October 31st

1712 EST

For the first time in a long time, the cortex of headquarters was completely silent. No one was training atop the platform, no one was chatting, there was no upbeat workout music playing in the background to lighten the spirits of the heroes training within its containment. The only sounds that Bristol could hear as she, Tristan, and Avi sat around the metallic room was the faint hum of the lighting systems, and the babble of the fountains behind her.

With Liv and Calum gone on some sort of crusade, headquarters became a lot quieter. Then again, no one was really around the place anymore with all of the missions that had been issued in the past few months, but as Bristol sat and waited, she thought back to a time before this year, when she'd first joined the Union and her days were filled with sarcastic comments and training ops.

She smiled wryly to herself. At that time, she had thought that Priscilla's offer to join the Union would lead to the stories of heroes in comics and movies. Bristol never believed it during the training missions, but now, as she reflected on her time on actual missions, in actual battles, kidnapped and tortured, she thought again.

Across the cortex, Tristan exhaled. He dragged a hand through his dark hair, looking slightly steamed. "I thought she said we'd be able to see him. Why are we still waiting?"

Avi glanced over at the tall boy lazily from her place atop the training platform. "Priscilla most likely needs to run a quick scan of his vitals to make sure he is okay." She reasoned. "We won't be waiting for too much longer."

Before Bristol could chip in, the echo of high-heeled footsteps filled the silence of the cortex. Standing in the entryway was Priscilla, donning an immaculate white outfit with her short red hair down. As she had been looking lately, her visage was a tired one, but she smiled thinly.

"He wants to see you three," She said, clasping her hands together before her. "Come."

Their caretaker turned on her heel, sauntering back down the way she had come. Bristol pushed herself off the wall she was leant against and followed, Avi and Tristan's footsteps echoing behind her. A short walk later and they stood before the infirmary, the door ajar. Priscilla stood outside of it, watching her charges carefully.

"He's only been awake for a little while, so it's best not to...spook him with anything." She advised, but stepped aside to allow them entry.

Bristol pressed her lips into a thin line, glancing behind her to her friends for guidance. It had been a few days that CJ was unconscious in the infirmary, caused by Rune's hidden weapon in the forests of Salem. To that day, they still didn't understand why he'd been targeted, but as Bristol pushed the door open, she figured that she was about to find out.

CJ sat on his cot, his light brown hair disheveled from days of being asleep. He sat in his supersuit, the zipper in the front pulled down to relieve strain as he rested. But as Bristol looked upon the speedster, weighing on the fact that he'd only been awake for a short while, he appeared to have been awake for ages.

He looked up, his hazel eyes electric, and smiled weakly. "Morning, guys," He greeted. "What'd I miss?"

"It's currently afternoon, actually," Avi chimed. "And not much."

The three heroes surrounded their comrade, with Avi sitting beside him on the cot and Bristol and Tristan taking the chairs nearby it. They watched CJ expectantly, waiting for some form of logic from the otherwise pragmatic speedster.

"How do you feel?" Tristan asked, leaning forward in his chair.

CJ shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "Tired," He decided. "I've got a little headache, but according to Priscilla, it's nothing that won't go away in a little bit."

Bristol bit her lip. She glanced at Avi and Tristan, spotting the confusion in their eyes as well. Did CJ not remember what had put him in this state?

"CJ..." Bristol spoke, thinking of a way to word what she was about to say. "What happened to you in Salem?"

The speedster shook his head, taking a ragged breath. "It's hard to say," He met her gaze before looking back down. "Tristan and I were fighting the zombie and it just...looked at me. Its eyes glowed this weird green color and the next thing I knew, I was unconscious."

Bristol knit her eyebrows together in concern, glancing up at Tristan. The blue-eyed boy shook his head helplessly. "It was strange to me too. It almost reminded me of Phobos' powers."

"Could they be connected in some way?" Avi asked. "Surely, if Rune was raising the dead, his other cohorts could be implementing their powers into the zombies to spur them into an army."

