Michael Vey One-Shots

What The Past Leaves Behind, The Future Holds

Hello, all! I know I say this every update but I never have time to write anymore. This year has been monumentally stressful in more ways than one. I barely have time to sleep anymore, much less write. But I'm actually doing something fun this weekend, something I haven't done for months, so I gathered up the motivation to write something. Like the last one-shot, this one-shot is in the point of view of an old Elgen guard who applies for a job at Michael's dad's company, but it's set in the future where Michael and Taylor co-own it. This is much longer than I originally planned it to be, but I am pretty happy with this one considering I wrote it in one sitting. As always, there is a nice bonus epilogue for Noah and his future family because you should know by now I can't not give my characters a happy ending :) I hope you guys enjoy. I know I did writing it. 

Noah took a deep breath as he pulled the door open, feeling the cool air conditioning hit his face as he walked into the large, modern lobby. The front desk attendant glanced up as he stepped in, his face stretching in a polite, customer-service smile. "Welcome to Vey Industries. How may I help you today?" Noah slightly flinched at the use of Michael's last name, guilt creeping into his conscience as he tried to push back the all-too-familiar memories of his haunting past. He cleared his throat, hoping the attendant didn't see the color drain from his face. "I'm here to meet with Ostin Liss." The attendant's eyebrows shot up at the mention of the vice-president. "I'm assuming you have an appointment?" he asked, typing into his computer at record speed. Noah nodded. "It's under Noah Ingress," he replied, hoping the attendant wouldn't recognize his name. The attendant nodded in confirmation, no sign of recognition in his features. He gestured to a large seating area on the other side of the lobby. "You can wait here. He'll be down after his meeting." Noah nodded, smiling at the attendant in gratitude as he made his way over to the large selection of plush, leather seats surrounding a ceiling-high fireplace. As he sunk into one of the comfortable chairs, he slid out his phone, mindlessly scrolling through it even though his mind was elsewhere. If he was being honest, he couldn't believe Ostin Liss had agreed to meet him. His past was scattered all over his permanent record, and as a running member of the Electroclan and Michael Vey's best friend, he knew Ostin held a special hatred for the Elgen. Noah wasn't proud of his past as a top-ranking Elgen guard, but he had come to terms with his decision years after the Elgen were defeated and Micheal Vey and his Electronclan replaced the former evil corporation. Noah had hoped the guilt would fade after ten years, but each day he woke up with a heavy heart remembering all of the people who had died under his command, especially the members of the resistance. He knew that Ostin wouldn't be pleased to see the man who had headed the missions that had killed two former members of the Electronclan - Wade and Tanner. At the thought of their names, he forced himself to stay in his seat even though he wanted nothing more than to walk out the door and back to his small apartment. A movement in the corner of his peripheral caught his attention, causing him to glance to his side where a woman walked into the seating area, her heels clicking against the smooth tile. He felt his breath catch in his throat when he took in her features. She was gorgeous. Her long, coffee brown hair fell down her back in soft waves, highlighting her caramel-brown eyes and soft complexion. She was wearing a peach-colored blouse and a tan pencil skirt that fit her just right, paired with a pair of black heels. She gently sat in the chair across from Noah's, situating her stack of file folders on her lap as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Noah forced himself to look back down at his phone, determined to keep his focus off of the woman. A few moments passed in silence before the woman's soft voice echoed in his ears. "Noah Ingress?" He glanced up at her in surprise as she cocked her head at him. He slowly nodded, trying to place her features. Did he know her? He didn't think so. She was too pretty. She smiled, momentarily distracting him further. "You have a meeting with Mr. Liss today, right?" He nodded again, slowly realizing that she must be Ostin's assistant or secretary. "I can take you up there. He should be over with his meeting by now." Noah felt a slight relief that this woman would be taking him up instead of Ostin himself finding him. He gladly stood, following the woman as she lead him to the elevator. As the doors slid behind him, the woman pressed the button to the 45th floor, causing Noah to realize that he would be in this elevator with this woman for much longer than he thought. She turned to him, her shoulder brushing his, a soft smile gracing her features. "I'm Taylor," she explained, and Noah felt his heart speed up. Her name's so pretty, he thought to himself. "It's nice to meet you," he replied, trying to keep his voice steady. He almost asked Taylor if she was Ostin's assistant, but he felt he shouldn't assume. She would tell him if she felt the need to. "So what are you meeting Ostin about?" Taylor inquired, adjusting her grip on the file folder she was clutching. He found it odd that she referred to him by his first name, as if they were close, but he decided to ignore it. "A job offer," Noah replied, glancing at his shoes. "I saw an advertisement in the paper for one," he explained. "I called the number and they told me I had to meet with the vice-president before I could interview." Taylor nodded thoughtfully, looking as if she was familiar with the information he had just told her. "It's a new security measure. I'm sure you're aware of the change in ownership ten years ago." A grimace crossed her expression, and Noah found himself curious. She looked as if she had been personally affected by the events. He almost felt the need to comfort her, which was odd. Noah nodded in response. "I figured. It's a smart idea, though." Taylor's expression softened as she let out a light laugh. "It's Ostin's idea, if you couldn't tell." Noah wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he nodded along, trying to look as if he knew exactly what she meant. He opened his mouth to ask her about her position at the company when the elevator's doors slid open, effectively cutting him off. Taylor shot him a smile over her shoulder as she exited the elevator, Noah following close behind. As they walked, she motioned to the large glass walls that ran the length of the floor. "This is the leader's office space," she explained, gesturing to the plaques lining the walls. A large group shot of fourteen young adults covered one of the