At your service

I thought that with Kathryn and Marcus alive and safe that my life could go back to at least some normality. However, having them with me just reminded me that Luca and Jax were still missing and may not even be alive. They let me go, and for that they could be sent to Rehabilitation. Of course, I was never one to be optimistic and expect the best so saying that the worst could have happened was hardly anything special, but I knew that for their sake I would have to be hopeful.

I watched as Mr. Silas stood in the living room while waving his arms around excitedly as he explained worldly things to the twins who watched in solemn wonder. I slightly smiled at the two, their expressions matching exactly mine when I had first arrived to Mr. Silas's a couple weeks ago.

He was talking about technology and how it affects our world so greatly, how the Chitauri Army Attack made for new advancements in weaponry and security. He talked about the Avengers and how we had seen them and they to us. Marcus was bouncing his leg up and down excitedly while Kathryn stared up at Mr. Silas with her jaw dropped.

I sighed as I watched their awe, knowing we would have to go through this entire speel again once Jax and Luca were found. I wasn't tired of the speech, I was tired of not having any further information on where Forefront had taken them - assuming they had taken them.

Mr. Silas was truly a hero for taking us kids in, and he had already told me that none of us would be separated. Cassie was supposed to come home soon and she and Mr. Silas were going to watch after us five kids. He certainly had the room in his spacious town home. We were all used to having individual cells back at the compound, and now the boys would share a room and Kathryn and I would share a room, and I liked this plan because it meant I would never be totally alone.

"Aniya," Mr. Silas said after finishing his first story of many. I looked up, awakening from my thoughts that consumed a large portion of time. "Yes, Mr. Silas?" I asked, prepared to help him with whatever he needed. "Is Peter joining us today?"

I shrugged, folding my arms across my chest as I leaned on the door frame from the kitchen to the living space. "He did not tell me, though I did see him last night on my journey to and from Forefront," I replied. "I cannot wait to meet the guy that you cannot stop talking about!" Kathryn smiled, her legs bending as she jumped off the couch and laughed. I rolled my eyes, feeling my cheeks heat up, "You are twisting the story," I reprimanded. Mr. Silas looked between us knowingly, "What is this?"

"Kathryn thinks I am attracted to Peter Parker," I answered, "But I've hardly known the boy. He is nice, but we have hardly conversed."

Kathryn huffed, annoyance taking over her features. With us living away from society for nearly our entire lives, she was most likely hoping that she would settle in easily and find love like teenagers do in movies. Kathryn was a hopeless romantic, I think that's what they are called. "I want to approve of this Peter Parker," Marcus hissed with his eyes narrowing into slits. I sighed, "No need to be overprotective, Mar. He's a nice guy, that's all."

Marcus huffed a "Yeah, right" under his breath and focused his attention on the knock on the door. No one had to stand up and answer it because it had opened on its own, the man of the hour strolling in. "Peter Parker, at your service!" he called out, a happy smile on his face that very quickly fell as he saw it wasn't only me and Mr. Silas before him.

"

Oh, wow, okay," he stuttered, his eyes flicking from Marcus to Kathryn and then back to me. "Hi! I, uh, didn't know that there were more of you. Well I did because that's who we're looking for but Aniya told me that you guys were dead," he rambled, the words spilling out of his mouth before he could stop himself. I slapped a hand to my face, dropping my head and closing my eyes to try and hide the embarrassment settling on my cheeks. Marcus looked overwhelmed but Kathryn was smiling in awe of meeting another person, particularly a superhero, and couldn't stop staring at him.

"Oh, geez, that sounded bad. Of course you guys aren't dad, I mean, you're here! Unless you're ghosts, but you're not ghosts because ghosts don't exist," he continued. He didn't even stop to take a breath, and with my friends already thinking I liked him it was not a good thought for them to be meeting Peter Parker like this. "Okay, anyways, I'm Peter. It's such an honor to be meeting you guys. Honestly, the Lost Children of Forefront, wow, that's just so cool. But not for you guys because your lives sucked. Oh, shit, that sounded bad, too. You know what? I'm just going to stop talking. You guys talk, I'll get some water," Peter finally stopped, rushing away into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

I followed him in, practically hearing Kathryn's giggles and Marcus's repreimands in my head as I walked away. Mr. Silas was at a loss for words, a smile resting on his lips for the boy he had grown close to and the kids he had rescued. "So that..." I trailed off, watching as Peter Parker turned around from filling his water to look at me. He scratched the back of his head and set his now empty glass on the counter, "That's not how I wanted to meet your friends," he admitted. I shrugged, "They will have to adjust to this world just like I did, and meeting you was crucial to our mission, no matter how it was. Besides, Mr. Silas already told them about your personality."

