Trust (Sequel to Fire and Ice)

Chapter One

     Believe it or not, being a superhero doesn't pay the bills.  There's that whole secret identity thing that prevents it.  Even if people did know who I am, I would still do it for free, obviously.  It's just times like these, when I'm working at the diner, that a very small part of me wishes that I can throw my secret identity out the window to get away from this.  

     "Why isn't our food out yet?"  a teenage girl who is here with her boyfriend whines.  "I'm starving."

     "I'm sorry." I answer her, plastering a fake, apologetic smile on my face.  "We're just kind of busy tonight, and we have only one cook.  It's going to be about another ten minutes."  Well, it is kind of busy in the diner, but her boyfriend had also ordered almost half the menu, so Tony is busy preparing that.  I sigh and walk into the kitchen.  

     "Is table five's food ready yet Tony?"  I normally wouldn't care that much about getting it out soon, but the sooner I get the food out to them, the better tip they will give me.  And, like I said before, being a superhero doesn't pay much.  

     "Yup!"  He answers me.  He turns from the stove he's cooking at and hands me a couple of plates of food, and I bring it out the the table.  

     "Enjoy!" I tell them, a cheerful smile on my face.  

     "Thanks!" The girl's boyfriend says, winking at me.  He's looking at me kind of flirtatiously, and I inwardly gag.  Ew.  So not my type.  Besides, I'm taken.  I look at the clock and realize that once these people leave, I can leave.  

     Finally, they finish their food.  The guy leaves me his number (which I throw away, obviously) and no tip.  If you want to get a girl to call you, at least make somewhat of an effort to not seem like a total douche-bag.  After I clock out, I'm about to leave when a familiar face enters the diner.  

     I walk up to Emmett and kiss him, excited that he decided to surprise me at work.  "Hi." I say, pulling back from our kiss.

     "Hi." he replies, smiling at me.  "I just wanted to walk you home."

     "You do realize I have superpowers, right?" I say, laughing.  "I think I can defend myself."  We never ended up resolving the problem that he seems to think that I can't take care of myself, but it hasn't been that much of an issue since trying to escape from Alex, so I haven't brought it up again.  

     "Maybe I just want to spend time with you."

     "Now I like that excuse better."  We walk out of the diner and towards my apartment.  He puts his arm around my shoulders and I lean into him as we walk.

     "How was work?" he asks.

     "Awful."  He frowns.  "Customers just get on my nerves sometimes."

     "Have you ever thought about getting another job?" he asks.  "I just don't like seeing you unhappy all the time."  We stop outside my apartment.

     "I'm not unhappy all the time."  I stand on my toes and peck him on the cheek.  "I have you."  He laughs.

     "I know."  He says.  "It just couldn't hurt to look."  We're standing outside my door and he looks like he doesn't want to leave.  I open the door.

     "Come in." I say.  We walk in and Lexi's sitting on the couch with Connor and watching a movie.  They've gotten close since I met him.  They're not dating yet, but I think they will be soon.  "Wow, way to have movie night without us guys." I joke, and they both spin around at the sound of my voice.  Lexi laughs.

     "Dammit." Connor says, grinning.  "We were caught Lexi."  Connor and I have been getting pretty close, too.  

     "I'm offended." I say.  "You come to my apartment, sit on my couch and watch my TV with my best friend and you don't even invite me."  He just gets up and hugs me.  

     "I'm your favorite brother, remember that." I roll my eyes.  He's basically the goofy, immature, brother that I've always wanted.

     "You're my only brother, dumbass."  Suddenly my phone goes off.  I take it out, look at it, and groan.  

     "What is it?" Emmett asks.

     "There's a riot in the prison right now."  He sighs.

     "Okay let's go."  Connor looks apologetically at Lexi, and she nods, understanding.  

     "Give me a sec to change!" I say, running to my room.  In a minute I'm back in the kitchen with them in my super suit.  Connor and Emmett have also changed.  Emmett's wearing his usual super suit.  Connor is also wearing his, which is a dark green hoodie with black jeans and sneakers.  He doesn't put much effort into his.  He conceals his face by always wearing his hood, kind of like Oliver Queen from the show Arrow.  Luckily, we all can fly, so we're at the prison in two minutes.  We enter through a back entrance.  We somehow end up in the prison cafeteria, where the riot is taking place.  There's about twenty prisoners fighting each other and I immediately feel overwhelmed.  How am I supposed to fight this many people?  I look over and see a thin, older man, on the ground, cowering in fear.  A larger man is kicking him in the stomach and ribs repeatedly.  

     "Hey!" I yell at him, and stand defensively between him and the smaller man.  Immediately, I'm thrown to the ground.  This is one of the many times that I wish I had super strength, like Emmett.  I feel myself being kicked in the stomach and I'm breathless for a few seconds.  Then, I roll out of the way, but not too much to prevent being trampled by other prisoners.  I throw a ball of fire at my attacker and he falls to the ground, unconscious.  I suddenly feel arms grab me from behind.  I struggle and attempt to elbow them.   I frantically look for Emmett or Connor, but I can't seem to find them in the crowd.  I think about calling out to them for help, but I want to prove that I can take care of myself.  I'm thrown to the ground again and gasp when I can finally see who had attacked me.

     It's Alex.