walls, surrounded by a collage of smaller photos of various teens who looked like younger versions of the adults in the first picture. Taylor smiled, a look crossing her face that Noah couldn't quite read as she gazed at the picture. "That's the Electroclan," she explained. Noah scanned the faces in the photo, stopping on a girl that looked awfully similar to the one who stood next to him. He was about to point it out, when a door near them swung open, revealing the one person Noah had hoped to avoid. Noah knew for a fact that his face drained of color as Michael Vey stepped out of the office space, his dirty blonde hair slightly hanging over his eyes. He was wearing a button up shirt that was rolled up at the elbows, paired with a pair of khaki pants. Michael had his attention completely focused on a piece of paper he was holding, but he quickly noticed the presence of Noah and Taylor, glancing up in apparent surprise. Taylor's face lit up when she saw him, and Noah immediately felt a slight twinge of jealously, even though that was completely ridiculous. He barely knew her. Michael's gaze landed on Noah first, his calculating gaze flitting over Noah's features. Noah swallowed, trying not to show just how unnerved he was to be in the presence of the boy - now man - who had defeated Hatch with his superhuman powers. Yeah, the powers made him ten times more intimidating, Noah decided. Finally, Michael's face seemed to relax, settling on laid-back confidence. "You must be Noah Ingress. Ostin will be ready to meet you soon." His phone pinged, and Michael smiled at Noah in slight apology before glancing down. His eyes scanned the screen before a wide grin spread across his face. He turned to Taylor, gazing at her with a look so strong and full of emotion that Noah couldn't pick one to settle on. He slowly held out his arm at his side, and Noah watched in slowly-building shock as Taylor smirked back at Michael, stepping into his arm and fitting herself perfectly against his side. His arm wrapped around her waist. Noah glanced back and forth from Taylor to Michael, questions running across his mind at rapid speed. Michael smiled knowingly. "Noah, I'd like you to meet someone," he started, gesturing to Taylor was comfortably resting against his side. Noah glanced at him in confusion. "Taylor Vey, my wife and the co-president of the company." Suddenly things began to click in Noah's mind. The way Taylor referred to Ostin Liss, the way she smiled at the picture on the wall, why the girl in the picture looked so familiar. "Taylor...Ridley?" he asked slowly, and her smile answered his question. "You-you're one of the members of the Electroclan. You helped defeat Hatch." She nodded, glancing at Michael in excitement. Michael rolled his eyes at his wife, but the affection his face revealed just how much he loved her. "You need to stop reading people's minds without their permission, Taylor," he chided. Noah watched Taylor's cheeks tinge pink in a slight blush as she halfheartedly smacked Michael's arm. "I don't see how it is a problem, Michael. I have to get to know the new employee prospects somehow." Noah racked his brain for an explanation, and he suddenly remembered the presentation Hatch had made all of his guards sit through almost twelve years ago."This is the second member of the Electroclan," Dr. Hatch explained, pointing to a picture of a undeniably pretty teenage girl around Noah's age with coffee-brown hair and warm brown eyes. Although it was only a headshot, Noah could spot the straps of a cheerleading uniform on the girl's shoulder. The bow in her hair also added to the image. "Taylor Ridley. Fifteen years old. She can read minds, and can also cause aneurysms. Her twin sister is one of my Eagles, Tara. Taylor is loyal to Vey, so be sure to watch out for her. She's more dangerous than she looks." Noah gulped, trying to reason why Hatch would recruit a sixteen-year-old kid - himself - to join his guard to go up against of real-life superheroes. Noah snapped out of the memory as Taylor laughed, a pretty sound that Noah tried his best to not react to. She looked almost exactly as she had all those years ago on the presentation, and in the few glimpses he caught of her during the three-year war between the Electronclan and the Elgen. Suddenly, the door behind Noah swung open, and out stepped Ostin Liss. He smiled warmly at Michael and Taylor, pulling Taylor into a tight hug and patting Michael's back. "McKenna called me hyperventilating an hour ago and told me. Congrats, guys. I can't wait." Taylor laughed. "We wanted you to find out first, but you were in a meeting. So we decided telling your wife was the next best thing." Ostin grinned, finally turning towards Noah. "You must be Noah Ingress. Welcome to the family!" Noah glanced up in shock. "What?" Ostin smiled, handing Noah a file folder and a pen. "This was your interview. Anyone who can impress the owners this quickly is immediately hired. We're so glad to have your join our team as a financial advisor." Noah nodded, still in a state of shock as he began to fill in the information on the papers. He was just finishing writing his name when a pair of heels echoed from behind him, and he barely had time to react before a girl ran up to Taylor and wrapped her in a tight hug. She pulled back enough to pull Michael into an equally tight hug. Noah was able to get a better look at her, and placed her as McKenna Liss, one of the members of the Electroclan and Ostin's wife. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I got here as fast as I could. I wanted to get here sooner but I had a financial meeting someone," he shot Michael a look, and he shot her an equally sarcastic look back, "made me attend. But I'm here now. Can you see it yet. Oh my gosh, is it-" she was cut off by Ostin, who grabbed her hand and wrapped an arm around her. He brushed a strand of her dark hair from her face. "McKenna, babe, you need to calm down." he told her, obviously trying to hold back a laugh. She laughed, taking a deep breath. "I'm calm, I promise. But oh my goodness! Congrats, Tay. I'm so happy for you." By now, Noah was thoroughly confused, but kept out of the discussion. Taylor turned to him and smiled. "Sorry about that. McKenna gets a little excited. I found out I'm pregnant last night," she explained, her face glowing in happiness. Noah was surprised to feel happiness for her. He had thought he would have been jealous, but he knew deep down that Michael and Taylor were perfect for each other, even if he had just met them. It was rare to see love like theirs, especially from high school sweethearts, but he knew they had something special. And he wanted nothing more than to have something like that one day, when he knew that he could atone for his past mistakes and become a better person. Standing in that office, he felt peace for the first time in years.

