My plan was slowly chomping at the bits.

We were already taking professional pictures after the ceremony and I hadn't seen Dastan, Nik, Mickie or even Hayden. How was I supposed to narrow down the Proliator's identity when none of them were here? Unless, they were all at the reception hall. There, I couldn't see them.

"So where's Hayden?" Kenneth whispered to me as we took pictures as a couple only for the bridal/groomsmen party. I smiled and waited for the flash of the camera.

"I don't know. You tell me," I replied in a slight grumble. My eyes flashed over to Sebastian, who was watching me now. "Or you."

Sebastian shrugged. I posed for the last picture and then stayed there while the adults walked away. Now, it was just me, Sebastian, Kenneth, Kylie, and Jem. Sebastian looked to Jem.

"Come on, Jem..." Kylie said, ushering him away because she knew there was to be something serious between me and the boys.

"So I've waited long enough. Now it's time for y'all to explain," I said up to the boys with my arms crossed.

"Why didn't you tell me about you and Proliator?" Kenneth asked me. "Does Hayden know--?"

"No one knows. I barely know!" I hissed. He's a superhero. Why were they so surprised that I didn't tell them? "And just leave Hayden out of it..."

"Well if he's your boyfriend then—"

"Okay. I don't really care about her and Hayden, alright? That's not what this is about," Sebastian hissed to Kenneth. He looked to me. "What's important is that the Proliator puts you in danger every time he's near you and he's careless about it"

"You mean he's saving me from danger," I restated.

"No. I don't," Sebastian said. "Do you know how many times I've caught him sneaking out of our house? Or how many times I catch him watching you from the fire escape or across the street? It's not many, but it's enough to figure it out, Angela...He's just trying to play you."

I scoffed a laugh.

"Why would he try to play me?" I asked. Regardless of him knowing I had a boyfriend and aside from one impromptu date, Proliator hadn't made enough "moves" to "play" me. I wasn't going to lie and say I reacted to the affections of the boys around me and their intentions to date me, but come on. If he had any pure intentions, whether to genuinely be with me or play me, he wasn't doing a very good job. Not to mention, he didn't have a motive. Why would he have any malice towards me, especially after telling me about his life? 

Maybe because you're the exception to his powers, was a reason that immediately rang out to me.

"Because he's setting us up!" he yelled, gesturing lightly between him and Kenneth. Now, his eyes were transparent with fury.

"Why would he do that?" I asked.

"Because he knows us! He knows that even though I can barely recall a memory four years ago, Kenneth can," he started. I still didn't follow. "So just to assure that we keep it a secret, he's getting to you. That way, he can get 'accidentally' caught which makes you a target, you can get hurt, and he wouldn't have to do anything about it but deny his identity, his relationship with you, and move cities. If he does get you in his stupid little game, he can complicate your life if we even mention that we've seen him before."

I shook my head and started backing up.

"You don't even know him," I muttered. "He wouldn't do that to me...He hasn't said anything about that—"

"Why would he? It's part of his plan," Sebastian insisted. "He wouldn't say it to you. He probably didn't even tell you that he knows us—"

"Yes he did," I defended. "He's told me everything from his life before all of this to his family to Frankford to everything. You don't know him, Sebastian, so stop trying to think that you're saving me from some villainous guy."

"Angie, he's making a good point here," Kenneth defended his best friend. I looked at him with disbelief.

"Why the hell would a superhero want to purposely jeopardize someone's life for no reason? Because, no offense, but if he wanted to take both of you out to where you can't do or say anything about him, he would've done it by now," I responded. "And plus, from your so-called story, he didn't do anything to y'all to make it seem like he cared that y'all knew about him let alone anything that would suggest he doesn't have a reason to trust y'all won't snitch—"

"He knocked me out and made me not remember his face," Kenneth scoffed. 

I rolled my eyes despite that being a valid concern.

"You don't know my side of it," Sebastian said calmly. I looked over to him, waiting for him to plead his case only once more before I completely walked off. "I was with his friend that entire time. All he cared about was getting home and as soon as we found that fire, their other friend threw me against the wall and made me swear not to tell anyone about seeing them there. That's motive enough before factoring in arson and being the cause to all those injuries the fire created. Then those two guys started fighting before running off the first chance they got. The one who I think is the Proliator came and put out the majority of the fire before framing me a hero, sure, but he's not exactly innocent. He's guilty by association and that's enough to want to cover it up."

