Freya's POV:

"So Courtney, Cameron tells me that you're quite the gymnast." Jordan spoke up after a couple of minutes of silence since we were eating.

"Uh..." Courtney nervously trailed since all eyes were on her now. "I was."

"In Valley Village, she was the best on the team." Her mom added with a smile.

"Oh, wow. Really?" Jordan asked Courtney and she nods. "I've always admired athletes."

"I hear you're quite the artist, Cameron." Her mom mentioned which caused him to look up. "What kind?"

"Uh...paints mostly."

"Like his mother." His grandma rasped, muttering something in Norwegian under her breath and his grandfather placed a hand on her back.

"So how about you, Pat?" Jordan questioned which caused me to narrow my eyes in suspicion. "I hear you run the old garage off Main Street." What is he doing?

"Yeah, I mostly focus on classic cars, but, uh, you know, in a small town like this, I take whatever work comes my way." He explained with a chuckle.

"I guess you could do your work anywhere, right? So, why move to Blue Valley, if you don't mind me asking?"

In all honesty, I was curious as well.

"No. Uh, well..." He trailed as he tried to think. "The pace, the people, and, uh, Barbara of course grew up here." He pointed to Ms. Whitmore as she took a sip of her wine.

"Growing up in the cornfields and going to the theater, and living the perfect American life." He emphasized, subtly locking eyes with me but I look down to pick at my salad.

"It was not perfect, trust me. Not back then." She chuckled but Courtney cleared her throat.

"Uh, Blue Valley's not perfect now, Mom." She emphasized.

"Oh, it's getting there." Jordan assured which causes me to roll my eyes in annoyance. Make it more obvious, why don't you?

"Yeah, Blue Valley's going to be an example of a better America built on the most important building block of all..." Ms. Whitmore trailed with a smile. "families."

"If only everyone felt the same way as us, huh?" Jordan chuckled as he rose his glass and Ms. Whitmore did the same.

Mike elbows my side which causes me to look at him. "Is it me, or is he subtly trying to flirt with Barbara?" He whispered to me but I simply shrug. "Creep."

"Well, if it's okay, I'm gonna have some more. This is delicious." Jordan said and starts to reach for the spoon but Mike already had beaten him to it, serving the last bits of the chicken dumpling on his plate.

"Hey, Dad. Chicken dumplings are gone." Mike coughed as he put the spoon back in the tray.

"I see that." Pat muttered, giving Mike a stern expression but he innocently shrugged. "Sorry, Jordan, let me grab you some more."

"No, I-I've got it." Courtney stood up from her spot and grabbed the tray. "Excuse me."

As she walked back to the kitchen, Jordan snapped his fingers at Pat. "You're gonna have to give me that recipe though. That is good."

"You're too kind." Pat waved his hand dismissively.

"So, Freya," I look up from my plate to see that Jordan had his eyes on me. "What do you do for school? Any sports? Clubs?"

"That's my sister's thing," I shrug. "but besides exercising at my dad's gym after school, there's nothing interesting."

"What a shame. Well, at least you have something in common with him." He casually says but I internally roll my eyes. "And Artemis as well. I heard we won the homecoming game because of her."

I nod. "She did. My mom thinks it was one of her best games and my dad won't stop bragging about it with the people at his gym."

"It's nice to see that they're showing their support for her." He complimented and was about to make another comment until Courtney came in with the tray of chicken dumplings, using the oven mitts to hold it underneath."Ah—fantastic, thank you. Uh, let me move these for you." He says as he moves the spices to a different spot so she could place it down. "Thank you, Courtney."

"Oh! Hey!" Mike chuckled which caused me to look away, seeing that their English bulldog Buddy was trying to eat off of Mike's plate. "Buddy boy!"

"Mike, don't feed him at the table." Pat scolded as Mike continued to scratch the top of his head, letting the dog eat off of his plate.

"Mike, get him down." Barbara added after but I couldn't help but smile at the dog. "Down, Buddy!"

"He's gotta eat." He tried to argue but Pat gave him a stern look.

"Mike, not at the table." He continued to scold. "Get down, Buddy. Come on, let's go." He firmly told the dog who finally got off of Mike's lap.

"He's a handful, huh?" Jordan spoke up as he served himself the chicken dumplings.

Pat chuckled. "Yeah." He pets the dog one last time. "I love you too, Buddy."

I look to Courtney and see the subtle panicked expression on her face which causes me to furrow my brows in confusion.

"Freya, can you help me get something in the oven?" Courtney spoke up which caused everyone's eyes to look at her. "I-It's gonna burn."

"Oh—Uh, sure." I say and push the chair back to get up from my spot. "Excuse me."

