They arrived back in the city in three days. Astrid had missed the city and she missed her sister and her friends. She missed everyone so much. The door opened to see Cameron relieved and happy face to see her sister again.

“You are home,” said Cameron as she opened the door and then enveloped her sister in a hug. “I was so worried once Caleb told me what you and Nightfall had planned.”

“Can’t breathe,” said Astrid as Cameron squeezed her tight and she let go. “It was a good plan. Even though, it took weeks for the mole to take the bait.”

“Here… let me take your bags,” said Cameron. “So, what was Nightfall’s reaction when he saw how advanced the family safehouses are?”

Astrid had to bite her lip from correcting her by saying his actual name. She and the team were the only ones with that knowledge and for good reason.

“He was amazed,” said Astrid. “And then surprised that I told most of my friends about the safehouses.”

“He would be,” said Cameron. “So, when were you going to tell me that you two are dating?”

“We’re not—wait, how did you know?”

“Oh, come on, I have not seen you this happy in ages,” said Cameron.

“We’re not dating… we’re taking things slow, and we are not officially dating yet,” said Astrid. “And he makes me happy, but I need things to go slow for now. You are not to tell anyone else. The team might suspect, though. I think they have known for a while that we liked each other.”

“So… what’s he like outside the superhero persona?” asked Cameron. “Do you know his real name? Is he romantic? Come on, give me some of the details.”

“He is somewhat romantic,” said Astrid as removed the rubber band holding her soft loose curly hair together. “But we have not gone on a date yet, so I would not know. Cammie, you know better… we have the utmost trust in each other. I’m not going to reveal his secret identity.”

“Fine,” said Cameron as she sat down on the bed. “I understand that.”

“Besides, you have yet to tell me about Zach,” said Astrid as she peeked her head out of the bathroom with a knowing smile. Cameron looked surprised. “Tit for tat, sis. Tit for tat.”

“It’s complicated,” said Cameron.

“Didn’t I say the same thing a couple of weeks ago?” asked Astrid with a smile. “And things seem to be working out. I know you both have complicated careers, but sometimes love is worth the risk. If it really is the one, then the two of you will make it work.”

“Thanks for the advice,” said Cameron as she got up from the bed. “Are you going to shower? Because I am not cooking for you if you still have train filth on you.”

“I will shower,” said Astrid as she leaned against the doorframe with a tired smile. “What are you making?”

“It’s a surprise,” said Cameron as she winked at her sister with a smile. “See you downstairs when you are done showering. Take your time.”

She came down in an hour with her hair extra curly after being washed as it usually was. She walked down the stairs as she dried her hair with the towel.

“So, what did I miss when I was gone?” asked Astrid.

“You did not miss much,” said Cameron. “Not much went on when you guys left town. Your friends asked for my help tracking down some missing shipments, but that’s all.”

“Damn, I forgot to figure out what they found out about that,” said Astrid as she yawned. “Oh, well… I’ll ask them tomorrow. Do you need any help in the kitchen?”

“No… I can handle making the food for tonight. My cooking is not that bad,” said Cameron. “Relax or like read a book or something.”

“Your cooking makes mom seem like normal cooking,” said Astrid. “Are you sure you don’t want to order food or sneak into the school mess hall, you are always raving about the chef’s food?”

“What do you have against my cooking?” asked Cameron.

“Nothing,” said Astrid as went back to reading her book. “It’s only I have been living on whatever food I could make from what was left in the safehouse the last time someone was there, takeout food delivered by friends which was mostly, Chinese food and pizza.”

“Yeah, I can understand why you want food that tastes good after having leftovers and takeout for an entire two weeks,” said Cameron as she stepped away from the kitchen. “Fine… you can cook. You better teach me though while you cook. Tell me more Nightfall.”

“He doesn’t know how to use chopsticks,” said Astrid. “I spent an hour trying to teach him how to hold the chopsticks and pick up food with them. It’s adorable and ridiculous.”

“That’s hilarious,” said Cameron. “Does he know now?”

Astrid was making tagliatelle arrabbiata. She had learned the recipe when she was undercover in Italy.

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll see the next time he orders Chinese,” said Astrid.

“Isn’t that kind of lame for a date?” asked Cameron.

“Not for me,” said Astrid. “For me, it’s perfect. It gives us time to grow close and be ourselves with each other.”

“That is kind of romantic,” said Cameron as she watched her sister. “Though, I bet he wants to take you out on a real date, you know, like ask you out to dinner.”

