Consuming Fire

Epilogue (Part 1)

"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.