**

Noah slowly opened the front door, closing it as silently as possible as he slipped off his coat and shoes, setting his briefcase down in the entryway. He made his way to the bedroom, passing one of the rooms where a soft light was drifting from the bottom of the door. He smiled, vowing to come back as he arrived at the end of the hall, gently pushing open the bedroom door. His heart sped up, a smile crossing his face as his gaze landed on her small form in the bed, her back propped up against the pillows as she scanned the book in front of her. He shut the door behind him, knowing she was too engrossed in the book to notice his arrival just yet. He slipped into the bathroom, changing into a worn t-shirt and gym shorts and brushing his teeth before walking back out into the large room. She finally glanced up, strands of her shoulder-length dark brown hair falling into her face, her dark blue eyes sparkling as she noticed him. Her grin had him crawling in beside her, pulling her down she rested comfortably against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. He leaned down, kissing her softly before brushing back a strand of her hair. "Hey, Lace," he whispered, enjoying the way her eyes lit up. "You're home," she replied, snuggling into his side. Noah breathed in her floral perfume, nuzzling her hair. "Another work party," he explained. "Cassy's having another boy." Lacy grinned. "Remind me to take her out to lunch tomorrow. She'll be lucky if I don't kill her for not telling me sooner." She huffed at his incredulous look. "I don't care if she has the ability to paralyze anyone within seconds. Nothing's worse than a woman scorned." Noah laughed, his heart full of overflowing with love for his wife. "You're her best friend, Lace. I'm sure she already told you and you just didn't hear with that book in your face." Lacy whined in protest, smacking Noah in the chest. "Shut up, Noah." He grinned, gently kissing her neck. She squirmed, her eyes dancing with laughter. "That tickles, stop it." He pulled her into his arms, holding her for a moment before pulling back. "How's Cody?" she smiled, glancing at the door to the hallway. "Fast asleep. Took me forever to put him down because he wanted to wait for you to get home. He misses you." Noah immediately jumped up, gripping Lacy's hand as he pulled her into the hallway. She laughed beautifully as they made their way to the door to Cody's room. Noah gently pushed open the door, revealing his sleeping son. Noah knelt down and kissed his son's head. "Love you, bud. I'll see you in the morning." As Noah closed the door behind him, he pulled Lacy back into another tight embrace. "How would you feel about adding to our family?" Lacy glanced at him with a look of pure joy. "I'd like nothing more." And as Noah held his wife, listening to the soft sounds of his son sleeping in the room next to him, he knew within his heart that he had done it. He had found the light at the end of the tunnel, the bright spot in his otherwise dark past. And although he would never truly forget what he had done, he knew that he could find a happy ending. And that's all that mattered.

That's all, folks! Once again, I would love to hear what you thought of this one! The support I've been getting is amazing so far, thank you for all of the reads! I'll see you on the next update. 

P.S. I don't have an update schedule because of school and work, I just upload when I find time to write. I'll try my best to update as regularly as possible :)