Beckoning Lyght

A Rival Appears

Chapter Four: A Rival Appears

"...... You want me to do WHAT?!"

Bruce sighed and eventually laughed as Tabitha looked at him wide-eyed. He grabbed her hands and kissed them, only for her to quickly snatch them away and glare at him.

"What? You've come a long way from the rage-infested, cocky brat that waltzed into my building and fixed my security system..."

"... You thought I was cocky...?" she looked at him with all seriousness. He laughed more and grabbed her hands yet again.

"Stop interrupting me! I believe that... you need to put that part of your life behind you; it'll make things a lot easier on you." he tried to explain. She just looked into his eyes for a moment and looked away.

"... I don't think I can... he's the reason why I'm what I am now."

"Some people like the way you are..." he made her look at him by gently tugging at her chin, "You've accepted the fact that you'll never be normal... which can be overrated a lot of times. The next step should be to let him know that." he finished explaining.

"... You like that I'm a Metahuman...?"

"I like you, period! I don't care that you're a Metahuman!" he smiled. She blushed and smiled back but sighed a bit.

"What if... I lose it..?"

"I have all the confidence that you won't."

She looked up at the building and let out a shaky sigh. The last time she was there, she had almost lost it. Two years after becoming a Metahuman, she had finally come face-to-face with the man who was responsible for the transformation: Gary First. Even with the fellow Justice League members surrounding her, even with the near completion of her rehabilitation, she had come so close to giving the man what she felt he deserved: a quick and very painful death. Now that she was going in alone, what would stop her from completing the job?

As she went inside and signed the visitor's log, she realized that her new boyfriend was right; there were so many things that she had left in the past: the man formerly known as Alpha should be added to that list. She had finally accepted that being a Metahuman was who she was. Tabitha was actually afraid of admitting that to him as well as she was willing to let go of the past, trying to forget about what he had done to her.

She waited in the same room as she did a few years ago and thought more. How could she really just forget about what he had done to her? He had left her for dead, turned her late best friend against her, lied to her family and even tried to kill her; things like that were not easy to forget! She sadly thought that maybe she had agreed on seeing Gary and letting bygones be bygones only to satisfy Bruce.

There was something different about him, she noticed as he entered the room. For one, there was only one guard with him. Gary gave her a genuine smile as the guard closed the door. The man that stood before her was actually clean-shaven, with a fresh haircut. His once salt and pepper hair was now fully grey however his facial features looked more defined. His hazel eyes shone as he sat down across from her. Two things made her very uneasy: the guard was actually behind the door... and Gray wasn't restrained to the chair. Tabitha mentally readied herself for any unpredictability.

"... I'm surprised to see you..." his voice was confident yet sincere. She switched glances from the lone guard outside the door and back to Gary.

"Why ain't you handcuffed to that chair?" she wasted no time showing her concern. He gave her a light smile.

"Oh... a lot has changed about me since the last time we spoke. I've had time to think about what I've done and my mental state. Plus... I've stopped fighting the staff about taking my medication." he confessed. She started to calm down and tried to relax in her chair.