"Great," Bristol mumbled. "Mind-controlling, fire-using zombies. What a joy."

"I can try to head back to the forest to run a scan through my database." Avi said, determination in her voice as she stood.

"No!" CJ cried. "Avi, please, I don't want you getting hurt. Whatever Rune is doing with the zombies, we can't be sure that they're gone."

Avi pursed her lips, glancing from Tristan to Bristol. However, she nodded and sat back down, and the room was filled with silence.

Before either member of the Union could speak again, Priscilla entered the room once more, her clipboard in her hands. She smiled sympathetically at the group before clearing her throat and speaking.

"I'm sorry for cutting in, but I just received an assignment for the Contingency for you all." She glanced down at her clipboard. "Alexander Grayson, now known as Mania to us, is expected to appear at a costume party held tonight within the city. It's being hosted by the Cadwells, a wealthy family who also attended Grayson's other party earlier this year."

Bristol narrowed her eyes at their caretaker. "But Grayson disappeared after Tristan and I fought him."

Priscilla shook her head. "He must be back then." She said simply with a shrug.

Bristol met her friend's gazes; could they just be expected to crash another party and fight someone who was quickly becoming a formidable enemy? Again? Apparently, it seemed that way because everyone reached for their bracelets on their arms.

"No!" Priscilla yelped. "You won't be needing those suits."

