Changed by Time ✔

twenty-five.

2221 hours

It was Nolan's turn to decide whether he needed his ears checked. He simply stared at Wendy, his mouth opening and closing like he was a goldfish. He didn't know how to respond at first, continuing to just stare at her as he searched for the right words.

"Are you serious?" he managed to get out.

"Who the hell do you think made sure that Abigail didn't kill me the second I got out of that well? I didn't abandon you, you dick," Wendy snapped at him. "Abigail ambushed me and nearly blew my head off. She was going to use you to get here and then kill you too. I almost died and Mom rescued me without realizing that you were there."

Nolan managed to point out towards the golden pool area, more towards the rock where Andrea continued to take cover – or so they assumed. "That is your mother out there? Andrea Myer – the superhuman who could emit toxic fumes?"

Everything clicked – why Abigail's crew suddenly had gas masks on hand, the Neon gas filling the air, and why Abigail was suddenly so spooked.

"I was going to come after you the second Mom and I got here. I knew that there was a chance Abigail would be close, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone."

"How is your mother here? I mean that both as in alive and in Ireland."

"She managed to escape when the government went after them. Dad didn't make it, he sacrificed himself to save her."

"I don't even know how to respond to that," Nolan said, shaking his head as he tried to process the information. "Why are you here though? Why would she want to be here?"

"Well, she was the one to destroy up the SuperSource in England. She was also the one to get the book away from the government and figured out that Poplin Library played some kind of part in all of this. She just couldn't figure out where the SuperSource was though... until we came along."

"Is she here to destroy it too?" he scoffed. "Like mother, like daughter."

"No. She wants to take in more of the substance – to grow her power so she can take revenge on everyone who was involved in Dad's death. Subsequently, everyone involved with the Clover Program. This includes Abigail and her father, Dr. Paul Clover."

Wendy took a step closer to Nolan. "Don't you see? This is what this given power does to people. It takes good people who just want to live their lives and do good and completely tears apart who they are. My mother is willing to risk her own life to get more power to end dozens. I'm not defending their actions, but even that is too far.

"Can't any part of you understand why I have to do this?"

Nolan stared at her. This time, he truly had no words. 

Everything that he had been working towards was going to get destroyed, but not for no reason. Wendy had been desperate to try to end the pain her mother had been going through and what others will go through if the SuperSource were to continue standing.

Sure, at first it was to simply just stop anyone from restarting the Clover Program. Now it was to save lives.

Nolan shook his head. Wendy took in a shaky breath, her eyes tearing up as she said, "Please, Nolan. I can't do this alone..." 

He said nothing.

She used the heel of her palm to wipe her eyes. She began to walk out back into the fight. "Fine. I'll just have to—" She was cut off when he grabbed her arm and pulled her back in.

Nolan pressed her against the rock, cupping her face as he smashed his lips against hers. Wendy was surprised at first but quickly sunk into the kiss. She grabbed his wrists, holding him closer and tighter.

The finally broke apart for air, pressing their foreheads against one another as they held each other closely. Wendy clicked her tongue before she said, "That was very unexpected."

"You are surprisingly good at arguing."

"I can assume you're helping me then?"

"I'd take a bullet for you."

2234 hours

"What's the plan?" Nolan asked. He pressed his back against one of the rocks as Wendy slid over, checking their path each time. "I mean, we're doing this a little short notice, but now's better than never."

"Mom had some leftover dynamite from when she blew up the England source," Wendy answered. "Dynamite she stored in a duffle bag that held some other equipment."

"Like that suit." He gestured to the gray jumpsuit she adorned.

"Like this suit," she replied with a nod. "Mom apparently forgot she stored the dynamite in there. A couple lies later and I have my clothes from the day and an unknown number of sticks of dynamite in a duffle bag."

"Okay... that's not a plan. But there's one bigger problem we have to address: where's the bag?"

"I had to shift into my gaseous form to come over here without getting shot; which means that I left the bag back in the spot where Mom was taking cover by."

Wendy leapt over one of the rocks, sliding down it. She used the built-up momentum to leap over another rock, pressing her hands against it as she vaulted herself over. With a final leap, she landed behind the rock where she and Andrea were taking cover.

Thankfully, she left the bag right where Wendy had dropped it. Wendy pulled out the bag and unzipped it, pushing aside her clothes as she pulled out the sticks of dynamite. In total, there were about eight sticks left in the bag.

"That's not a whole lot for such a big space," Wendy muttered to herself. "But it'll have to do."

She was about to go back over to Nolan when she stopped. She looked back down at the ground, kneeling down as she got a closer look. There was a wet splotch next to and on the rock, too dark to be water or the substance. She pressed her fingers against it, pulling them back to reveal blood on her fingertips.

She looked back towards the golden pool and spotted the face mask her mother adorned. She quickly grabbed it and looked back down to the blood splotch.

Wendy connected the dots and looked back over the rock. A bullet ricocheted off the rock mere inches from her head, forcing her to kneel back down to take cover. Nolan quickly joined her, managing to avoid getting shot himself.

"How much are we working with?" he questioned.

"Eight sticks. You take three and I'll take the other five. I think we should try and get the ceiling to collapse, blowing up the SuperSource wouldn't do us any good," Wendy strategized. "There are too many factors and possibilities to think about if we were to try and blow the SuperSource up itself. But if we bury it, that should do enough damage to stop anyone else from coming down here."

"I don't think we could blow it up with just sticks of dynamite anyway," Nolan said, taking the three sticks from her and stuffing them into his jacket. "That rock the substance is pouring out of looks like a meteorite. I think if we tried to blow it up directly, we'd end up doing more damage now than if more people end up taking the SuperSource."

"That may be a bit of an exaggeration but I get your point. How'd you know it was a meteorite? It just kind of looks like a big ol' rock to me."

"Had to take some classes outside my major for my undergrad," Nolan simply replied. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to have some geology classes in my back pocket."

"Smart." Wendy nodded, tilting her head slightly as she added, "I like it."

"Flirt later." He held up one of the sticks of dynamite. "We'll have plenty of time for that once we're done here."