The constant beeping of the heart rate monitor was getting to Frank. Here he was again in the hospital, waiting for his sister to recover from a life-threatening injury. Prior to this, it had not been that much to worry about because of her healing ability and her immortality. Now…

“You need to get up,” said Cole.

“What?” asked Frank.

“I mean it, you’ve been sitting there all night,” said Cole as he sat down next to his brother. “And you will be no good to her if you are dead on your feet when she finally does wake up.”

“She’s been doing so much good in the world at her,” said Frank. “And I called her self-centered on her career, Cole. I am such a jerk brother.”

Cole put the tray of coffee down on the table next to him and looked over at his brother.

“You can be sometimes,” said Cole. “But you are also a good brother… you’ve helped me through my emotional breakdowns and panic attacks. You’ve helped Astrid recover from all that trauma.”

“Thanks. What did you bring me?”

“A wake-me-up,” said Cole. “A stale hospital black coffee and a blueberry scone for my brother.”

“And… what did you get yourself?” asked Frank.

“A chocolate croissant, a cinnamon raisin bagel and some orange juice,” said Cole. “I don’t drink black coffee or any coffee like you do.”

“You eat too much, Cole,” commented Frank.

The sliding glass doors opened, and their mother walked into the waiting area.

“I came as soon as I could. How is my baby?” asked Laura.

“She’s still in a coma, mom,” said Frank as he put the coffee down. “The doctors did say, however, that she is healing and getting better. She is just not conscious. I-I’m just sick of Astrid always having to pay the price and I don’t want to lose my sister.”

“I know, sweetheart,” said Laura.

Cameron paced outside the door. She had gotten the news in Roseville, Virginia at one o’ clock in the morning. Since, Astrid was being treated in Germany. She had not gotten there until two days later.

“Astrid hates hospitals,” said Cameron.

“Any reason why?” asked Cole.

“I never asked. I figured it was none of my business to know why she hated these places so much. Given the risks of her career, Easton and I promised to always be there if something went wrong.”

“That’s very sweet of you,” said Caleb.

“Are you guys all okay?” asked Cameron. “Like get physically checked up and everything.”

“We are all fine…” said Drew. “We did not get that injured in the fight. Although, I had to send Dante home otherwise he would have never left the hospital.”

“My cousin brother considered coming when he heard the news until I told him to cancel his flight. He was ready to get on a plane,” said Caleb.

“What about her apprentices?” asked Cameron.

“We did tell them,” said Dante. “But we gave them the bare minimum amount of information and the filtered version of the story. Astrid… would not want us to traumatize her protégés.”

The doctor stepped out of the room.

“So…” said Cameron.

“Are you the family of Astrid Morgan?” asked Doctor Brandt.

“Yes. Family and friends of hers. How is she doing?” asked Cameron.

“Her recovery is moving along quite well,” said Doctor Brandt. “Whatever miracle you pulled off increased her chances of survival. She should be awake in the next couple of days and then she should be good for a flight back home. I went ahead and sent the results to her doctor in Gatlon.”

“See… I told you that she would pull through,” said Caleb and then took a deep breath. “I figure you would know this, but I think that energy blast is going to make her unable to use her abilities for a while.”

It was two days later that Astrid woke up. Her siblings were the first to go in to see her.

“Are you okay?” asked Cameron.

“I’m okay,” said Astrid. “Besides not having the fuel to my energy. I would do it again if I have to.”

“Where did you send him by the way?” asked Frank.

“A place called the void,” said Astrid. “It’s an interdimensional prison-of-sorts of darkness. It can only be opened by the unity of light and darkness.”

“You and Dante,” said Cole. “And your abilities.”

Astrid nodded. They talked for a while. It was late at night when they finally decided to catch the private plane.

The flight was long, and Caleb was slightly worried about his best friend, mainly because how quiet she was during the plane ride.

It was decided that Astrid would be staying with her biological family and her foster family in the big house. Along with being completely drained, she had a broken ankle and a sprained wrist.

“Should you be up and about?” asked Frank as he leaned over the counter. “I mean, you literally woke up from a coma that lasted a month.”

“Please don’t put me on bed rest,” said Astrid. “I know I can’t be of use to the team or the agents out there risking their lives to clean up the mess of what happened in their city because…”

She raised her hands and not even sparks came out of them. She put them down.

“Did you know that this would happen?” asked Cole. “Losing almost all ability to use your powers.”

“I had some idea what was going to happen,” said Astrid as she leaned across the counter. “And yes, I miss my powers but at least it was for a good cause. It’s not like they are gone forever… I just don’t know when my powers will work again.”

“Hey, look our brother is video calling from Beacons,” said Cameron.