Tristan gave Priscilla a funny look. "What other suits are we supposed to wear?" Realization dawned on his icy blue eyes, and Bristol had to fight her laugh. "Oh, no."

~~~

"This is ridiculous," Tristan grumbled as they marched down the streets of Brightbay City. All around them, people were parading around in costumes; little kids sprinting around with candy bags, teenagers like them on their way to parties, even some adults. And the best of it all, in Bristol's opinion, was the fact that they were joining the masses.

"Oh, come on, lighten up! Liv's right, you are too tense." Bristol whacked the boy beside her.

"Am not," Tristan huffed.

"Are too," Bristol, CJ, and Avi chorused.

Tristan rolled his eyes, but Bristol fought her smile. He could try to mope around as much as he wanted, but with his icy blue hoodie and crooked staff, he only looked like a brooding Jack Frost—which in a way, he literally was.

"Whatever, Ice Queen," Tristan retorted, shooting a pointed look down at Bristol. "I thought you couldn't even find an Elsa costume, anyway."

Bristol beamed. "I made it," She said, glancing down at her work. With a little bit of wheedling to Priscilla, she'd been able to head to the local craft store and get the fabric she needed. She made the basic dress form out of the silky fabric, but what she was proudest of was the crystalline bits of ice making up the bodice and the cape—it had cost her a day's worth of training to learn how to freeze the water she could manipulate, but it was worth it. The dress and cape glittered in the moonlight, and a smile never left her face.

"If we are debating predictable costumes, CJ wins that award by a landslide." Avi chimed from behind them.

Bristol tossed her head back and laughed. "True."

"Hey!" CJ protested, pulling down the hood of his Flash costume. Naturally, the comic book-loving speedster had chosen to dress as the most famous speedster of all time. "It's a quality costume."

"Whatever you say, Speedy."

"Green Arrow's partner! But besides, Avi isn't even wearing a costume!"

"Yes, I am," The green-eyed girl said. "A costume never entails what material it is made of, or where one acquired it. As long as it is something you are pretending to be, it counts as a costume. And this pajama suit—what's it called again, a onesie?—of Baymax, is my costume."

"She told you," Tristan said over his shoulder, smirking.

"Yeah, yeah," CJ pulled his hood back up. "I wake up after a few days and what do I get? Surely isn't respect."

The group continued on down the street, reaching Brightbay City High School. The building's exterior was draped in decorations, and everywhere Bristol looked, she spotted people in costumes and various banners promoting the dance.

"So this is the high school?" CJ asked, looking around. "Quaint."

Bristol's smile crumbled as her gaze full upon the building. She felt her heart thump within her chest, and she could almost visualize herself on her first day of freshman year, walking up to the building with bright eyes and no superpowers.

Then things changed, and she hadn't seen the school since. And if they'd made it all the way to the high school, that meant...

"Bristol, are you okay? You went a little pale there," Tristan knit his eyebrows together, searching her eyes with his sapphire ones.

Bristol blinked, shaking herself out of her reverie. She flashed him a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just...I used to go here before I joined the Union."

Tristan nodded in understanding, but being who he was, he could detect something else was going on behind her smile. It got infuriating at times, but she looked away.

"Let's not keep Grayson waiting, shall we?" She clapped her hands together and swept forward, her glittering cape sweeping behind her as she walked.

~~

If it was one thing Bristol didn't miss, it was high school parties. Even if some rich family was hosting it, and there were more adults supervising, the dancefloor was horrendous with teens in various costumes executing the worst dance moves possible. Music blared from the stage set up at the front of the gymnasium, and technicolor lights flashed around the room.

"Remind me why Grayson would be here?" Tristan sniffed, looking around the room.

"Because he and my parents are good friends," A feminine voice piped up from before them.

A girl with long caramel colored hair stood before them, her gray eyes watching the Union from underneath her black mask. She wore tights, a leotard, and a leather jacket with a black choker hanging around her throat. Thankfully, Bristol had spent enough time with CJ to recognize this girl as being dressed like the Black Canary.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" CJ asked, staring the girl down.

The girl arched an eyebrow, meeting CJ's gaze before looking away. "I'm Sierra Cadwell, my parents are hosting this party."

Bristol's eyes widened a bit, but before she could speak, Sierra cut her off.

"I've gotta say, whoever you guys are, it's good to see you with interesting costumes. About 75% of the people here are dressed as those superheroes." She nodded her head at the dancefloor, forcing Bristol to avert her gaze.