“I know,” said Astrid. “But he knows that I need time. Though, dinner would be nice.”

It was just them that night. Their parents would not get back from their honeymoon until tomorrow.

“Hmm… you should tell him that,” said Cameron. “Looks like the pasta you are making is almost ready.”

“Oh, will you look at that,” said Astrid.

“Uh. Uh, we are not done with this conversation, said Cameron.

Astrid rolled her eyes as she plated the pasta onto the plate for both and then placed them on the table. She, then, walked back to the kitchen to prepare a simple Italian salad.

“So, what is it?” asked Cameron. “Commitment issues?”

“I do not have commitment issues,” said Astrid. “Why are you so interested in this anyways?”

I want to help you get through whatever it is,” said Cameron. “But also, I am intrigued. I mean, I don’t know that much about you, and you rarely tell me about yourself.”

Astrid sighed as she returned to cutting the tomatoes for salad. She knew her sister only wanted to help and maybe understand her. She decided to finish making the salad before she explained her reason.

“Is dinner ready now?” asked Cameron.

“Yup,” said Astrid. They took their seats at the table and sat down. Astrid messed with her fork before looking up at her sister. “The truth is that I fear losing him. I mean, we’re superheroes… our careers are naturally dangerous, but I have lost too many people. I don’t want to lose him, Cammie. Or any of you.”

Cameron sighed as she put down her fork on her plate. “I understand, Astrid. I really do. At some point, though, you are going to have to stop distancing yourself from the people that care about you. Mom, dad, even me and Easton. We can take care of ourselves. So can Dante.”

“Yeah… I guess I understand that now,” said Astrid with a deep sigh. “And he said the same thing. It will take me time and I think you and Nightfall understand that I am trying.”

The next morning, Astrid was already putting on her boots by the time her sister was out of the shower. Cameron figured she would ask what the rush was for later.

“Are you heading out?” asked Cameron.

“Yeah… I’ll be back by evening or tomorrow,” said Astrid as she hopped to the door putting on her boots. “We have a lot of planning to do, and I need to enlist a lot of help.”

“Yeah… okay,” said Cameron. “I got that. Will you or will not be needing my help or any of my friends help?”

“I’ll call if I do need your help,” said Astrid. “Or I will just tell you if I need it.”

The headquarters for the team were a short walking distance away from their house. She, of course, had her own personal headquarters, connected to her bedroom but the only people who knew about that was Joseph and her.

She reached there in fifteen minutes. They were all standing around the screen eating lunch and she figured that she owed them that.

“You guys really do deserve a break, so I am not going to be mad at you for not working or wasting time,” said Astrid. “Also, I think I know what that is.”

“What is it?” asked Sean.

“That is a crystal from the planet Xantar,” said Astrid as she moved around the holograph table. “It’s called the Makran Crystal. It’s also the only thing that matches the power that I and Dante have.”

“So… that’s not a good thing,” said Noah.

“It’s muy, muy no bueno,” said Luis.

“And you know it is bad because my best friend here switches to Spanish, only when there is an emergency,” said Dante. “It also has the ability to suck our powers out of us if we touch it and if we touch it and then it gets activated, and that means any prodigies within the earth could instantly die.”

“They are both right,” said Astrid. “The consequences of him getting his hands on the crystal and knowing how to work it could be catastrophic.”

“How catastrophic?” asked Sean.

“Cataclysmic,” clarified Astrid. “The science behind this is a bit complicated but to put it simply. The Makran crystal, along with the device the Circle calls the prism may potentially have the ability to draw energy from us and potentially disrupt the Earth’s magnetic field.”

“Bad,” said Dante.

“Very,” said Astrid as she turned away from the computer and to face them. “The good thing is that once it is activated… it takes a while for the effects to actually come into play. He’s likely going to have someone else activate it.”

“So, what’s the plan?” asked Caleb.

“Well, first… Dante and I are going to need to finish our trials wherever they may lead us,” said Astrid. “So… in the fight we both will have a little bit of advantage on Nox. Second, I am going to get into contact with whoever wants to help us deal with the Circle.”

“Any help?” asked Caleb.

“We only need maps,” said Astrid. “And you, Caleb. If I am to go through the transition, I could use a friend when I get out of it since all of it will seem like a lot.”

“What are best friends for?” asked Caleb. “So, exactly how much energy do you need to defeat Nox?”

“A generous amount of it. I would say everything but my life force energy,” said Astrid. “So, technically all of it.”