The Phantom's Hero

"SIMON J COLE! DON'T. YOU. EVER. DO. THAT. TO ME. EVER. AGAIN!"

Simon watched the woman he loved as she stood in her aura of purple, her hands threatening to release every plasma ball she could build. She inhaled a few ragged breaths before starting her rant; the woman adjusting her weight between her feet as the glass of the broken door crunched under her boots.

"I have flown the entire way here through blustering winds and almost flew into a jet turbine twice. I have cried the entire way, fearing that I would be too late, yet here you are staring at me like I'm crazy. Maybe I am crazy." She took a shuddering breath as her eyes locked onto Simon's; the glowing faltered for only a moment as tears trailed down her cheeks. "I have done nothing but protect people, protect you, and then you go and do this. Do you have any idea how-"

The feel of Simon's lips halted Avery's words, crashing into hers as his hands held each side of her face. After a single heartbeat of time, Avery melted into the kiss as she dropped her powers to grip the fabric of Simon's shirt to pull him nearer. Her tears and plasma falling as the pair took a moment basking in once another, their foreheads resting together for only a moment of peace amidst the chaos.

Simon pulled away to scan her eyes with his own, his now brown eyes flitting between hers as his breath emerged from him as gasps. "You can see me?"

Avery sighed and smiled through her tears as she looked at him properly for the first time. His voice had altered slightly, but it was still deep, gravelly from the lasting damage of the fire. His eyes and hair were once again brown, as he had told her they were. Avery was even sure the shape of his nose was different, but also the same. "I see you," she breathed.

"How sweet," James said as he rolled his eyes. The man visibly grimacing at the scene as he gestured his head towards the still smoking gun in his hand. A clink of metal hitting the tiled ground broke the silence that fell as Simon's body finished pushing the bullet from his arm in order to heal. "Freaks."

"Says you," Avery hissed, her eyes darkening as Simon slowly moved to stand in front of her, his left arm lifting slightly, ready to move her out of the way or take any more bullets. "You killed your family."

James chuckled and nodded gently. "Not all of them." He raised the gun higher, now aiming for his son's head with the knowledge of it being the one injury from which he could never heal.

"Did you have to hurt Michael in that way, though?" Avery asked, her words triggering Simon to pull his gaze from the barrel of the gun back to her. "He was just a child; he had no part in any of this."

"Neither did you!" James spat. "It was you opening the door and causing the division that really made me up my game."

"You cannot blame me for anything."

"If you had not come through the door, Miss Addleston, then Michael wouldn't have fought me. He would not have heard your voice and taken off running to you. And Simon here would have done anything to get to you, thereby breaking the chains that would have ensured his death."

Avery looked up at Simon and saw the muscles of his jaw tighten. "He chained you up?"

"I had given up," Simon admitted. "He told me if I moved, then you would be next."

James sighed loudly. "The plan would have worked if I had not had to chase little Mike." He licked his lips as both Avery and Simon froze, their breaths increasing in speed as they glared at the man they had once trusted. "Avery, you told me once before about the burn on your arm."