“He’s going to chew me out,” said Astrid.

“It’s not going to be that bad,” said Frank. “Can it be that bad?”

Astrid turned to look at Cameron who was the only who had been on the other side of Easton’s fierce protectiveness. She nodded.

“It can get that bad,” said Cameron. “On the bright side, you are still alive.”

“I miss the days that I could teleport out of here,” said Astrid as she sat down in the chair and answered the video call. “Hey Easton…”

“You drained yourself!”

“It was not necessarily a power drain. It was an ability that led to a power drain,” said Astrid. “And you know I would not purposely drain myself of the light energy. Oh… what am I kidding! I did drain myself.”

“So… why?”

“There were no other options… it was the only option that I had because my energy was nowhere near his level,” said Astrid. She let out a sigh. “When I was taking the test, I saw dad and he gave me an idea on what to do.”

“You saw dad,” said Cameron.

“Yeah… he was sort of like the guiding spirit for me during the test,” said Astrid. “Anyway… he gave me the hint on what and how to do it.”

The video call lasted a while and then it ended. Astrid sat down on the couch. The truth was that outside of the house… the city and the world were back to being a mess and by that she meant criminals.

The crime rate had increased exponentially after Nox had been banished to the void. If that man had nothing good in his life, this was probably the one good thing in his life. She was on video call with Caleb.

“It’s a mess in Croydon,” said Caleb.

“It’s a mess here too. Have you seen the news?

“You are right. I hated that guy but if he did nothing good in his life, at least he organized the criminal underground in a way that did not chaos,” said Caleb as he appeared on the screen. “Do you need me to come back?”

“No… stay there. Your cousin is going to need all the help he can get,” said Astrid. “I just… I wish I could do more.”

“This one was not on you,” said Caleb. “Neither was the last one. I bet the criminal gangs were waiting to get their crack on people to terrorize them.”

“I know… you probably are right,” said Astrid. “It just seems like all the good work that we have been doing for the past few years has led to nothing.”

“It has not led to nothing,” argued Caleb. “Otherwise, society would not be functioning at the moment.”

“You probably are right,” said Astrid.

“Let me know if you need help or anything,” said Caleb as he walked out of the store. “Even though, you have told me to stay here… I can always help in other ways.”

“Yeah… okay,” said Caleb.

“Nice hidden headquarters within your house,” said Dante. “I brought Chinese. We need to talk about what happened while we were on the island headquarters.”

“I don’t really want to,” said Astrid. “Deus, initiate security measures two.”

“You have AI,” said Dante.

“Course… I have a foot in every field of science,” said Astrid as she got up. “But technology is my expertise. Really though, my stepdad designed this base not me. It turns he know me better than anyone else.”

“You died,” said Astrid as she pulled a box of spring rolls from the bag, and he pulled out his noodles. “I don’t think I can describe the pain I felt but to put it in lame words. Like I was dying myself, It was the worst kind of pain possible that anyone could imagine. It was like… well, suffocating. I know you had good intentions.”

“So… then,” said Dante.

“You know our roles in the universe… we have to put our lives on the lines for people more than any person does,” said Astrid as she traced the mark on her hand. “And we’re linked in life and death. Partners for eternity.”

The mark on their hands was a combined symbol of light and dark. It was a reminder that when one Sentinel dies, so did the other. It was also a reminder of the great responsibility they had.

“All my relationships in the past have ended badly,” said Astrid. “And I really do like you. I just want to know that this will work and that you won’t break my heart again.”

“So… does that mean that you are ready for a date?” asked Dante. “I will pick you up tomorrow at eight?”

“Sure,” said Astrid.

As soon as he left, her biological brother, Max, stepped out of the closet. He took the some of the spring roll bag from his sister’s hand. Max was her twin brother.

“You got to stop staying in my headquarters,” said Astrid as she put the Chinese food in the fridge in her secret headquarters accessed by her bedroom. “You are living like a squatter. Oh, and you reek… like bad. You really smell like male laundry.”

“How do you know what male laundry smells like?” asked Max.

“I lived with two foster brothers and a bunch of grown men.”

“You are practically staying in your house not going anywhere and care I point out the world outside is not so intact,” said Max.

“I want to do something,” said Astrid as she spun around in her chair in the headquarters. “It’s only what can we do about this situation. Watching the news nowadays is depressing enough.”

“Since when you have ever given the light of day to the news?” asked Max.

“How do you know that I do not like the media?” asked Astrid.

“Because I hate it,” said Max with a smirk. “And so far, everything that I have learned about you is so similar to how I am like and what I like.”