Surely enough, a good majority of the kids who had attended the party were dressed up as the Union. Bristol spotted Elemental Empresses, Deep Freezes, the various costumes of herself and her friends filling the room. She found herself looking back to Sierra, meeting her gaze full on.

"Those heroes are lame," She said casually. "We went for a more classic approach to our costumes."

"I can see that," Sierra coughed. "Anyways, why are you looking for Grayson?"

"We're with the school paper and we wanted to get an interview." Tristan said quickly, flashing a weak smile.

Sierra pursed her lips, apparently not convinced. However, she sighed, turning on her heel. "I'll go talk to my parents for you." She halted suddenly, her eyes glittering with some sort of thought as she turned back to the group. But just like that, she shook her head and disappeared into the crowd.

Bristol released a shaky breath, and found that her friends were doing the same. "That was close."

"Do you think she recognized us?" CJ asked, his voice low as they wove their way through the crowd. The speedster kept his hazel eyes on the people surrounding them, on the costumes based upon their supersuits.

"Who knows?" Tristan answered. "But I guess we'll find out one way or another."

The heroes drifted throughout the crowd, keeping tabs on everything they were seeing. However, an hour or so into the dance and there was still no sign from Grayson. At that, the Union decided to split up; maybe they'd run across the telepath in his masquerade before he hurt anybody.

But even as Bristol meandered around the bustling gymnasium, she couldn't fight the memories that were surfacing. Instead of kids in costumes, she saw incoming freshmen, seated on the bleachers on orientation day. Instead of blaring lights and booming music, she heard the bell that sent her on her way to her first class. She made her way to one of the windows in the gym, and instead of the reflection of the superhero looking back at her, she saw a younger version of herself, bright-eyed and open-minded.

"Bris?" Tristan's voice shook her out of her reverie, and Bristol turned. "What's up?"

Bristol blinked the haze from her brown eyes, feigning a smile. "Nothing's up," She mused. "Why would anything be up?"

Tristan frowned, gazing at her intently. "Because you've been out of sorts since we got here. Seriously, is there something bothering you? You know you can tell me--"

"Tristan, I'm fine." Bristol asserted, a dangerous flicker in her eyes masking the secrets flitting within them. Please, please just drop it.

"Clearly, you aren't!"

Bristol pushed past the dark-haired boy, deeper into the crowd. Of course, he would follow, but he wouldn't bring the subject up again if they were surrounded by another member of their team. And so Bristol searched desperately for Avi and CJ, and luck would have it that she didn't have to look very far.

The other half of the Union sat at one of the tables that had been set up nearby. Avi was staring off into space, a blank expression on her face. CJ seemed to be consoling her on something, but whatever it was had left Avi looking distant.

"Guys," Bristol caught their attention as she approached. "What's going on?"

CJ opened his mouth to speak, but Avi cut him off, her voice as clear as the resonations she performed, "Grayson found me."

At that moment, Tristan arrived behind Bristol. He must have heard what Avi said, though, because the exasperation in his eyes morphed into disbelief. "What?"

"He found me." Avi repeated again. "And offered me some...troubling news."

Despite their bickering, Bristol and Tristan glanced at one another before sitting down at the table. Bristol swept her cape around her, fiddling with the ends of it as her gaze fell upon Avi across the way.

The auburn-haired girl pressed her lips into a thin line before speaking again. "Er--Grayson seemed to be panicked about something when he saw me. I prepared for a fight, but he only ran up to me and said 'Tonight's the night! Don't let them win!' before disappearing into the crowd again."

Bristol knit her eyebrows together in confusion. "What would tonight be the night for?"

"The Contingency told us that Rune was planning to use the zombies for something on Halloween," CJ theorized. "But what?"

Tristan ran a hand through his dark hair, ruffling it to the point where Bristol felt and fought the urge to pat it back down. "Whatever it is, it can't be good." He focused his gaze on Avi, whose green eyes were vacant. "Was he himself, or was he his...y'know, other self?"

"He was not Mania," Avi shook her head. "But not quite Grayson, either."

Tristan's sapphire eyes widened a bit. "Do you think--"

"It seems that way, yes."

As Tristan and Avi engaged in a telepathic conversation, Bristol and CJ locked eyes. Despite their break-up and CJ's hospitalization, they still harbored the same mutual understanding that their teammates had some weird bond that even they couldn't break. But there was something about the topic, about the way they seemed to be dancing around whatever they knew, that was riling Bristol up.

