What were the odds?

Finn definitely hadn't been expecting anything like this when he first took the train to Central.

He had already sensed her far before the train actually stopped, and so had been prepared for their encounter in advance. He had wanted to avoid her, but knew his return would eventually become known through mutual acquaintances.

Central was massive, but it wasn't infinite. Plus he would be visiting some of the same old areas. Though maybe he wouldn't be recognized immediately?

Wrong.

Sarai had not forgotten about him, and she was pissed. He almost sighed out loud. It wasn't something he had the time to address. But it looked like he might have to in the future, because she was a superhuman. Not only that, she was also hanging out with Warp out of costume, which meant she almost certainly worked for the DHD.

Really, it wasn't as if he'd wanted to make her mad at him. It hadn't even been his decision to move away in the first place. He just hadn't wanted to draw things out…

He stopped dwelling on the past, parsing the present reaction for now and then storing his conclusions away for later.

Still, though, he hadn't often experienced a black wave of hate in someone's aura being directed at him in particular. At least, not in such a personal way.

"Who is she?" Casey asked.

"We used to be friends."

"Not an old flame?" she prodded with a smile.

He didn't quite roll his eyes, but it was a close thing. "I have no reason to lie," he responded, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She did roll her eyes. "Whatever you say."

For them, it wasn't a big deal. They simply continued on with their day, checking out of the station, neither of them saying much for a while.

He was, of course, carrying his new weapon with him. This whole time, he had been.

It was just invisible.

Since it was in its portable form and being protected by one of his shielding techniques whenever they passed any sort of scanner, no one detected its presence. Good thing too, because it would've been awkward trying to explain why he had a weapon of that caliber attached to his waist.

Eventually, they made their way out of the station, passing the various murals on the walls depicting the district's top heroes in various styles. And when they were outside, they saw it.

The statue of Apex.

Made in honor of Apexia's founder, who was also known as the strongest of her time before her successor took the top spot following her sudden, inexplicable death.

She stood in the distance, towering over all other buildings and placed near the DHD's main headquarters. They were, after all, in the heart of Central now.

The burnished bronze of the heroine stood above the megacity, watching over it with her unflinching gaze. Flawless long hair flowed down her back onto a dress covered with armor plating. Twin metal swords hovered beside her shoulders, angled towards the sky—at night, they glowed gold.

Finn hadn't seen it in years. It really hadn't changed a bit. Much like the rest of A10A.

It looked… tightly packed, busy. But well-maintained. Which was a must for the battleground of the megacity's Unbound. While civilian casualties weren't that common, structural repairs were a daily thing, and with a very actively maintained industry to back it up too. A far cry from the blocks of deteriorating abandoned properties back in A23G.

"You don't seem that impressed," Casey remarked. "That makes sense though, since you've lived here before. Are you still in contact with any relatives from here?"

"From Dad's side? No." Finn wasn't sure why he specified, considering only that side of the family was alive.

She gave him a sideways glance, saying, "I can get you a place to stay, if you need."

"I don't," he shut her down. "You've done enough."

He led her to the fountain in the middle of the square, other people passing them by. Casey gazed at the coins sitting in the bottom for a moment, then looked back at him. "I can still help, Allister. Can't you see that you need people?"

Not for everything, he wanted to say. What came out of his mouth was, "You have helped me. I'll manage on my own from here. We both have a lot to do."

Her lips pursed, green eyes narrowing as she scrutinized him. "We're getting you settled," she asserted.

He shook his head. "Another time, Casey. You have my number."

Red and yellow flared higher in her aura. "What do you—"

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his embrace. He hadn't been planning on doing this, it just became apparent that this was the right way to respond going by her emotional reactions so far. Manipulative? Sure, but she also knew his capabilities. And he wasn't allergic to hugs or anything, he had just never actually felt the urge to initiate one. He still didn't, to be honest.

She practically melted into it, aura growing warmer with the tiniest hints of blue at the edges. Her arms found his back, reciprocating the physical contact without hesitation.

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Some passersby laid eyes on them, but Finn didn't pay those people any mind.

After holding that position for some time, Casey saw fit to let go. "What was that?" she asked, flushed.

"What do you think it was?" he countered.

"I think it's veering dangerously close to 'would piss off Lyra' territory." She brushed her hair back into style. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"I'm telling you not to worry so much." He paused, thinking it over. "I'll see you in the morning."

"In the morning," she repeated, tone skeptical.

"Yeah," he promised. "But I should go."

The girl mulled that over until she nodded. "It's not just me who wants to see you, you know," she reminded him.

"I'll make time for them." He looked in the direction of the statue in the skyline again. "I just have something to do."

"You mean you're going after her," his friend translated.

She didn't need to specify who she meant. He didn't need to confirm it. They both knew.

"Take care of yourself," she said.

