Super

39 - See You Again

"Growing apart doesn't change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I'm glad for that." 

– Ally Condie, Matched 

*~*~* One Month Later *~*~*

As it turns out, the second bomb had been right under our noses. Hidden in the heart of Times Square,  it had killed nine superheroes, seven members of the SWAT team, and injured several others. A few had to get limbs amputated and a few already had their limbs amputated by the bomb. Luckily for me, none of my friends had been hurt – other than obviously Lodestone, and Gold who was now permanently deaf in his left ear from the first bomb. 

The only one to die in the explosion who I had really known was Fission. Her husband Laser Beam hadn't spoken more than a few words at a time since then. He was taking it pretty hard, but luckily his friends were still there to support him. Tariro and Adashe had gone back to Zimbabwe, but Cut had moved in with him so he'd be a little less lonely.

Instead of holding separate funerals for the supers, a huge memorial service was to be delivered by my father and President Xavier who was filled in on Black's plot to seize presidency a few days after the bomb. Vice President Carter Rhodes was arrested on the spot.

Families were informed of their sons'/daughters'/sisters'/brothers'/mothers'/fathers' alternate identities thanks to the government's spooky knowledge of every supers' identity. The families all got front row seats to the funeral. Even Arson was included in the service, despite the small familial funeral that had been held for him when he had died. I was going to be in charge of that service...

It was also declared nationwide that at five o'clock every year on February 13th, there would be a two minute silence: the first minute to remember those who had died/been injured in the battle – which thankfully were very few – and the second minute to remember those who had died/been injured from any of the explosions. After three days of debate, it was decided the day would come to be known as Hero Day. Not superhero day, because God knows enough casualties were human. It seemed fitting that Valentine's day, the day we celebrate so much love, was the day after we mourned those who had died.

I hadn't seen Ciaran since the incident. He hadn't shown up to school at all – that's right; Lila and I still had school despite the trauma we had suffered thanks to our beloved Principle Franklin – and it was rumoured that he had been one of the supers who died in the explosion. Eventually those rumours fell away, replaced by rumours of transferral, expulsion, and sickness. Little did we know, he would come back, but it wouldn't be until the following year.

Brady had called Lila the day after the battle. There was no way he'd come back, we knew that, but Lila had cried for hours after hearing her brother's voice anyway. 

A lot of the supers who had helped us fight went back home after the battle. Two of them unmasked, one moved West, but the others remained unfazed. Well... as unfazed as you could be after an experience like that.

I smoothed down my dress and stared back at myself in the mirror. My dirty blonde hair was smooth and straightened, my blue eyes large and wild. Over the past few months, my hair had darkened significantly from lack of sunlight, but I had gone and dyed it just a little lighter the other day to try and brighten the mood. New hair, new me, right? It sure didn't feel that way...

"Stop fretting," a voice laughed from my doorway. "You look great." 

My heart froze up and I was disappointed when I turned to see my brother push off of the doorframe. Ciaran's signature move...