"I'm sorry," She interjected, causing Tristan and Avi to halt their discussion. "But do you both know something about one of our nemeses that CJ and I don't? Because if that's the case, then what the actual hell."

"Bristol, it isn't what it seems--" Tristan sighed, but she was on a roll.

"Oh, really? Then tell me what you're hiding." She folded her arms, a calculating gaze in her chocolate eyes.

Silence. Tristan and Avi met one another's gazes, and with the slightest shake of Avi's head, Bristol had her answer.

"Wonderful," She forced a smile. "Well, then, I think we have everything we need to report back to headquarters then, don't we? Whatever Grayson meant by his warning, we have to let Priscilla know."

Thankfully, no one argued. Slowly, her friends stood from around the table and they filed towards the exit. Tristan passed Bristol as they walked, and she forced herself to ignore the chill he seemed to be radiating. They made their way outside, and Bristol inhaled the crisp autumn air, trying to calm her overactive mind.

No one seemed to be in a talking mood as the Union made their way back to headquarters. As they walked, Bristol found herself eyeing the streets as a way to placate her anger, but the realization of what was hidden a few streets away only made her tense again. She forced her gaze down, folding her arms across her chest as she swept down the city streets.

It was Halloween, after all, the day when tormented spirits came back to haunt the living. And it just so happened that after all this time, Bristol's ghosts decided to plague her once more.

~~

Bristol wasn't sure how she'd made her way past Priscilla's lecture and back out into the city, but however she did, she filed it away as another one of her superpowers. She'd shed her Elsa costume, now in a comfortable outfit of her combat boots, leggings, and a hooded sweatshirt. She'd pulled her hair from her braid, and the dark brown locks waved from beneath her hood in the night wind.

It must have been pretty late, because the only people on the streets of Brightbay were pods of teenagers and adults floating from one form of nightlife to the next. Cars still swept down the busy streets of the city, but a spell of calm was cast over the city on this night of nights, and Bristol was grateful for the moderate silence as she made her way down the sidewalks.

It'd been a year since she'd walked the path, but carefully, Bristol found herself going from Brightbay's downtown to the neighborhoods surrounding it. Not before long, the skyscrapers and banks and other large buildings turned to houses and shops, and Bristol stopped before one of them.

The sight of her house caused a coil of ice to form around her heart, constricting slowly. Just like always, her parents had hardly gone to extremes with the Halloween decorations, save a few haphazardly strewn lights across the bushes outside and a Jack-O-Lantern on the front porch. The foyer light was on, but the others weren't. Her parents must have been asleep, living another day without their daughter.

Bristol wiped the tears from her eyes as she stared up at her house. Now before the source of her worries from the high school, the memories came flashing back.

The sun beat down on Bristol as she sat on the front porch of her house, a bright green hose in her hand. She fought a scowl as she waved the hose over the plants in the small garden before her, the small splashes of water that leaked from the nozzle offering solace on the blazing day.

It was her first full day out of the hospital and how did her parents repay her? By making her do chores. Bristol had at least expected a day of relaxation, of shelter from the blistering heat, but her parents had other ideas of distracting her from the memory of what happened.

There wasn't a waking moment that went by where Bristol didn't remember the incident. It came to her with every sudden flash of light, every starting douse of water when she showered, every sudden feeling of rage from her temper. It haunted her, and the feelings of anguish only increased when she remembered what the doctors had said; something about a gene mutation they couldn't cure.

Bristol huffed, forcing the memory from her head. She stood up, her grip tightening on the gardening hose. Every news article, headline, report she'd ever been the face of since that day flashed through her head; the faces of those that pitied her, that blamed her since she'd been the one to storm out of the house and to the beach that day; the rage she'd kept as a dormant volcano within her since it was quelled by the tidal wave.

The next thing Bristol knew, the steady stream of water sprouting from the end of the house burst into a high-pressure blast, flying across the tops of the plants and hitting the side of the wall.

Bristol jumped, looking in bewilderment from the water dripping down the wall to the hose. The water returned to its steady stream, but as she spread her senses, she could almost feel a tug in her nerves, like a hum coming from the water.