“I have learned not to judge the media,” said Astrid. Then, she added as an afterthought. “Well, I try not to judge them too harshly but right now, I am judging them harshly. Even, I am doing something, and I am debilitated.”

“You are not debilitated,” said Max, in thought. “You are simply less super than you were before with your powers.”

“Thanks… that makes me feel all the better,” said Astrid. “I’m not the one who is practically living out of my closet.”

“Hey! I have a good reason and have you even considered on trying to find a way to get your abilities back,” said Max. “I would be out there looking if it was me.”

“I’m scared…” said Astrid.

“Of what?”

“Of becoming like him,” said Astrid. “Like Nox. I used an incredible amount of power none that I have ever used before and exceeded my internal limit.”

“Yeah… you leveled up,” said Max with a raised eyebrow, though he was genuinely confused. “How is that not a good thing?”

“Leveling up means more power, Max,” said Astrid as she turned around to look at him. “More power means more temptation for anyone. I don’t want to be someone who misuses the power or the person who uses the power to do the right things for the wrong reasons.”

“What do you mean?” asked Max.

“I’ve already done it once before,” said Astrid. “I used time-travel two years ago to cheat myself into creating something into defeating Psyren.”

“Astrid…”

“That’s why I haven’t tried to look for a way to get my power back,” said Astrid.

“You are a good person, Astrid,” said Max, as he crossed his hands. “Hell, I’ve known you only for a few weeks and I know you are a good person and you have changed since you made that decision years ago. You’ve grown. There is no chance that you would make the same mistake… and if you did not make a mistake you would not be human.”

Astrid smiled at her twin. She ruffled his hair as she ruffled her twin brother’s hair.

“Why don’t you use your own wisdom and tell our brother and half-sister that you are my twin brother?” asked Astrid.

“What’s wrong with keeping my secret?” asked Max.

“I have no problem with keeping the secret. I just do not understand why you do not want to tell him,” said Astrid. She was wearing a white long-sleeve slightly see-through shirt with a tank top underneath. She was also wearing a couple of necklaces and some bracelets that she had chosen to wear as well. “We are siblings, and I am sure he will understand.”

“Or he won’t,” said Astrid. “You are deciding on not telling him based on a maybe. You don’t know if he will or will not understand if you don’t tell him.”

She made it to headquarters afternoon and she happened to find Noah in the training room. Noah’s abilities were telekinesis and telepathy, powers like her first ones which is why she choose to train him.

“I heard the rest of the team have been training you,” said Astrid.

“You’re back,” said Noah as he hugged her. “Do you have any of your powers back?”

Astrid raised her hands and there was a little spark. “Not all of it yet… it usually does not take this much time for me to recover my power. No worries, they will come back eventually.”

“Well, I’m glad you are here,” said Noah. “I mean, Drew is pretty cool but the way he is training is just harsh. He makes it harder for me to train the normal way.”

“He ran you through the obstacle course, didn’t he?” asked Astrid. “And used teleportation to catch you every time.”

“I caught him once.”

“That is progress,” said Astrid. “Our abilities are emotion-based, so your frustration helped you find him and stop him from teleporting again but that won’t always work.”

“Hey,” said Dante.

“Stay right there,” said Astrid to Noah. She walked off to join Dante in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Noah watched them as Drew came up behind him. He was glad that his mentor could be happy in life. Noah had known for a long time she was struggling.

“You know watching after someone is creepy,” said Drew as he crossed his hands. “And I see the way that you have been looking at Mika. The thing is that it might work for those two, but they even advise us not to date coworkers. The thing is… the line between personal and professional can sometimes be tricky. After those two, we kind of learned that lesson the hard way…”

“Astrid and Dante…,” said Noah. “What went wrong there.”

“It started off great,” said Drew. “They were constantly flirting with each other, and constantly arguing too. I knew something was going on there between the two. Things changed though when Dante decided to move on, Astrid became distant from him and their partnership no longer became a friendship, they only became partners, but… their friendship was restored again when Astrid started dating someone else.”

“Luis,” said Noah.

“Yes,” said Drew. “Astrid moved on and even though those two moved on. They found their way back to each other but even though it works out for them. It does not work out for everyone. For Astrid, Dante is her rock. The one thing that is constant in her life, but he is also her source of comfort and supports her.”

“I do like Mika,” admitted Noah. He crossed his hands and sighed. “I take the advice and rules about being a hero that Astrid takes me very seriously.”

“Good,” said Drew. “Now, give me three rounds of ten punches against this bag. You performed pretty well yesterday but one of the important things that we all learned is that we will not have superpowers in a fight.”

“Then, why were you using them?” asked Noah. “During my training sessions.”

