The Hero?

~Chapter 14~ Group Training

I haven't had much sleep in the past few days. I kept thinking about Jack; I hadn't seen him since that incident at the arena. The tournament was just 2 days away now, and I had told everyone in the team to meet up so we could practice co-ordination with Jack.

I got myself off my bed and changed into the tournament suit. It was no where near the protection my actual suit gave me, but it was more comfortable. After looking in the mirror to make sure everything was where it should be, I walked down to the kitchen to see Jack actually there. He was facing away from me and didn't seem to notice me, it looked as though he was in thought.

I walked past him and let him be, I opened the fridge to grab so leftovers and put it in the microwave to heat up. I turn around to see Jack looking right at me.

"Hi." I awkwardly said to him feeling the awkward tension between us.

"Hi." He responded in an also awkward tone.

I heard the microwave beep, I opened it and took out the leftovers. I grabbed a fork and sat at the opposite end of the table. We continued to eat in silence.

"Team training today?" he asked me now looking down at his food instead of me.

"Yea, we have your suit ready for you at the tournament arena. We're just doing a practice run today so you know what to do during the actual thing" I explained to him in my response.

"Oh. Ok." He simply responded back and we went back and continued to eat in silence.

We finished our food and I washed the dishes before grabbing Jack to teleport him to the tournament arena. There we gave him his suit and is now waiting for him to change into it.

"You sure he's not the one who did it?" Tyler asked me trying to confirm what I said before.

"Yes. I am sure." I said back to him sternly before see Jack walk out with his new suit. It was skin tight and it was showing off every inch of his body.

"You ready?" Wade asked Jack with a friendly smile.

At least Wade trusts me.

Jack gave him a nod and we went into our positions.

*****

We were in the middle of training when Cassidy arrived to watch, we soon decided to take a short break. When she saw that we were taking a break she ran down to where we were. As soon as Jack noticed she was there he seem to try to occupy himself away from her.

Strange... What happened at the old arena? Do these two have a past somehow?

Cassidy was talking to the guys so I decided to walk over and check up on Jack."Hi." I said to him still feeling a bit awkward when I was right next to him.

"Hi." He responded to me trying me not make eye contact.

"What happened?" I asked probably a little bit too vague.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" He asked after look behind us, clearly already knowing what the topic is. I gave him a silent nod before teleporting us to the roof of the warehouse. It was a place even Cassidy didn't know about and I could tell he didn't want her to hear whatever we were going to talk about.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on now?" I asked trying my best to not sound annoyed by his avoidance.

"Tell you what?" He asked still trying to avoid eye contact by looking down.

"I know it was you... The person who hacked into the mainframe... Why did you do it?" I asked him in a tone that was probably a bit too accusatory.

He didn't even bother opening his mouth to speak though, clearly not going to give away anything. I let out a sigh and grabbed him by the shoulders and wrapped him around a tight hug.

"Whatever it is... I'm willing to forgive you as long as there are no more secrets." I said to him in a caring voice as I was hugging him, trying to get the information from him cautiously.

He just pushed me back, clearly shaken by something. He backed away from me, falling to the ground and clutching his head and shaking it slightly.

"No.. No. No. No... I. Just. Can't. Stop making this so difficult," He said clearly in some kind of distressed frenzy.  I kneeled down next to him and put my hand on his shoulder again, half expecting him to back up away from me. But instead he just stayed still and did nothing. I let out a sigh and let the topic at hand go.

"I want to trust you. I really do. But you have to honest with me. Stop avoiding every problem you run into, and for once trust that it'll be alright after you face them." I whispered to him is a soft tone.

"If only it could to be that simple..." he responded clearly taking in what I said but not enough to follow through with it.

"You're right... Things are complicated. But there is one thing that's simple enough" I said to him before grabbing his face and kissing him. I felt those sparks again, but I sadly had to stop. I could see a yearning in his eyes, as if we wanted that to continue.

"I like you Jack. A lot. And I just want you to know I care for you and your well being" I said to him showing concern in my voice.

He gave me a sad smile before quietly saying "Fuck it."He stood up and so did I, he was the one who leaned in this time and kissed me, and feeling the sparks I get every time we kiss. We parted and I could already see the wide smile across his face. I smiled back and teleported us back to the tournament arena.