Bristol dropped the house, stepping back as she possibility filled her head. She couldn't have done that...right? Superpowers didn't exist.

Well, they did.

But they didn't, right? She wasn't like the Contingency, or the villains they fought. She was normal, average, nothing super about her.

Bristol flexed her hands, eyeing them carefully before setting her gaze on the fallen hose. There was one surefire way to find out.

Bristol glanced around her carefully, to check if the coast was clear. Then, with a sort of newfound fire blazing within her, she tried to hone in on that hum the water had resonated under her touch. She felt it again, and stretched her hand out, thinking of something for the water to do.

The steady stream of water lifted to her command, forming into a large orb the size of her head. Bristol's brown eyes bugged out of her head as she raised her hand, moved it from side to side, and the water obeyed.

She severed the connection, snapping her hand back. The orb of water she'd controlled collapsed to the ground, the hose continuing with its stream of water on the ground.

Then she screamed.

Bristol tore her focus out of the memory. That had been the day when she realized she had powers, that the fateful day of the lightning strike had given her the command over water. What Bristol didn't want to remember, however, was the way she'd panicked. She'd thought she would hurt someone with her new abilities, or be seen as some sort of outcast when she was already an outsider--a survivor of some freak natural phenomena. She couldn't leave with those possibilities, so in the middle of the next night, her sixteenth birthday, she'd ran away.

And she hadn't come back since then.

A light flicked on in the house, snapping Bristol back to reality. A jostle of excitement and fear ran through her; maybe she could go in, see her parents again. But she stayed put. The stakes were too high now, and just like that day in July a year ago, she didn't want to put those she loved in danger.

With a heavy heart, Bristol turned on her heel and marched back the way she'd come. Her nerves had calmed to a degree, her demons satisfied for the night. She was still angry at Tristan and Avi for their little secrets, but with a sigh, she tried to let her anger go.

The neighborhoods turned to Brightbay City once more, and Bristol reveled in her city as she passed. For a year, she'd learned to defend it, and after a year, she'd try her best to make sure their biggest threat would be put down once and for all.

A shiver ran down Bristol's spine as she walked, making her stop in her tracks. Cautiously, she glanced over her shoulder, but no one was there. Only a quiet city street.

Bristol shook her head, continuing on down the sidewalk. Eventually, the muffled calm of the city morphed into the small clearing right before the forest holding headquarters, and with her hands shoved into the pockets of her hoodie, Bristol marched through it.

Silence cast over the forest with the mystical fog, silent and stealthy, capturing everything in its eerie grasp. It was unbreakable, impermeable to anyone without the abilities to forge through it. To the outside world, to the ones without the gene, this fog was a natural wonder, a mysterious happening that even the best of scientists couldn't unravel. To the locals of Brightside Bay, this fog was an old legend, said to lure the children of Massachusetts and the rest of New England towards whatever colonial myths apparently haunted the area.

To the ones who knew the truth, to those who had the abilities, it was a shield to protect those whose hearts were good from those that were evil. It was a sacred mist, one that could identify and permit entrance if their intentions were for good. If their intentions were made purely of darkness, the fog would emit poison and other horrors to defend the secret of what hid within it.

To Bristol, it was a lot of baloney.

Bristol made her way to the foot of the forest, gazing up at the silhouettes of the trees in the dark night surrounding them. A full moon hung in the sky like a beacon, daring everyone to turn back, it wasn't safe here at night. The mist had already begun to spread through the bases of the trees, smoky tendrils flicking and swerving away where the meadow ended and the forest began.

Taking a deep breath, Bristol stepped inside the forest, shin-deep in the mystical fog. She had done this a million times before, yet part of her still feared the powers of the mist turning on her, deciding that her heart was evil instead of good. She waited...and nothing happened. Exhaling in relief, Bristol forged on.

As she wove deeper through the forest, finding her way back to Headquarters, her heart began to pound. Something told her that she wasn't alone on her journey. All of her senses sharpened, the way they always did before a battle. Something wasn't right. A snap of a branch above confused her, but the glimpse of a shadowed figure among the branches was enough to verify her suspicions.

Someone was following her. And it was up to her to steer them off her path.

