Chapter Text
Kenji came to get me this morning.
I know why he’s here—because she’s awake.
Kenji always looks like he always does: happy and smiling. As if he’s ready to crack a joke even when no one finds it funny. He’s wearing that same expression now as I gulp down the rest of my breakfast while Addie puts on his boots. Addie gives Kenji a strange look, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
“Good morning, boys,” Kenji almost sings, grinning from ear to ear. He turns to me. Then he pivots to face Adam. “And how are you doing this fine and gloomy day, Adam?”
I look to Addie, following Kenji’s gaze. Addie doesn’t look back right away, his lips curling before slowly turning as he takes in the rest of Kenji before exhaling. Hard. He looks tired—very tired—as if he ran a billion laps around the base of Sector 45. He even looks like he hasn’t had a wink of sleep, even though we—well, he—went to sleep for the rest of the night. I don’t like this. Don’t like seeing Addie so sad. It makes me feel sad, too. And I don’t want to feel that way, especially when I know there’s a string of good news waiting ahead.
Kenji briefly glances my way, gives me a quick wink, and then turns his attention back to Addie.
“What do you want, Kenji?” Addie says, still frowning.
Kenji leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms. “Can I borrow your little brother for the rest of the morning?”
Addie stands, shooting Kenji a look like he’d just asked for a million dollars.
“What for?” Addie asks, his back stiff. He looks tense, like he’s made out of sharp edges, and my hands curl, fingernails biting into my palms.
I don’t want Addie to know why Kenji wants me this morning. I know, deep down, it’s bad of me to think that—not keeping him in the loop—but I also know my big brother. I know this kind of thing would stress him out, even when there’s nothing to be stressed about. I don’t think he’d care that I was with this unfamiliar girl, but he’d still give that squinty-eyed look, like he’s trying to figure out if this is some big, super-evil plan Warner has up his sleeve. Like, somehow Warner is tricking all of us, and we’re just one step away from being pushed off a cliff or something.
Addie wouldn’t want me to be a part of that. He wouldn’t want me near any of this. He wouldn’t even want me in the same room as Warner if he could help it. And probably not Juliette’s either, now that I think about it. He’s been stressed about her, too.
“James?” Addie places a hand on my shoulder, rocking me back into the present. I whirl my head toward him, catching myself in the moment as a nervous smile tugs at my lips.
“Sorry, I—uh—got distracted,” I lie quickly. “What were you saying?”
“I asked what you and Kenji are getting up to this morning.”
I glance toward the door Kenji had been leaning on just seconds ago—but he’s gone. Completely gone. Not even a shadow left behind. I start to wonder how long I had been stuck in my own head. It’s just like in class when we learned about quicksand—how it can swallow you whole and leave no trace. How did I miss whole minutes without noticing? It’s like time just hit the fast-forward button, sped up, and forgot to tell me to hop on. Now I’m scrambling to fill in the blanks while lying to my only brother.
My stomach twists about it, because lying to Addie isn’t like lying to anyone else. With him, it’s as if he can tell even before the words leave my mouth that I’m fibbing straight through my teeth—like he’s got an internal radar that beeps whenever I try to hide something. Still, I try. I try not to be any more of a burden as I sit here, pretending everything is normal.
Addie keeps looking at me, waiting for me to speak in that big-brother way—like he's trying to see straight through my forehead and into my brain.
I shrug, trying to look natural. Like, this is no big deal.
“Kenji promised he’d help me learn more about my powers. So we’re trying this early morning training method, um—” I pause, scrambling for words I don’t have. “That… Castle taught him. So I can be strong. Like you. And the others.”
Addie’s eyebrows draw together—not all the way into a frown, but close enough that my stomach does a backflip into a volcano. I try to keep my face as straight as I can, but it feels like there’s a giant neon sign over my head flashing, Liar, liar, liar—
“Uh-huh,” he says very slowly, like he’s peeling back my words to see if there’s any truth hidden behind them.
I nod a little too fast—definitely not the natural reaction I was going for—but I can’t help it. My palms are starting to sweat, and suddenly I’m way too interested in the crumbs on my plate. I’m afraid that if I look at him, even for a second, he’ll catch on. That he’ll know I went and did something, then lied about it when I could have just told him.
I feel kind of stupid for hiding this in the first place. But I don’t want to ruin my chances of figuring out who that mysterious kid is.
I want to be a part of solving that mystery. Even if it’s nothing major, it still means something to me.
