Fire & Ice | Soulmate AU 1 |

chapter fourteen

I'm discharged from the hospital on the fifth day of my stay. I change into the clothes Derek brought me yesterday before I meet Flint down at the front desk.

"You excited to get outta here?" Flint asks as we take the elevator down to the ground floor of the hospital.

"More than just excited," I muse, smiling faintly through the ebbing pain in my side. The medication they had me on with the IV is obviously no longer hooked up and the pill they gave me an hour or so ago is quickly wearing off. Having an accelerated metabolism is a love-hate relationship. I'm just going to have to deal with the pain until I can get my prescription filled later on today. "I hate hospitals."

"Oh?" Flint says curiously.

"Yeah," I reply with a dry smile. "Kinda spent a lot of time in them as a kid." Flint nods as he listens to me speak, but stops when their true meaning hits him. His lips set into a serious, tight line. Leave it to me to make everything awkward.

JD pulls up in a Camaro outside the hospital. It's far more expensive than a typical League agent's salary so I'm kind of curious as to how he can possibly afford it, but I'm not going to ask.

"There he is!" JD exclaims as Flint helps me get settled in the back seat. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm kind of struggling to complete basic movements without wanting to curl into a ball of misery.

The ride back to the tower is short. JD is parking in the garage below the building before I even know it. I protest initially when they inform me that I'm staying in a guest bedroom on the common floor, but eventually give in after they argue that it's best that I'm close by just in case. I can't exactly criticize them for wanting to make sure I'm okay.

I practically collapse into bed once I reach the room. So many pained noises leave me as I get comfortable that when I ask Flint to run over to my older cover apartment to get my favorite blanket, he doesn't even whine or complain. I suppose pity has its occasional uses.

I fall asleep before he even leaves the tower. He shakes me awake a short time later, armed with my blanket and my prescription from the drug store. I swallow a dosage dry and toss the blanket over myself. I have everything I really need. All I can really count on to always be there when I'm seriously hurt is here: a soft blanket and some form of drugs. Everything else involved in my comfort is an ever changing variable within my life. Rowan? I got too comfortable. I knew I was getting far too comfortable and yet I still allowed myself to start creating a sort of home in him. The odds of Rowan forgiving me for all of my bullshit are worse than that of winning the lottery.

Max comes by a little later on in the day. I have the lamp off and the curtains drawn because the light was giving me a headache, so I'm thankful that he doesn't turn them on when he comes in.

"How you doin, kiddo?" he greets, taking a seat on the end of my bed.

"I've seen better days," I reply, offering a smile that is more of a wince. "Better, though."

"Good to hear," he says, lips quirking fondly. "So. I broached the topic of Bella to our resident fire bender and he's all about cooperation now. He'll tell us anything we want to know if we can secure her. Doesn't want her in the system, but doesn't care what happens to him at all. It's a hell of a deal. He's lucky we have prior knowledge or that'd be the only thing he'd be getting."

"What do you mean?"

"There's clauses about blackmailed enhanced individuals, you know. I think Rowan more than qualifies for the protection of the Alice Clause."

The Alice Clause. It came from a quiet case that was seemingly unimportant at the time: Alice v. the State of New York. Arthur Rowe, a dishonorably discharged ex-League agent, kidnapped Daniel Alice's mother. Alice was blackmailed into using his teleportation powers to obtain confidential documents and was solely blamed when he was inevitably arrested. Someone high up in the League somehow heard about Alice's predicament and a representative came to his aid during his trial. Alice was declared to be not at fault and the Alice Clause was established not long after. Apparently situations similar to Alice's and Rowan's are far more common than I thought.

"I'm gonna do him one better, actually," Max says with a faint smile. "The kid's got a spark. Literally, of course, but also inside. I want him on the team. He'll have to pass the entrance exam, obviously, but he shouldn't have any problem with that. Him and Bella can stay in the tower for the time being if it all works out, though." I can't lie and say I'm not surprised. I never thought this would go as well as it's going right now.

"Oh, wow. That's actually really great. Wow," I stammer stupidly. I can't really think of anything intelligent to say.

"Yup. We're working on finding her right now. Once we get her he'll spill everything. Everyone's happy: me, the League, Rowan, and, well, you, clearly."

"What?"

"Well, you're clearly very invested. Kinda what tends to happen when you put younger agents on undercover ops," he explains, pausing to squint at me and essentially stare into my soul. "Unless, of course, there's something even deeper going on."

I feel myself flush red without being able to stop it. I don't say anything for a few moments as I try to figure out what I can say.

"You're right," I say lowly. "But it's complicated."

Max sighs but pats me softly on the leg.

"That's what I figured," he says, laughing lightly. "Whatever it is can't be worse than being shot, though, so whenever you want to come to me is fine."

An unexpected smile sweeps across my face. Max is more than I could ever ask for.