Lady Iris

He Knows ~ 26

I was frozen, but I finally snapped into action. Before I knew it, I was holding Ayden by the shirt, and I had the glowing marble at his neck. I tried to look threatening, but I was shorter and younger than him, so it came out only half as threatening. But he knew the marble could kill him if he acted up.

"Hey, hey! No need to be threatening. I'm not dumb. I knew I had seen you before, plus you had your name on your necklace. And I had only known one living person with that kind of attitude: you. I hadn't remembered until recently. Aren't you a little too young to be saving the world'?"

I scowled at him and pushed him back. Of course he would notice. Masks don't work as well as they do in movies.

"I'm going back now. And do not tell anyone about my identity," I hopped down to the greenhouse floor, and went to the elevator. Ayden followed behind. "And how did you know my last name?"

"I-" Ayden started, then faltered. "I don't know it."

The elevator started descending. I was trying to see if Inferno would trip up and make an excuse of why he knew my last name, when he claimed before he only knew my first name because of the necklace. He said he didn't know my name, but the faltering made me suspicious.

My phone rung again, and I groaned and put the phone to my ear.

"I'm coming!"

"Skye?"

It was Dean.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else." I answered back, and there was an awkward silence.

Deans voice was quiet and solemn. "Well, I'm leaving tomorrow, and I wanted to know if you would like to see me one last time for in a long time. I'm sorry for pushing you guys away earlier, I just wasn't ready to see you again. I don't think I ever will be, but this may be the last chance to see each other." There was a pause. "So, my house? Or do you not want to come... Because that's completely fine seeing how I acted-"

I cut him off. He was overthinking like he always did. "Dean I'll come, don't worry; and thanks for telling me about it. I'll be there soon. I just have some... work to do."

"Really?" Dean answered, and I could hear his voice perk up. "Really, that's... That's great. And amazing. I'll see you later." He said, and he got off the phone just as the elevator pinged.

When the door opened, I swiftly got out and knocked on the door, which was just-as-swiftly answered by Zaya.

"So, what did you find?" Vanguard asked grumpily, sitting at the head of the table. The rest of the team was toying with something I couldn't see on their ears. "It better be worth it for disrupting our conversation."

"Mr.Vanguard, you gave us five minutes. How can we possibly find something in that amount of time?" Ayden answered casually, and I shot a look at him. I found something.

Vanguard covered his face with his hands, and then motioned for us to sit. We both sat, and then Vanguard passed us both silver tech.

"It's an earpiece so you can keep in touch with us. It's cloaked when you press this button," Vanguard continued and pressed the button, which made the silver earpiece virtually disappear.

I gasped. I couldn't help it, I grew up in a town where there was scarcely any tech; and never anything new. And now I show up in what's got to be the most technically advanced city... It was a very shocking ordeal. And then to see something disappear before your eyes... I had only seen that in movies. Oh, and real life; but that's only when I do it. But technology that can do it?

Vanguard passed it to us, and I stared at mine. It fit perfectly around my ear, and with a press of the button, it disappeared. I stood up and switched the cloaking on and off in the mirror until Vanguard snapped me out of my trance.

"Iris, if you're done with your shenanigans, we have new strategies to talk about."

The heat was rising to my cheeks, and I sat down. Vanguard started talking, and I got ready to zone out until my name was called.

"We're switching duties. Lady Iris has been originally assigned to South America, but now her assignment has been changed. Inferno will now take Iris' place in South America, and Lady Iris will remain here."

I froze for a moment. Why was I remaining here? I could never take down Eclipse, whereas Inferno may have a chance. I don't even have a full handle on my powers yet.

"Mr.Vanguard, I think you have made a mistake, I can't take down-"

"Iris, you never let me finish. You don't need to take him down, I doubt anyone can do that. We just need to trap him." I stared blank-faces at him.

"And how am I..." I trailed off, and I realized the whole room was watching me. Vanguard sighed and stood up, then continued.

"Eclipse tried to protect you, am I correct? He refused to fight you. He has something linked to you, and he wants to keep you safe. Either it be power, attraction, or anything else. We can use that to our advantage. Either you can take him down while he's unwilling to fight you, or you can bring him into a trap."

I sat there in silence, and a million thoughts were running in my head. Ayden had an certain uneasiness that I couldn't quite place.

"Eclipse only 'protected' me once. If I tried to kill him..." I shuddered for a second. I couldn't kill somebody, not even if they were wicked. "... I don't think he would hesitate to kill me before that happened."

"But that's the point. He underestimates you. He doesn't think you can kill him. He thinks that you're the weakest. To be honest, we all underestimated you. You haven't shown us much yet, but I know you have so much potential. Potential is your secret power, and now we're going to exploit it."

I wasn't going to be the one to stab him in the back. I wasn't going to do that. I couldn't do that. I would surely mess up, and then what would happen to me if the plan didn't work?

And maybe because you don't want to.

I stood up, and the room was dead-silent. Vanguard sternly looked up at me.

"You made the wrong choice bringing me here. I'm not a back-stabber, and I can't kill people." I set a cold glare on Ayden. "I guess that means I won't fit well with the rest of you." I stood up and walked towards the door.

"Iris, this is the best for everyone." Vanguard called towards me, and I could hear the tiniest hint of pleading.

I turned, and looked darkly around the room. My team-mates were averting their gaze, and Ayden was staring at the table, in thought.

If I was going to do this, I would make the choice, not some official. I could make or break the revolution. I could change it.

I am going to choose what I do, and I'm going to do it my way.

"Well, then I'm not your girl."

I ripped my headpiece off and threw it onto the table. Zaya started towards me, but Vanguard stopped her. I stomped to the door, and it was the room watching me now.

"And I resign."