Addie shifts his weight, still watching me, reading the emotions springing up all around me. He studies me like he’s not sure whether to keep pressing on or let it go entirely.
“Early morning training methods, huh?” he says, his voice still slow—his words careful, cautious.
“Yup,” I say, nodding again. “Kenji said it’s supposed to, y’know, make me feel more comfortable projecting my powers more—since the girls aren’t… here.” The last bit hits me. Hard. I feel suddenly more sick than before.
The girls…
I hope they’re okay.
My last words seem to hit Addie, too. His eyes narrow for a little before his shoulders ease a bit. He looks remorseful as he pats a hand on my shoulder.
“And this is actually educational?"
I nod again.
"Something Castle taught him?"
I dip my head once more, lips pressing together. Heart racing.
Addie tilts his head, and his tone dips. "And this is not Kenji just goofing around as always?”
I meet his gaze for half a heartbeat before looking toward the door. “I promise it’s nothing stupid…”
Silence stretches between us, making the pause feel even longer than it should. This is the moment I’m sure Addie is going to call me out—but instead, he just lets out a tiny breath, like maybe he’s decided to believe my lie. That I’m telling the truth. Or maybe, just maybe, he’s tired of asking questions.
And then, Kenji pops his head back into the room. “Are you gonna hurry up, slowpoke?” he says, grinning like he’s been listening the whole time. Which… maybe he has, since he can turn invisible and all. “We don’t have all morning, kid.”
Addie shoots Kenji another annoyed look. “We’re talking.”
“Didn’t really seem like it from my stretch of the woods,” Kenji teases, still smirking.
Addie rolls his eyes, and then, sooner after, he turns to me. “Don't work yourself too hard, alright? I’ll find you later.”
I smile at him, trying to make it look even more casual, like nothing about this morning is causing my heart to beat halfway out of my chest. “Okay, Adam. See you later.”
Kenji is fully standing by the doorway for the last time, and then he makes a motion, jerks his head out the door for me to follow, “Come on, trainee. Let’s make you into a superhero.”
***
“Didn’t think you had it in you, James.”
I look up, meeting Kenji’s gaze as we walk ahead, not toward the room from the other night, but down a hallway I’ve never seen before. “What do you mean?”
Kenji shrugs. “The lying. You didn't tell him what we're doing.”
I frown at him as we reach the last stretch of the hallway. “So you were listening.”
Kenji chuckles softly, pushing open a door. Surprised it’s unlocked, he walks straight through into an empty, sterile-smelling corridor.
“Well, you were taking forever. And you seemed so… what was the word Juliette used last night?” He pauses, his thoughts trailing off before a glimmer shines in his eyes. “Ah, yes. 'Far off.'”
If it were even humanly possible, I frown harder, giving Kenji a sideways look. “I’m fine. I just—I don’t want to worry, Adam.”
Kenji lets out a slow breath, and before I realize it, we’re standing in front of a pair of fancy elevator doors.
“That’s actually pretty noble of you, kid,” he says. “But one way or another, he’s gonna find out what you were up to. So it’s better to come clean eventually.”
The doors ding open, sliding smoothly to the sides as we step inside. “Yeah,” I mumble, shoving my hands deep into the sides of my pockets. “You’re right. I guess.”
“You guess? ” he repeats, raising a dark brow. “Kid, if there's one thing you can always be sure about, it's me, I’m always right, got it?
I bite back a giggle and look up at him. “Sure, sure. Whatever you say.”
Kenji ruffles my hair, and I quickly swat my hand at him. “Smartass,” he laughs.
I smile and glance ahead, looking pointedly toward the door, waiting for it to slide open, to make that dinging noise. The little warning before the doors spread open.It’s a silly thing, being in here. The more my mind wonders about, the more I remember the being in an elevator really is a little strange. Weird, even. I haven’t actually been in really any elevators before, but even I can tell the ones in Sector 45 are super fancy. Everything on this base is fancy. They’re all polished and clean, and look really high-tech—or something like that.
I wonder if the new kid’s ever been in an elevator this fancy. Probably not. Most places around here don’t have anything this shiny—or this quiet and sleek-looking.
Unless, of course, the new kid is super fancy. Like elevator-fancy. Like Warner.
I pause as the elevator hums softly, a new question creeping up.
“Hey, Kenji… have you met the girl yet?”
Kenji looks at me and tilts his head. “No, not really. At least, not properly. When I found her, she was totally out of it—barely awake. Fell asleep as soon as we got back to base.”
