Lady Iris

Refreshing Reunion ~ 27

I kicked a piece of metal along the streets of Magna City. Many people stopped and stared at me, and I could hear a few people say "Look, it's Lady Iris!". But I ignored them all, and I kept my eyes down on the scrap metal.

In Magna City metal was a lot more common to find than rocks, so I told myself 'how hard can it be to kick metal, like how I kicked rocks back at home?'

Turns out it is harder to kick metal. I ended up actually having to focus when kicking it, because it usually just scuffed the ground, or flipped over and made loud noises.

After a while of frustratingly kicking it, I just blasted it to bits, scaring everyone around me, including a little crowd I hadn't realized was following me.

"Shoo!" I yelled, and they looked hurt, but they dispersed. I sighed and kept walking, my eyes on the floor.

Maybe I was a bit too rash in my choice to leave. I mean, they are trying to save the world. I just don't know if I can do it. I...

I closed my eyes, and I denied a thought that kept coming to my head. And I was afraid it may be true.

I don't want to stab him in the back. I know I don't want to stab anyone in the back, but especially not him. He trusts me. And when I'm around him I somehow oddly feel a strange familiar sense of security.

I kept pushing the thought back. I need to save the world, and if that means getting rid of him, then I will have to do that.

That sounds so crazy. 'I need to save the world.' A couple of years ago I would've never dreamed of doing that. But here I am, a sort of spy, about to stab some super-moon-villain in the back.

I didn't even have a full grasp on Equinox either. What exactly was it?

Then I was there, at Dean's apartment. I started feeling nervous again, and this time my mother wasn't here. Last meeting didn't go so well, so I wondered what this one would turn into. I cautiously pressed the doorknob.

I had decided to go straight to Dean's house after storming out of Nova Tower. My mom would disapprove of me 'resigning' from Nova after two days, so I wanted to avoid her until it was the end of my shift. I needed to figure things out, get everything sorted. I needed someone to talk to. I've been missing that for years, since Dean moved away. The only person I could talk to was my mom, and you know there are some things you just can't tell your mom.

So I kept it in. And I was lonely. So lonely.

I needed Dean to help me figure things out, because I was stressed beyond reckoning. How is a sixteen year old supposed to save the world?

The door opened, and Dean was exhaustedly running his hands down his face.

"Who is it now-" he paused when he saw me, and his eyes went wide. Like, super wide. As wide as the moon.

"Skye?" he breathed, and in the background I heard someone- another girl- say, "Well, who is it?"

The girl came over, and I had never seen her before. She wore mostly gray edgy clothes, and she had a black braid. She had a dangerous face, red lips, and winged eyeliner. I was a bit jealous.

She looked me over, and I could tell how I must be looking. Frazzled and beat-up and hopeless and lonely. When she realized who I was, something changed in her eyes.

"Who's that?" I asked, nodding to the girl. Dean was still speechless, but he seemed to snap out of it. "Lady Iris! You're here! Wow, it's so nice to meet you." Dean said, excessively loud. I shot him a look. He didn't tell me he would have company, or I would have changed to my regular clothes.

"Who are you?" I asked the girl again.

"She is...." Dean stuttered.

"I'm his girlfriend," She answered.

Dean shot a look at her that I couldn't decipher. "Uh, yeah," Dean answered, wringing his hands and looking nervous.

I felt something deflate inside of me. He had a girlfriend. So he wasn't lonely all those years. Lonely like I was, having my only friend move away and having  nothing else to do with my life.

Dean cleared his throat. "Well, um, you better be going now," he said, nodding to the girl. She smirked and stepped out the door, making her way to the stairs.

I frowned at Dean, who was making an apologetic face. "Ah... Skye I can explain. First of all I didn't know you were coming early-"

"Save it," I answered, walking past Dean into the room. Dean slowly followed me as I entered the large empty room. The room was devoid of the equipment that was previously in there the last time I was at his apartment. Boxes lined the walls, yet most were still full of dust.

Dean was rubbing his eyes, and he looked exhausted. I saw the hint of a bruise on his face.

"What happened to you?" I asked, gazing out at the city.

"Oh, just working late at the shop so I could afford the move." He answered nonchalantly. I wasn't sure how that fit with the bruise, but I accepted it. The buildings glittered in the sunlight, and in the distance I could see the water, the sun nearing it.

"How do you afford this place?" I asked, turning toward him.

"Um... I don't really. That's a key reason why I'm moving."

I frowned, "I don't think New York is going to be less expensive than here?"

"Significantly less expensive. I don't know what my mom was thinking when we moved here..." he faltered and looked off into the city. "Well, enough about me. How is your super squad?"

"I don't know if I should tell you," I dazedly answered. I looked at him and smiled. "But you know what? I technically quit today. So I can tell you everything I want."

Dean smiled and sat down against the window, ready to listen. I leaned against the glass wall and began my story.

"My first day was chaotic. It started meeting a crew of powerful celebrities and ended with meeting the most powerful person in the world in my own house..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour later I finished, also having to answer the various random comments Dean made throughout the story. By the end of the story Dean was laying on the floor throwing his beanie to the ceiling and I was sitting against the glass. The sky was now dark, but the city maintained its vivid light.

"So... It seems like Eclipse isn't as bad as the media portrays him to be," Dean said, throwing the beanie again.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "Are you joking?"

"What? It seemed like he wanted to keep you safe. Kinda sweet. Send my thanks to him because otherwise you would probably be dead."

I sat up. "Seriously? Dean, he's the supervillain. He may be protecting me, but he sure isn't protecting the hundreds of other people he's killed."

Dean faltered. "Well technically he hasn't killed people directly. People do it in his name. It's like some kind of scary cult."

"What's your point?"

Dean sat up and put the beanie on his head. "Ok, so you're telling me you think you know who Eclipse is? And he's your heroic teammate?"

"Not-so-heroic deceiving teammate. There's something off about him."

"So..." Dean started, tapping his knee. "What do you want to do about it?"

"I don't know. I need a way to know for sure it is him."

Dean perked up, "Or a way to know it isn't him!" He stood up and paced around. "Inferno and Eclipse can't be in the same room at the same time!" He froze, and a huge smile came onto his face. "Skye, I've hatched a brilliant idea."