"The same thing goes for you." His eyes settled back on her. "Thank you. For this, and for checking in with my mom."

"I'm skilled at networking," she played it off, averting her gaze. "It was a proper use of my talents."

"I'm glad for it." He really was, he wasn't sure what he would have done if Mom had been left to stew on his disappearance. Natalie would have had to pick up all the slack. But Casey had come through, for reasons he was beginning to understand more deeply.

"Don't you dare die on me again," she warned as he walked away.

"I won't," Finn called back.

And they parted.

*******

Jack sprinted to the hall when saw the alert go off, abandoning the drone he was tinkering with and swinging the door open.

And there stood his best friend.

Back from the dead.

Somehow.

Words escaped him.

"How…" he trailed off.

"It's good to see you again too, Jack," Finn said with a smile.

He shook himself, regaining his bearings. "What the fuck do the Americans put in the water dude? You bulked out! Holy shit, my best friend became a Greek god while he was away."

Indeed, Finn's physique was a far cry from the skinny but fit boy he had been two years back. Now, the young hero had gone from a good amount shorter to noticeably taller than Jack, close to 190 centimeters if he had to guess.

And the muscle too, definitely in peak shape. Optimized for combat, built but not obtrusively so. Not a single blemish to be spotted either, almost like a marble statue.

His head was already nodding along without him noticing. Then he shot forward to bear hug Finn as hard as he could, noting the solidity when he squeezed.

"So, you went to a gym in hell?" The question came when he had his friend at arm's length to inspect him again.

"Something like that," Finn answered, bemused at his reaction. "Are you going to invite me in?"

"Yeah man, come on, no time to waste. You gotta catch me up on everything, I wanna know everything. Need some privacy for that, don't we? Close the door behind you and we can get started," he spoke in rapid-fire as they walked into the apartment.

The interior wasn't a mess; it was controlled chaos. Piles of tech and other equipment in some places, but otherwise partitioned so the living could walk amongst it all. Cushions had been laid out on the couch, TV ready playing some news channel he wasn't listening to and had forgotten to change. Drinks were in the fridge but he was about to go get them.

They settled on the couch and sat there for a solid ten seconds, not saying anything. Just their frequencies realigning after a year and a half apart.

"Where do we begin?" Jack opened.

"What have you been up to?" Finn asked with genuine interest. It was weird, this was the first time he'd seen his friend so… open. Or was that even the right term? More like, transparent maybe? He couldn't quite put his finger on it just yet.

"Letting Lyr—"

"Stop. I know. I'll deal with it. Now what have you been up to?" Finn asked again.

He couldn't help but feel some measure of disbelief at how calm and rational his friend sometimes came across while saying something absolutely ludicrous. Such as right now. But there was also no point in pressing him on it. Jack knew there was no convincing him, nervous as he got thinking about the whole ordeal. There was something he needed to know.

"I've been working on my hero persona, I guess. Hasn't been much of a hero in me though, I've thrown myself into the deep." He looked at the Gridlock helmet laying on the table. "I'd rather tell you after hearing your story."

Melancholy passed over Finn's face before his expression became fully neutral again. With a deep breath, the tale of Shade was recounted in his living room.

And over the course of the story Finn told, Jack's mood plummeted.

He… hadn't expected it to be anywhere near this bad. Gut punch after gut punch, things he should have been there for and should have noticed sooner. Even just talking here with him felt like a record tally of all the failures he never knew he had incurred.

"Fuck," he said when Finn was done talking.

"It's fine." As expected, the other boy was immediately trying to minimize his own suffering.

"You need to- you- urgh," he kept cutting himself off, knowing better than to say the wrong thing here.

"I don't need much," Finn said. "I don't even need to eat or sleep anymore."

"The nanites," he said, signaling his understanding. Normally, he would have been out of his mind with fear and excitement at that revelation, but at the moment he only felt this impending sense of crushing dread and distant anxiety. Because he had been useless for the umpteenth time. He couldn't stand it.

"Yeah. I'm fine to go out by myself. SEN did caution me against it, but I can't waste time," Finn explained, casually name dropping one of the most famous individuals on the planet like it was a next door neighbor.

Jack Spencer fell silent, too overwhelmed to process it all in one go. He needed time to think.

"Do you need help with anything?" Finn tried, calmly.

"Like what?" Jack managed, voice hoarse for some reason.

"This." And the young man pulled out his phone, swiping and tapping a few times before Jack's own phone gave an alert.

His eyes bulged as he opened the Aegis app. The notice was loud and clear.

Shade has transferred 1'000'000 credits to your account.

"But isn't this too much? You said you needed… Finn," he pleaded in a choked voice.

"I don't have much use for the Aegis store anymore. I'm mostly going to be training on my own from now on. And I didn't give you that much, I received it in one evening." The brown-haired boy assured him.

Jack just couldn't wrap his head around it.

This new Finn was something else.

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