-unconscious Titan.

Nolan grabbed his own items, checking through his bag, as she tied him up.

"Your phone gone, too?"

"Yup. I'll hand it to them. They know what they're doing."

Nolan let out a forced chuckle. He paused as he looked back down at his wrists, the feel of his jacket rubbing against the now-raw skin causing him to his in pain.

"Are you okay?" Wendy asked as she continued tying Titan's wrists behind his back.

"I'm fine." He looked down at his wrist, running his fingers over it as he pulled up his sleeve. He let out a groan as he added, "What is with you people and taking my watch? I seriously don't get it."

Wendy let out a chuckle as she finished with Titan, tying the gag around his mouth as she stood back up. She pulled up her hood and patted Nolan on the shoulder.

"It is a very suspicious watch."

"It was a birthday present! Not spy gear!"