I blink. Surprised.
“Juliette was with her the whole time last night,” Kenji says, looking up. “I only just heard from her now that she’s awake and well. She told me to get you as soon as I could.”
I swallow, a mix of curiosity and something else lingering on my tongue. This girl—there’s so much about her story I don’t know. And… I don’t even know why I care so much about her in the first place. But I just want to know if she’s alright, and if I can be the one to make her feel safe, since she seems so far from home.
That seems like the right thing to do, after all.
Finally, like on some cue, the elevator dings again and the doors slide open with a familiar, mechanical whoosh.
Kenji is the first to step out, glancing back at me with a comforting gleam in his inky eyes. “Alrighty, here we are.”
I follow him into another wide hallway, bright lights buzzing softly overhead. The walls feel smooth and cool under my fingertips as I trail behind my taller friend. Everything around me seems so much bigger than usual, like the space itself is stretching out to try and prepare me for what's to come.
We turn a corner, and almost immediately, we run right into Juliette and Warner.
They take a second, but Juliette is the first to look up and toward our way, her eyes darting to me, smiling instantly as she turns angles toward me. Warner, on the other hand, looks toward Kenji and me with a slow, sharp look crossing his features. He seems almost bored as he sizes both of us up.
I wave at him.
He doesn’t wave back.
“Morning, James,” Juliette smiles softly. “Did you sleep well?”
I nod, flash a smile back. “Yeah, but the girl—”
Juliette cuts me off, her voice calm. Firm. She sounds different from the first time I met her, but I like this collected version of her.
“She's all good, James,” she says to me, almost kneeling down to catch my eyes.
Behind her, Warner shifts his weight, silently watching the three of us. He says nothing, but I can sense something weighing on his mind. It seems like Juliette and him had been locked in one of those intense conversations—the kind only they share. Kenji notices it too.
“Hey,” Kenji says, his voice cutting through the air. “I dunno if it’s just me, but I’m catching a vibe right now.”
Juliette straightens fully back to her usual height, sending Kenji a strange look. “What do you mean?”
Kenji pulls a face, like he’s trying to read the atmosphere but can’t quite figure it out. Then, in the same second, he makes a vague gesture toward her and Warner, like the answer’s tangled up in the way they’re standing—stiff and tense, like something’s about to snap between them. Feels a little awkward, now that I’m really noticing.
Juliette goes ridged at this, but Kenji presses on.
“This,” he says, circling the air with his finger, “is what I mean. Did you two lovebirds get in a fight or something?”
Warner presses his lips together, like he just ate something expired. “How is it that every time you speak, Kishimoto, an angel loses its wings?”
“Oh, so poetic. How absolutely lovely,” Kenji shoots back, clearly loving getting under Warner’s skin.
Warner ignores Kenji’s comeback and looks down the hallway. “For your information, we didn’t get into a fight. Get your mind out of the gutter. I thought you didn’t like to indulge other people’s matters.”
“For your information, asshole, I don’t. But it’s hard when you guys get all up in my face. It’s not an easy thing to ignore—”
“Stop it,” Juliette cuts in, crossing her arms. “Let's not fight in front of James.”
I press my brows together. A little lost. “So you guys did get into a fight?”
Juliette whirls her head toward me, her face a little distraught. “James, Warner and I did not get into a fight. Kenji’s just being dramatic—”
Kenji’s eyes widen, and in a quick motion, he rests a hand on his chest and takes a step back. “Me? Dramatic?” he scoffs, looking away. “Never! How dare you, princess. I thought we were friends.”
Juliette exhales sharply, like she’s trying to physically blow Kenji out of her space. Warner looks like he wants to throw Kenji out a nearby window.
I’m just confused.
I crank my head to the side, trying to get a better glimpse of the end of the hallway. From the corner of my eye, I catch a door with a sliver of light peeking out.
Is she in there?
“You’re impossible,” I hear Juliette mutter.
Kenji almost bows. “Thanks, I try.”
I can feel Warner tilt his head at this. Can see his expression cut from the coldest ice. “You don’t have to try. Mediocrity comes naturally to you.”
I look at the three of them from the corner of my eye, and I’m starting to feel impainted. I feel like I could bounce off the walls and crawl all the way up to the ceiling if they don’t wrap this up.
I wanna see her.
Then, at Warner's words, Kenji gasps. The action is loud and incredibly exaggerated, like Warner had slapped him across the face. “Wow. Okay. Hurtful. Juliette, do you see the way you’re boyfriend is treating me?”