"Just because one of them was so concerned with his secret and they both ran to protect themselves, doesn't mean that the Proliator will resort to this screwed up retaliation plan of yours to protect them," I defended, feeling my voice shake. They sounded paranoid and anxious and I knew that look on Sebastian's face. His mind wasn't changing. So I started walking away from them and just prepared for the reception. I'd get to the bottom of this myself. 

***

I sat at the dining table, propping my head on my hand. I was bored out of my mind. I couldn't be all cute and romantic with Hayden because he wasn't here. I couldn't get bitched at by Nik for it because he wasn't here. I couldn't listen to Cheyenne's meaningless rants because she was busy meeting all these different people with the aid of Kylie. I couldn't joke around with Mickie about the poorly dressed people here (based solely on her opinions) because she wasn't here. I couldn't attempt at having fun or resolving anything with Dastan because he wasn't here...and I didn't really want to think about my feelings for him—evident or not. I could resort to two things right now, but only one unfortunate option was actually feasible. The first thought was to continue arguing with Sebastian and Kenneth, but I hadn't even seen them enter the reception hall for any significant amount of time. So I was onto my last resort: listen to Jem rant about the time he spent at Dastan's house. 

He was so excited about how "he had this many cars" or "his house is huge." His adjectives and general animation grew and grew the more time he got to boast. He always over exaggerated so it was entertaining if I ever cared to listen, but this was different. I couldn't even cling to his non-stop descriptions because even he--an energetic-beyond-measure eleven-year-old--was busy trying to have fun because his girlfriend was here to tend to his boredom by dancing with him.

Lucky him.

"Angela," Cheyenne said, touching my shoulder. I looked up to her with absolute boredom. I didn't even need to ask her "What?" because I knew it would come out ruder than intended. "Why are you sitting here like a loner?" she giggled.

"Gee, maybe because—"

"Hayden's just got here," she informed. I immediately perked up and smiled.

"Where is he?" I asked.

"By the front door," she answered with a light point. "But Angela, you have to know that—"

"I don't care. Thanks. Bye," I rushed an interruption and then fled to the front doors. I paused when I was in the corridor between the actual hall and lobby area because I saw Nik and Hayden still talking like they were last night—full of tension.

"When?" Hayden asked as part of their previous conversation.

"Tonight," Nik whispered with a nod and then he suddenly glanced over to me. Hayden followed his gaze and did a double-take before smiling. He took a step toward me and then looked back to Nik.

"Well then I guess it's already done," he sighed, but that was the end of his uneasiness because he strode over to me, kissed my cheek, and grabbed my hand. "I'm sorry I'm so late. I had to deal with something first...and you know New York traffic on the weekends."

 "And what kept you so long?" I asked in a sort of flirtatious tone, throwing my arms around his neck. I asked him because I really wanted to know why he made me attend this wedding alone, but also because he was part of my plan to catch the Proliator. His hands automatically went to my waist now.

"There was an accident on the highway and the bridge and then my bike broke down," he said with humor playing in the corner of his lips. It seemed legitimate and believable...but way too convenient. He ducked his head down to kiss me and I waited for the same insistence of feelings for him to resurface. We lingered there for a moment before he parted from me and the feelings had stalled to what they were yesterday; no more, no less. "I am sorry, though."

"You're forgiven," I winked. "But you owe me some dances."

"No. I probably owe you a hundred dances by now," he whined. He ran a hand through his hair that was gelled tonight and his face was in agony about actually dancing. He already proved to me once before that he couldn't dance to save his life. Missing an hour and a half of a reception would ruin his reputation, for sure, all because he'd have to make it up.

"Come on..." I cajoled with a slight bit of humor as I grabbed his hand and towed him to the dance floor.

The song that was on was "As Long as You Love Me" by Justin Bieber. I wasn't a fan or foe of Justin Bieber, but I knew by the reluctant look on his face that Hayden was a foe. Yet he still stayed dancing and twirling me with cheesy dance moves that he somehow pulled off.

