The Epic Romance of the Sassy, Dorky... Badass Superspies.

Day Six

August 22nd, 2019

8/22/14

2:32 pm

Ezekiel and I are training again. This time I'm asked to lift weights. Ezekiel sits in a chair beside me, watching my embarrassingly not-so-strong arms shake under the pressure. He watches my forehead sweat, as my teeth are clamped together. And he's smiling.

I collapse under the weight. "One hundred," I moan.

He nods, and cocks an eyebrow. "You're alright," he says.

I sit up from under the weight and stand, wiping the sweat from my brow with a towel Ezekiel hands me.

I sit down across from him. We're sitting in the two white chairs, some of the only objects in the room.

He squirts water into his mouth like sitting there watching me was so tiring.

I sigh. "You're not going to make me do training in Cornwall, are you?"

He laughs. "Maybe."

I shake my head.

"So, I've been meaning to ask you..." Ezekiel says, staring right at me. Something changes in his smile.

My heart races. "W-what?"

"Oh, it's no big deal. I just need to know... you know, it's a touchy subject, I suppose... to you, so..." he sighs.

"It's necessary for your training..."

He scratches his head.

"You say you can't use... your abilities to any physical advantage, but they've asked me- they have, that I be the judge of that.

"I need you to tell me your abilities," he says.

He hasn't brought up my abilities since the first day we met. He let it go, and acted like I was normal. And I liked that. I loved that. It was the best feeling in the world.

But I couldn't escape my abnormalities... even if it wasn't Ezekiel's fault that he brought it up. He had to.

Not that he wasn't curious. He was probably curious, I knew he was curious. Why wouldn't he be curious?

I sigh. "Oh, you want to know what my abilities are. I don't mind. Really."

"Really?"

"Really."

I force a smile.

Ezekiel looks uncomfortable, even though he's trying not to. I wonder why I can tell that. He's a spy.

Maybe I make him vulnerable. I don't know what to think of that.

I sigh again.

I glance over at Ezekiel. "Do you have any scars?"

He cocks his head. "Do I have any scars? I have plenty of scars, Nat."

Nat.

"Show me them," I whisper.

He's looking at me as he takes his shirt off, slowly.

My heart begins to flutter.

He works out. I mean- I know he works out, but

Wow.

And then I notice the scar. It's faded, and old, but it's there. And it's huge. I shudder.

"It was a long time ago," he says quietly.

"How long ago?" I ask.

"I was... fourteen," he answers reluctantly.

Suddenly my fourteen year old life didn't seem that bad.

"So... the scar. What about the scar?" he asks, slowly, quietly.

My fingers graze the side of his abdomen, and I run the ends of my fingertips along the length of the scar, before I press my palm down on the only uneven portion of his soft, yet hard skin.

Adrenaline flows through me, through my fingertips, onto his skin.

He's looking into my eyes.

Seconds pass, and he frowns... he puts his hand on mine, pulling it away.

I move it back, putting it in my lap.

"What- was I hurting you?" I ask him, my voice shaking.

He shakes his head. The scar is barely a shadow of a line.

"I-I just-" He shakes his head. "It feels like you're erasing my past. I know what you're doing- I figured that you were trying to help... but..."

"No, I understand," I whisper, putting a hand on his shoulder, softly.

I trace the scar with my finger, making sure not to use my ability.

"I'm sorry," I say.

"No, it's alright." He places his hand on mine. "That's your ability..." He laughs a breathless laugh. "That's amazing."

I blush. "It's..." My voice trails off.

"I... I can do other things..." I confess. "But I'm not- I can't show them to you."

"Describe them," he whispers, moving my hand down his body, until it rests at his waist, the waist of his pants.

"I can... I have the power of clairvoyance. And... I can, well, I can create dimensions."

He tilts his chin up. "Create dimensions."

My eyes drift to my lap. "It's... it's complicated. But there. That's it. I told you."

My face is red, I think. It feels hot.

Ezekiel stands.

"That's amazing, you know."

"What...."

"Your- your- you're amazing, Natasha Fields."

He has his shirt clenched in his right hand. His left hand traces the scar- or, what used to be a scar.

He throws his shirt back on.

He lets out something that sounds slightly insane, slightly hysterical.

He puts his hands on my shoulders.

"I can't believe it," he says. He's beaming.

I'm not sure what to think.

"You never have to mention this again, you know. But... I just want you to know that it's not weird, it's remarkable. You healed- you healed me. You can heal people just by touching them!"

"Shut up," I whisper, laughing.

"Alright," he whispers. "Tomorrow at noon."

"Is..." I say, because I forgot everything I previously knew.

"We leave for Cornwall. I think it's going to be a good trip."

"Okay," I tell him. "But my- my abilities. They're... just... I rarely use them, so..."

"Yeah," he says. "I don't understand why, but I'll accept that. We never have to mention them again."

I smile.