With a contrasting mix of alarm and frustration, Bristol continued on her path, faster this time. She removed a hand from her pockets and threw it backwards, focusing her energy down her arm and through her palm as the nonexistent breeze grew into a monstrous gale at her will. The amount of energy it took weakened her tenfold, but the grunt of her pursuer was enough to distract Bristol from the pain. She took off through the trees, attempting not to run into them as her vision began to blur.

Finally, Bristol reached the opening in the forest where the surging river cleaved through the trees. Flat, slippery stones made up the shores, but they also served as the pathway for those heroic enough to cross it.

The dark-haired girl took a ragged breath and stood atop the flattest of the haphazard rocks. Then, the flat gray surface of the rock slab shimmered in the night with an ethereal light.

"Recognized. Vandeviere, Bristol."

Instantly, the rock shimmered again with the symbol of headquarters, and a portal of light burst into existence. Bristol stepped through, and didn't relax until she had collapsed onto the metallic foyer of Headquarters and the light faded behind her.

Bristol coughed, curling up into a ball on the floor. Her insides burned; why had she summoned air? Water was safest for her to summon, a cruel curse from that fateful day. Why couldn't she have used the water vapor in the mist to manipulate against her pursuer? She wasn't trained enough to control air, or fire, or earth, without feeling sick to her stomach.

But no. She had to have chosen air.

The lights in the cortex suddenly sparked to life atop the massive ceiling. Standing in the hallway leading to the dormitories of the heroes, was a boy. Bristol's least favorite boy at the moment, to be exact. She set her face into a scowl as she sat up.

"Can I help you?" She croaked.

Tristan arched a dark eyebrow, running a hand through his disheveled brown hair. "Are you insane? What are you doing out at this time of night? You know you could have been caught!" He accused, venom in his voice.

Bristol glared at him. "But I wasn't. So that's what matters," She grumbled. "Go back to bed, Tristan. Before you get us both in trouble."

She tried to stand, pushing herself up on her hands, but her knees wobbled and she fell back to to the ground.

"Bristol!" Tristan exclaimed, worry in his voice. He rushed forward to help her. As infuriating as Tristan was, he knew when to drop the icy act and help someone in need. It's what made him a hero in the first place.

Bristol took a deep breath. "I'm okay."

Tristan gave her a suspicious look. "Did you summon a different element?"

Bristol bit her lip, avoiding his gaze. "Possibly..." She met his concerned line of sight. "I was being--"

"Followed?" Tristan questioned, his sapphire eyes inquisitive.

Bristol didn't get to answer, because at that moment, the familiar hum of the portal bursting into existence echoed through the cortex. She and Tristan looked at one another in confusion. Aside from Bristol, no one had left headquarters. So who was this?

Tristan helped Bristol to her feet before they both fled down the hall. The lights flicked off with their departure, and they hid behind a corner as someone padded into the cortex, booming footsteps as loud as their hammering heartbeats.

"Priscilla?" Titanium Wave's booming voice echoed across the cortex. "Deep Freeze? Rapid? Anyone?"

In unison, Bristol and Tristan sighed in relief. They stood from their hiding place, emerging back into the cortex.

"Ah, there you both are," Titanium Wave greeted with the tone of a funeral procession. "I was wondering if I would have to leave this until morning."

"Sorry about that," Tristan said as they walked towards the head of the Contingency. "What's going on?"

Bristol half-expected the man clad in silver and black to issue them a mission to stop Rune, but Titanium Wave only reached into his pocket and pulled out a glittering amulet. Liv's amulet, the one that they had taken to analyze.

"I had the best minds of the Contingency around the world to try and find something about the amulet that could aid our strategies, but nothing." Titanium Wave sighed. "Feel free to keep it under your own watch, however."

"So..." Bristol paused. "It's a fake?"

"Essentially," Titanium Wave said. "Or not exactly a fake, but a defective amulet. Compared to the ones belonging to the rest of Rune's cohorts, this one doesn't work the way it should."

Tristan took the amulet from Titanium Wave, eyeing it carefully. "Got it," He said. "Is that all?"

The leader of the Contingency nodded. "We'll keep the Union updated on anything we find. Goodnight, heroes."

And with that he turned on his heel, waving his hand before him. A portal formed at his will, and he dissolved into silvery light.

Silence filled the cortex again, save the sound of the lights above and the fountains in the distance. Bristol tried to think of something to say to Tristan, to placate their issues, but he beat her to it.

"So where'd you run off to?" He asked, turning on his heel. He marched out of the cortex, but waved for her to follow.