I couldn't stop laughing and dancing with him, knowing well that he made up for lost time very effectively. Even though I was sweating, feeling my styled hair fall, and torturing my feet, a smile couldn't leave my face that entire time.

When "Cotton-eyed Joe" came on, I started to slow down and catch my breath, but Hayden looped his elbow with mine to haul me into the mass circle forming of middle-aged people that knew a dance for once. I stopped in place, careless to the people bumping into me. He looked down to me with concerned eyes.

"It's break time," I nodded. He laughed and then gladly walked with me back to the table, where Cheyenne and Sarah were, not talking to each other. 

"Hey, Sarah, where's Jem?" I asked her.

"He said he had to watch something, so he went to the office room in the lobby," she shrugged.

"Do you want something to drink?" Hayden whispered in my ear—really he was shouting over the music enough for me to hear. I looked up at him, still lingering onto Sarah's words. What could Jem have a need to watch?

"Yeah..." I told him. "But I'll walk over there with you."

Holding hands, we walked towards a refreshments table, smiling at the family and friends that I'd known for a long time--so long that I didn't want to introduce Hayden for his sake. We each grabbed a glass, but I handed mine to Hayden as we waited to fill them.

"Can you get me some water? I'm gonna go check on Jem," I told him over the loud music as I dropped our hands.

"Yeah sure thing," he replied before I left. That table was somewhat close to the door, but I didn't notice the boy lingering in the doorway, scanning over the crowd and tables: Dastan Vega. It seemed like he was looking for something or someone, but as soon as I looked at him, his gaze snapped to mine. I was the missing item of his intentions. I approached him—rather the entrance to the lobby I needed to walk through anyways—and he just watched me patiently. I couldn't read his eyes nor his expression, especially with the dim lighting.

"Thanks for watching Jem," was the only thing I could say to him.

Really, Angela? He nearly poured his heart out to you yesterday and all you can say is thanks for babysitting your brother? Nice one.

"Did he say anything about it?" he asked. I couldn't detect what he meant. I honestly wanted him to get defensive or something, as if Jem saw something at his house or in Dastan that he wasn't supposed to.

"Yeah he really had fun," I answered, even though I hadn't lasted two minutes of active listening to him rant about Dastan's house. I couldn't say the same for Cheyenne though; she was fascinated with the inner workings of the great Dastan Vega.

"Good," he said with an attempt at a saddened smirk. His eyes even lowered away from me. Something was wrong with him, but I couldn't detect it. It was worst than yesterday. 

"Well, I'm gonna go find Jem, so...enjoy yourself," I wished with a gulp. I hadn't even noticed that I was acting nervous around him. Maybe because of my plan to catch the Proliator, everything still pointed back to him.

This entire night, I had been trying to think of every excuse for it not to be Dastan for some reason. I didn't want to have to face whatever strong emotions I had toward him because I was with Hayden. My feelings towards Hayden were stronger than with Dastan at this point. However, at the same time, my feelings for the Proliator were much stronger than with Hayden. But it wouldn't matter because Sebastian and Kenneth's theory was starting to sink into my mind and making me think it was right to just stay away from him altogether even though my body didn't want to.

Fighting the urge to just grab his hand and confirm my feelings for him to see if his powers worked with me, I managed to walk past him to find Jem. I found him where Sarah said, in the office that should normally be locked when an event was going on. Jem sat in the big chair, looking up at the television while the rest of the room was dark.

"Jem, what are you doing—"

"Shh," he silenced. I looked to the TV and saw the news on.

"...and in regards to the accident, only two people were injured but the injuries are not fatal," a dark haired anchor-woman said from the recognizable bridge I assumed Hayden had crossed to get here. She suddenly touched her ear piece, to listen in on something. "One moment, please...It seems that there was an incident at the International Airport, resulting in some fatal injuries, mostly TSA agents and those in the security line area. Our police department questions the whereabouts of the Proliator, but it seems he has sent us and every other Manhattan broadcasting channel a video as response. Mark, let's role the clip."