We both walk back to the kitchen and she opens the oven once more, gesturing for me to crouch down.

"What's up?" I whisper, acting as if we were checking inside the oven.

"I think Jordan is Icicle."

My eyes widen. This is bad. "What? There's no way--"

"Freya, I'm positive he is. The plate was scalding hot, and he touched it, and he was fine." She stammered.

"So...he touched a hot plate?" I question and she nods. "I mean, maybe it wasn't as hot as you thought?"

She holds up her fingers, revealing that some were red compared to the others. "I burned myself from trying to grab it without the mitts!" She angrily whispered. "Trust me, it has to be him."

"Guys," We look up to see Pat approach us with a look of confusion. "I came to check in to see if you needed help."

Courtney nods. "Yeah. Freya can't reach it." She chuckled and grabbed his arm to yank him down to our level.

"There's...nothing there?" He whispered.

"Courtney thinks Jordan is Icicle." I explain and his eyes widen. "He touched a hot plate without using the mitts so she thinks it's him."

He closes the oven shut and glances between Courtney and I. "Jordan Mahkent? Are you sure?"

She hesitantly looks behind us before she looked at Pat. "If Jordan is one of them, does that mean Cameron is, too? Like Cindy?"

"I mean, not every kid's parents that are in the ISA can be considered truly evil, right?" I nervously ask.

Pat narrows his eyes before we all turn to look at Jordan, seeing the smile on his face as he continued to conversate with the people at the table.

"I don't know."

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。. *✭˚·ﾟ✧*·ﾟ*✭˚·ﾟ✧*·

Yolanda🙂🖤

Courtney told me about how I need to do better about texting to make sure people are okay so...are you good?
{9:23 p.m}

wait that was a stupid question. you're probably still mad.
{9:23 p.m}

to be fair, I wasn't totally on board with henry so I completely understand why you're mad.
{9:23 p.m}

what he did was really really unforgivable but I was just there to make sure Henry didn't do anything. honestly, I don't know how I feel about the whole thing of him joining us.
{9:24 p.m}

'Take it from me, I don't deserve to be in the JSA because im in the ISA'

My thumb hovers over the send button but I let out a scoff. Idiot. Why would I send that? She'll completely hate my guts if I told her. I can't tell her.

UNSENT!

im sorry for making it seem like I'm siding with Courtney and completely disregarded your feelings. I never would do that to you. I never would want to take advantage of your trust...LOL
{9:25 p.m.}

Courtney said once that I needed to sound nicer in my texts. LOL had to mean lots of love, right?

"Hey," I look up to see Cameron with a look of concern. "You okay?"

I shut off my phone. "Yeah, I'm good." I assure but he raises a brow. "It's not a big deal."

"Okay..." He trails off in suspicion before his eyes widen in realization. "Hey, did you end up going to the dance?"

I shake my head. "I couldn't. It would've felt weird if I went while Courtney was in the hospital." I explained and he nods. "I'm sorry that you didn't get to go with her after all."

"It's okay." We both look to Courtney and see she was bidding her goodbyes to his grandparents. "I'm just glad she's okay." He smiled.

"Hey, can I have a word with Freya?" His dad politely cut in. "I've been wanting to try out her father's exercise diet so I want to hear her perspective on it."

"Oh, sure." Cameron answered before he waved to me. "It was nice catching up, Freya. Don't give up on Yolanda just yet." Shit.

I fake a laugh, seeing the curious look on Jordan's face once he mentioned the name. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." Cameron chuckled before he walked over to Courtney.

"What a coincidence that we ended up in the same household." Jordan sarcastically remarked and I turn with my arms crossed. "It's obvious you've been focused on the mission."

"I would suspect that you're following me but it seems like you've had other motives." I hint, nodding my head towards Ms. Whitmore collecting the dishes from the table. "Coming over to someone's house because, what, you have some depressing crush over a married woman? Shouldn't you be making sure you-know-who wakes up on time instead of putting all of our trust into his son, who isn't even experienced with his powers yet, in the machine? Don't even get me started with Dr. Ito easily waltzing his way into the ISA."

He raised a brow. "He's proven his use to the team by giving out information about Henry's powers finally coming out. A job that was supposed to be yours." He emphasized. "Given that you didn't tell me any names of the JSA, I don't see any use of you anymore."

He starts to walk off but I grab his arm. "Wait."

He turns around with a look of annoyance. "What?"

"She knows you're Icicle." I softly spoke, making sure Courtney or Pat weren't around. "She thinks if we recruit Henry first, they can get the rest of the identities of the ISA with his abilities."

His phone buzzes in his pockets and he glances down at the text message with a huff. "Dr. Ito's henchman failed to terminate Brainwave's life support so you're coming with me to get him ourselves." He whispered and I reluctantly nod.