Peter chuckled, "Good, the hard part is over."

I scoffed, "Hard part? Jax and Luca are much more judgemental, we are the closest of us five. Marcus and Kathryn will do anything for me and vice versa, but if anyone so judge you it is them," I honestly told him, walking back with him to the living room where everyone had begun to discuss our plan to get our friends back.

Kathryn smiled when we came back, "We've heard a lot about you, Peter. I didn't get to say that because you rushed out of the room," she grinned. Marcus looked down, "Yeah, maybe too much," he mumbled. I wandered over to him, planting myself on the couch beside him and slammed my elbow into his ribs. He yelped and glared at me, a look that I kindly returned by sticking my tongue out.

"Not meaning to interrupt, but now that we have more help we should be able to find the others," Mr. Silas spoke up, bus eyes glancing over us all. I bit my lip and proposed the idea that I had been contemplating for a long while. "Why can't u go after Forefront? Alone. I'm powerful enough to do it, and this way no one else will get hurt."

Immediately, Mr. Silas replied without hesitation, "No."

"Why not?"

"I am not losing you, any of you, to Forefront. We need to find the others before going after them, if we do - It depends on Cassie."

"We have nothing, Mr. Silas."

"We will, Aniya. We will have something."

•••

"Do you trust him?" Kathryn asked me as we all gathered in front of my bed, our backs all leaning against a wall or the side of the bedframe. I looked at her and shrugged, "I have to," I honestly replied, then glancing at my fingers as I picked at my cuticles - a problem I had always had. "When I was alone he was the only one I could go to."

Marcus raised an eyebrow, "Why is that? You never told us why you went to him."

I took a deep breath, "When I went back to the compound after everyone was gone I grabbed our files. Turns out there were only ten left because the other five Children are living in homes all across the country and their files went with them -"

"Jasper told us that Cassie got them out before they-"

"Yes, Kathryn. Before they were killed," I interrupted. "When I got my file I saw that Mr. Silas had turned me into the orphanage after saving me from a trash can as an infant. His name was the only one I saw so I found him and kind of just hoped for the best," I told them both. "I didn't know that he was part of Forefront's rescue team - or whatever you wish to call it."

"And you came here and he took care of you for two weeks," Marcus summed up, a lost look on his face. I nodded carefully. "I trust him because I have to, because he was all I had. If it was my choice I don't think I ever would, but maybe my thoughts have changed."

"And Peter?" Kathryn wondered.

"Peter Parker did not want to help me at first, but then he agreed and I guess his change of heart led me to trust him," I admitted. I looked around my room and took a deep breath. Every night us Children would gather in the hallways and talk for hours because we were all we had. And when people started getting sent to Rehabilitation, everyone was able to fit inside my cell. I always wondered why they gathered in my cell, perhaps it's because I was a leader they needed, or I was the most comforting. Jax and Luca were much better leaders, but I was the most powerful. I knew that. I could control the wind and bend it to my will. Of course, fire and water, electricity and earth, those were incredibly powerful. But the wind could control it all.

"Why do you call him Mr. Silas?" Kathryn asked. I shrugged with a confused look, "I'm not exactly sure. I think it keeps him at a distance. I'm not there yet."

"You always were the last to trust someone," Marcus smiled lightly. I hummed, maybe that is why they all gathered around me. I was always the one to question everyone's motives, it kept me on my toes and saved my life more than once. They gathered around me because I was practical. I didn't know how to feel about that.

"And Peter? You call him Peter Parker, like, all the time," Kathryn chuckled. "Do people not call people by their full names?" I asked. Kathryn and Marcus both shook their heads, "No one calls me Kathryn..." the blonde trailed off, her smile turning to a ftown. "We don't have last names, Kat," I sighed.

Marcus looked down, "Maybe one day we will."