Chapter Text
Chapter One: The Girl with the Light in Her Hands
The night sky above Chicago was burning. Flames, smoke, and the shrieks of chaos painted the city in shades of orange and fear. Sirens wailed beneath the roar of collapsing buildings. And through that noise — cutting like a soft chord through metal and ruin — came the sound of a single voice calling his name.
“Mark!”
He turned, bruised and bleeding, his visor cracked and his chest heaving under the yellow of his suit. He looked barely able to stand, blood trailing down the corner of his mouth. But when he saw her — glowing like a fragment of dawn among the ruin — his shoulders dropped in something between relief and awe.
“Chloe…” he breathed.
She landed beside him, her boots touching cracked asphalt that shimmered faintly beneath her. Golden light pulsed from her palms, soft but commanding, pushing back the smoke like it feared her. Her dark hair whipped against her face, her eyes — deep brown, molten and fierce — scanned him quickly, assessing damage faster than he could explain it.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Mark said, even as she pressed a hand against his chest.
“You’d be dead if I wasn’t,” she replied flatly, and the light from her hand seeped into him — warmth that stung, then soothed. Broken ribs knitting. Torn skin sealing.
Mark grunted but didn’t pull away. He never did.
The world slowed when Chloe healed. Every scream, every crash faded to a hush, as if her light wrapped reality itself in calm. And while she worked, she didn’t look at the wounds — she looked at his face. At the cut along his jaw. At the exhaustion in his eyes. At the boy she loved, though she never said it aloud.
She couldn’t.
Not when he was still with Amber.
“Better?” she asked softly as the light dimmed, pulling her hand away reluctantly.
Mark flexed his fingers, the ache gone. “Yeah. You’re… incredible, Chloe. I mean it.”
She smiled — that small, careful one she always gave him when his compliments were both everything and nothing. “Don’t I always tell you that’s what friends are for?”
He smiled back, and the word friends hung heavy in her chest.
They both turned as Rex Splode called from above, his usual voice cutting through the moment: “Hey lovebirds! Less gazing, more saving!”
Mark rolled his eyes. “He’s never gonna stop saying stuff like that, is he?”
Chloe laughed. “Not until he realizes you’re already taken.”
And there it was — that quiet, invisible sting in her words.
She said it casually, but her heart didn’t.
Mark gave a short chuckle, then looked away toward the next explosion in the distance. “Come on. We’ve still got people to save.”
She followed him, light flaring from her hands as she lifted into the sky beside him. Her glow mingled with his flight trail — gold and blue streaking across a wounded city.
From below, they looked like they belonged together.
From inside, she knew better.
Later that Night
The battle ended hours later. The city smoldered in recovery mode — debris, medics, half-standing towers. Chloe was sitting on the hood of a wrecked car, legs crossed, watching the sunrise. She’d already healed a dozen people, worked with Eve to clear rubble, and somehow still looked composed — her dark hair glinting with flecks of gold light that lingered whenever she used too much energy.
Mark landed beside her, slow and tired. His uniform was scorched but intact. “You didn’t go home?”
She shrugged. “Didn’t feel right leaving yet. There’s still people out here.”
He nodded. For a while, they sat in silence, the air thick with smoke and quiet gratitude.
Then he said, “You ever think about… just not doing this anymore?”
Chloe blinked at him. “Being heroes?”
“Yeah. Just… living normal lives. Classes, movies, dumb stuff.”
She smiled wistfully. “All the time. But I don’t think that’s who we are anymore, Mark.”
He sighed, elbows on his knees. “Amber thinks I’m obsessed with this. That I can’t balance it.”
“You are obsessed,” she teased lightly, then softened. “But she doesn’t get it. None of them really do.”
Mark looked at her — that deep, steady look that always made her forget the world. “You get it though. You always do.”
She tried to joke, her voice trembling slightly. “Someone’s gotta keep you alive.”
He grinned, then, as if remembering something, pulled out his phone. The lock screen flashed briefly — a photo of him and Amber at the pier, her arms wrapped around him, smiling. Chloe saw it for half a second before she turned away, hiding the shift in her chest.
He didn’t notice. “She’s waiting for me. I should… probably head out.”
“Of course.”
She stood up, brushing off dust, masking her expression behind an easy smile. “Go. She’s probably worried.”
He hesitated. For a second, she thought maybe he’d say something — something real. But then he just nodded and took off, the air cracking with the force of his flight.
The moment he vanished, Chloe let the glow fade from her hands. The warmth left her fingers. And for a long while, she just stood there — surrounded by broken buildings, healing others but unable to heal herself.
Two Days Later – Reginald High
“Chloe! Wait up!”
She turned to see Eve rushing through the hallway, pink hair bouncing, a grin stretched across her face. “You are impossible to find,” Eve said, catching her breath. “Do you teleport now too?”
Chloe laughed, shaking her head. “Just walking fast. What’s up?”
“Party tonight,” Eve said. “At Rick’s place. The whole team’s going. Even Rex promised not to blow anything up.”
Chloe smiled. “You’re assuming I go to parties.”
“Oh, please. You’re like everyone’s favorite person. If you don’t go, it’s not a party.”
That made Chloe laugh again, though her heart wasn’t quite in it. “Alright, fine. I’ll go.”
“Good.” Eve’s smile softened. “You doing okay, by the way? You’ve been kinda quiet since the Kaizen fight.”
“I’m fine,” Chloe lied smoothly, adjusting her bag. “Just tired.”
Eve eyed her knowingly. “You sure it doesn’t have to do with—”
“Don’t.” Chloe’s tone was gentle, but final. “I’m happy for him.”
Eve sighed. “You’re a better person than I’d be.”
Chloe just smiled faintly and walked on, her dark hair shimmering faintly under the fluorescent lights.
She was happy for him. At least, she told herself that. Because real love — the kind that glows like sunlight on broken glass — doesn’t demand. It just waits, quietly, at the edge of someone else’s happiness.
That Night
The party was loud. Music thumping, laughter spilling from every corner. Chloe stood near the window, drink in hand, dressed simply — white top, black jeans, no makeup except the soft shimmer of her eyes. Everyone greeted her; she was the kind of girl people gravitated toward effortlessly.
And then he walked in — Mark, with Amber on his arm.
Chloe’s chest tightened, but she smiled anyway. She watched as they mingled, laughing. Amber kissed his cheek; he blushed. The sight burned quietly — not with envy, but with the ache of someone who knows they could love better, if only they were chosen.
Eve came to stand beside her, murmuring, “He’s here.”
“I know.”
“You could tell him, you know.”
Chloe took a long sip from her cup, the music muffled around her. “And ruin what we have? No. I’d rather be the light that keeps him alive than the shadow that confuses him.”
Eve frowned. “You’re too good.”
Chloe smiled faintly. “Or just too late.”
Across the room, Mark caught her eye and smiled that same, effortless smile that made her forget everything. She smiled back, warm, steady, even though inside her heart whispered the same truth it always did —
He’ll never see me the way I see him.
And that was okay.
Because she would still be there, every battle, every storm, every time he fell — the girl with the light in her hands, healing everyone but herself.