Bristol obeyed. She bit her lip, walking beside Tristan through the metallic hallways of headquarters. She debated telling him the truth, but if she did that, he'd never tell her what he and Avi were hiding. Besides, given all that had happened in the past few months, it just wouldn't be fair.

"I went to go see my parents," She said softly, and Tristan stopped in his tracks. He turned to face her, holding her gaze.

"How were they?" He responded slowly, as if he wasn't quite sure if that was the best thing he could say.

Bristol took a deep breath. "I didn't actually see them. I stood outside of my house but...couldn't bring myself to the door."

Tristan knit his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why not?" They continued walking slowly, and eventually reached his room. Bristol didn't answer until she was inside, seated on the foot of his bed as he walked over to his desk, setting Liv's amulet down on top of it.

"Because I'm a coward," Bristol laughed wryly. "That's why."

"You are not a coward," Tristan spun around so quickly he could have been a speedster.

"Oh really? Then explain why I ran away, Tristan. Explain why I was so caught up in my own selfish needs that I ran, that I didn't care to tell anyone about my past. Explain why now a year later, I can't even face the people I abandoned." Her words rammed into one another uncontrollably, and Bristol cursed herself mentally for breaking now of all times.

Tristan sat beside her at that, taking her hands in his. "Bristol," He interjected softly, searching her eyes. "I understand. But that doesn't make you a coward. Our past doesn't define us, it's how we change ourselves for the future that does."

Bristol met his gaze and felt herself soften under the intensity of his sapphire eyes. She smiled weakly, "How can you be so calm with me now when I was practically at everyone's throats earlier?"

Tristan's lips twitched up. "You're a fire and I'm not afraid of getting burned." He paused before adding, "Anymore."

"Oh, please," Bristol laughed, shoving him lightly.

"But really," Tristan squeezed her hand. "I knew you were upset about something. You forget I'm good at reading you, Bris, I could practically feel your nerves. It was wrong of Avi and I to just talk like you and CJ weren't there, and I'm sorry about that, but about the secret..." He exhaled. "It's not mine to tell. And I hope you of all people can understand that."

Bristol took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you."

"I'm sorry for not apologizing earlier."

"I'm sorry for being obnoxious."

"I'm sorry for being insufferable."

"I'm sorry for not kissing you sooner."

"I'm sorry for that too."

"Oh, shut up."

"Make me."

Bristol arched an eyebrow, but the glint in Tristan's eyes was an inviting one, yet challenging at that. Her lips stretched into a smirk, and when she leant forward and brushed her lips with his, all of the nerves that had built up in her soul throughout the day unraveled.

Tristan kissed back, and Bristol could feel his smile. He ran a hand through her hair slowly before resting his hands against the small of her back.

Bristol wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him happily, laced with passion. She entangled her hands in his hair, and allowed herself to get lost in the kiss, to allow that fire that Tristan loved about her to fuel their actions.

She reclined on Tristan's bed, and with his lips still seizing hers, she ran her hands from his hair and down to his back. As they kissed, Bristol couldn't help but think how this must have been the most mundane of all things that she'd done since becoming a superhero: kissing the guy she liked without a care in the world.

It was almost enough to ignore the sudden glow the filled the room.

Almost.

Tristan and Bristol broke apart, searching for the source of the light.

"Oh, crap," Tristan muttered, his eyes falling upon the now glowing amulet atop his desk. He got up and hurried over to it, picking it up.

"But Titanium Wave--" Bristol said, urgency filling her voice as she stood up. She felt that familiar feeling of something about to go very, very wrong wash over her from head to toe.

"He must have been wrong," Tristan cut her off. He looked around frantically, and must have picked something up in the distance because he tore out of his room. Bristol followed, watching as he pounded on CJ and Avi's doors before booking it to the cortex, where he stopped in his tracks.

Bristol's eyes widened as she skidded to a stop as well. What she saw was enough to chill her to the very bone.

"What a quaint little set-up you have here," Rune drawled, his low voice bouncing off the walls of the cortex. "It's a shame I have to destroy it."

And before either Bristol or Tristan could react, Rune spread his hands. Out of nowhere, his cohorts materialized in flashes of purple light which siphoned themselves into the amulets that shimmered around their necks. Their greatest enemies stood before them, and Rune's magic kept spreading, until a legion of the dead stood behind him.

Tonight's the night! Don't let them win!

Grayson's words to Avi hadn't been that cryptic, after all.

He'd been trying to warn them.