I walk over to Courtney with a fake smile. "I should get going, Court. My parents want me back home since it's late."

"They're not picking you up?" She furrowed her brows in confusion.

I shrug. "I don't mind the--"

"Why don't we take you home instead?" We turn around to Cameron's voice and see his sympathetic expression. "I doubt they would want you to walk alone."

"Uh..." Courtney hesitantly trailed off. "I'm sure Pat can--"

"Oh, please." Jordan' interrupted with a smile. "You guys made us dinner. We can at least take her home for you."

"Thanks." I say before I send a reassuring look to Courtney. "I'll text you later."

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。. *✭˚·ﾟ✧*·ﾟ*✭˚·ﾟ✧*·

I didn't get to text her that I made it home. Jordan didn't even take me home.

He dropped his son and his parents home first because apparently, their house was closer and that it would make sense to drop me off last.

It didn't make sense, but I had to agree with it because the text that Jordan received at Courtney's house, was about Brainwave.

He woke up.

I'm terrified of two things. One: he knew Courtney's identity. Two: I practically betrayed the ISA by preventing him from killing her.

Jordan looks around, making sure that none of the nurses or doctors were nearby, and pushed the door open.

I shut the door behind us and turn, seeing Brainwave was beginning to stir in his sleep.

"Henry." Jordan spoke up, causing the man on the bed to blink a couple of times. "It's good to see you, old friend."

"How much did I miss?" He worriedly asked, glancing between Jordan and I.

I internally sighed in relief. He doesn't remember.

I unzip my backpack and pull out his regular clothes, placing them on top of his lap. "A lot."

As Henry got dressed (I turned away, of course), Jordan went on to explain from the beginning, including some parts from the past he seemed to have forgotten. Moments of when Stargirl first came to town, how she recruited some of the others, how I managed to gain their trust and act as if I was on their side until we finally reached the current situation.

"It's taken the better part of a decade, but Project: New America is finally on the precipice of becoming a reality." Jordan said, a smile forming on his face.

"According to Dr. Ito, his machine is almost complete so all we need is you. With your power--"

"We can take control of every poisoned mind in six states." Jordan interrupted my explanation. "We'll carve out the heart of America, and we'll control it. Can you imagine, Henry?" He took a step closer to him as Henry dusted off his blazer. "Reshaping that many thoughts? Helping them to see the light. Our light. Our way."

The pit of my stomach uneasily stirred. "It's not going to hurt them, right?" I questioned.

Jordan doesn't bother to glance my way but Henry cleared his throat. "What about this 'Stargirl'? The one that put me here? Who is she?"

Before he could answer, a blast of energy shoots Jordan in the chest which causes him to crash against the wall.

My eyes widened, seeing as the Cosmic Staff protectively hovered in front of me with the sharp end aimed towards them.

No, no, no, no. Why is it here?

Henry stares intently at the staff, creating a shield around the staff so it wouldn't move around and from behind, I could see Jordan smirk as he pushed himself up from the ground.

It tries to blast more of its energy, letting out a pained warble at the action which causes me to glare. "Stop, you're hurting it!" I scold.

"Maybe Steven is right." Jordan simply placed his hand on my shoulder and instantly pricks of ice sank into my skin which causes me to let out a cry of pain, causing my knees to buckle to the ground. "You have gone soft."

"I haven't." I grit through my teeth, feeling the ice that covered my shoulder practically burn through my skin due to the cold.

Jordan steps in front of the staff and places his hands on top, instantly encasing the staff into ice which causes him to let out a chuckle as he examined the staff.

"You're not much without your master, are you?" He scoffed.

"Was that even necessary? Now it might think that I'm betraying the JSA." I argue, feeling the pain shrink as I scratched off the ice from my shoulder.

"Is that Starman's staff?" Henry asked with a bit of shock in his expression.

"Come with me, Henry. All your questions will be answered." Jordan spoke up, turning away from the staff.

"Lead the way." He gestured to the door, causing Jordan to smirk in satisfaction.

I shake my head with disbelief and pull open the door for them to walk out first so I could close the door behind them.

"Dr. Ito will help you remember." Jordan spoke up as we walked out of the room, but suddenly Henry stops in his spot and looks around the halls. "What's wrong?"

From behind the front desk, I could see a sliver of the letterman jacket peeking from behind, and instantly I knew who it was.

He simply shakes his head. "Nothing."

As they continued to walk, I looked back towards the front desk. "Henry, he'll kill you." I sternly order in my thoughts. "Get out of here." I say before I quickly follow after them.

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。. *✭˚·ﾟ✧*·ﾟ*✭˚·ﾟ✧*·