“Can both of you quit it?” Juliette’s voice is frayed now. It sounds like a broken mix between wanting to scream and wanting to laugh.
Kenji’s eyes scan the two of them, ignoring me completely, and then, something snaps into place behind his eyes. Realization runs through him, and he claps his hands for dramatic effect, for whatever conclusion has just hit him.
“Oh, I get it now,” he says to them. “You’re not mad at each other—you’re tense because you’re hiding something. And you’re not telling me this… why ?”
Warner's jaw tightens, and suddenly he looks at me. “You should go on ahead, James. You’re practically vibrating with impatience.”
“I’m not vibrating,” I mumble.
Kenji snorts. “See that, James, the art of classic denial. Deflection at its finest.”
Juliette closes her eyes for a moment, like she’s counting to ten in her head. “Kenji.”
Kenji shares an innocent look with Juliette. “Yes, J?”
“Shut. Up.”
Warner smiles at this.
Then, Juliette turns to me, her expression softening. “Warner is right. You can go ahead, James. The three of us need a minute before we— uh —join you.”
I hesitate for half a second, glancing between the three of them. Juliette is still smiling like everything’s fine, Warner’s expression is as blank as ever, and Kenji just gives a goofy smirk.
I want to stay and listen. I want to know what’s really going on. But I close my eyes, inhale deeply, and nod.
“Okay,” I say, then turn the corner and head toward the end of the hall.
I hear harsh whispers behind me, their voices blending together as I spot the door ahead. My eyes lock on it, and I walk across the space like I’m balancing on a tightrope.
A couple of steps later, I’m face to face with the door, my fingertips brushing its interesting frame. I take a breath, stealing as much air as I can, and push the door open with a dramatic swing that would bring Kenji to tears… if he weren’t too busy bickering with Juliette and Warner.
I shake off those thoughts, and the door finally opens wide, catching to the side of the room, and—
There she is.
The unfamiliar girl from last night is all the way across the room—and from what I can piece together in the quick second I’ve been here, it’s a guest room. At least, I think it’s a guest room. It could also be Juliette’s room, now that I’m really thinking about it.
But I push those thoughts aside as well as the picture in front of me comes into focus. The soft gray walls and the pulled-back curtains catch my attention. Light spills in from all around. Gloomy sunlight floods the room and paints the floor in a bright rectangle.
The girl’s back is to me as she stares out the window, her hair catching the light, too. It digs into everything, making me feel weirdly dizzy as her white-blonde hair becomes almost too glaring. It’s funny the way it all surfaces—how strands of light hair brush past the ends of her shoulders.
She kind of doesn’t look real.
She really looks like a doll from where I’m standing. And that’s… funny, in a way.
I feel a little surprised the more I look at her, at the way she’s turned back around. She looks lost in thought. Like she’s dreaming while awake, dancing across her mind for whatever answers she’s probably trying to find. Anyone would, in her situation. Waking up in unfamiliar places doesn’t seem very fun.
I blink and notice her dress. It’s classy. A little flashy, even. The black fabric washes over her in long waves. The dress reaches the bottom of her ankles, and I realize she’s barefoot.
And then it hits me: these clothes are hers. And her shoes are gone.
Then I realize again—that was obvious. I already knew this. But my head is spinning, and I really want to sit down because throwing up wouldn’t make a good first impression.
And then it happens. That thing Kenji always talks about. The “Movie Moment.”
I’ve never actually seen a movie before, but Kenji seemed confident enough to explain it to me. And I think I’m finally starting to understand—because, almost like it’s all happening in slow motion, the girl sneezes. Startled, I move, and my sneakers squeak. One sound after another shatters the quiet moment.
It rips it into tiny pieces as the girl turns to me, whipping her head back to see where the sound came from. And in her eyes, just for a second, I see a flicker.
A flicker.
It passes through her eyes for a split second, but it’s enough for me to realize she wasn’t expecting to see anyone here. Specifically, she wasn’t expecting to see another kid here.
Someone like her.
She doesn’t say it, but I can see it.
Her little expression is guarded, her gaze fixed on mine.
I swallow hard, give a slight smile, and then, like it’s out of my control, my hand lifts up before I can stop it.
“Hi," I say, a little nervously.
My voice comes out quiet. Small. I almost panic, thinking she didn’t hear me, but the look on her face says otherwise.
Her eyes dart around before landing back on me, and pow, it hits like a tank. Her voice is soft. Careful, almost.
“Hi.”