“Villains do not and will not fight fair,” said Astrid as she crossed her hands. “My mentor did not let me out into the field until I was fourteen and I had been training since I was eight. His methods were harsh too. You asked me what it takes to be a hero when we started. Being a hero also means cleaning up your own messes and dealing with the messy bits, like knowing when you are outnumbered, and the biggest threats too like I recently dealt with. It’s not all about having a cool costume and weapons.”

“We train you hard because we want you to survive out there,” said Drew.

“You really are a good mentor to those two,” said Dante as they stood out on the rooftop talking drinking soda.

“I decided yesterday to tell Sean it was time for him to follow his own path,” said Astrid. “He’s done so well in the world. He doesn’t even really need me anymore to guide him.”

“Must have been hard,” said Dante.

“It was,” said Astrid as she laced her fingers in his. “But… I also feel proud of him. I mean, despite all the hurdles and obstacles that life through at him and only he and God knows what happened to him when Fear Career captured him and yet he came out on top.”

“It was probably because of the few years he was with you,” said Dante. “You are closing yourself off again.”

“Just family drama…” said Astrid. “Nothing big.”

Her phone vibrated it in her pocket, and she looked at it with a heavy sigh.

“Like I said,” said Astrid as she stepped back inside and made her down the stairs. “I’ll visit base more often, but I am working on something else too.”

The apartment address was not too far from the house. She wondered how he was able to afford this, but she figured Joseph provided the money.

“Thank you for doing this for me,” said Max as she stepped inside. “All I had to do was find a place to stay. That does not mean that I won’t hang around with you in your headquarters.”

“Ours,” corrected Astrid. She pulled a small sheet of paper from her pocket. “The base is ours. You can always use when you want to. Here is the access code whenever you need to use it, and this will help you contact me whenever you need me.”

“Siblings are for life,” said Astrid. “Whenever you need me, I will be there, and I will always believe that there is some good in you despite your dreams of being a villain.”

“Why aren’t you against it?”

“One of my best friends, Kaz, is a criminal mastermind,” said Astrid. “Even though, I don’t agree with her decision. I do not dictate the career choice my friends chose, and I don’t do it with my siblings.”

He listened intently.

“Even if we are fighting on opposite sides, I will always be on your side,” said Astrid.

Astrid was back in her room, and she looked toward her secret closet door entrance to her headquarters. Even though, she knew he had moved out.

She took her twin brother’s advice on trying to find a way to get her powers back. She missed them so much and she did want them back. Yes, she feared the immense amount of the power, but who would not be scared?

She closed the book and decided to visit Dante at his apartment. It was one that she had helped him buy as a friend and not with his father’s money. She took the keys to her car and drove to his apartment and then knocked on his door.

He opened the door and then closed it.

“Wait… I know I have been keeping things,” said Astrid. “I am here to tell you. It was not up to me on whether to tell you or not. I brought pizza and coke.”

“Forgiven,” said Dante as he stepped aside. He took the box from Astrid and put it on the table. “So…?”

“I have a twin brother,” said Astrid. “His name is He’s amazing… as smart as I am. Annoying as hell but he understands how hard it is to hide superpowers. He has them too.”

“Any idea what they are?” asked Dante.

“No…” said Astrid as she took a slice of cheese pizza and took a small bite. She looked over at him. “His powers only emerged recently, and he has not had the chance yet to take the test that determines the powers.”

“Did you take the test?” asked Dante.

“My abilities came very early,” said Astrid as she cleared her throat. “So… I didn’t need to take the test and besides the test was not developed at that time.”

“So… why did you not tell me?”

“He was not ready,” said Astrid as she took a sip. “He still is not ready to tell our brother.”

“Cammie was the result of a heated night of romance between Joseph and my mom,” said Astrid. “She is related by blood but not as related as my brother or as my twin.”

“How did he hear about you?” asked Astrid.

“Over the news, have you been looking at the latest news reports?” asked Astrid as she leaned against the counter. “I have not been watching the news lately as I have been trying to keep my cool when they throw insults at us.”

“Anyway, he wants to go on his own path, but I let him know that whenever he needs me I will be there,” said Astrid. “He wants to be a villain, but you cannot tell anybody this.”

“Okay,” said Dante as he took a sip of his soda. “I can see why you took time to tell me this. What are you going to do when you come up against each other?”

“As much as I hope that it won’t happen,” said Astrid. “I know it will. But… I still believe in him, Dante.”

“Wow… your family is more complicated than mine,” said Dante chuckling as he took a sip of his ginger ale. “You bought your cousin an apartment.”

“He needed to live somewhere decent that was not my secret headquarters connected to my room,” said Astrid. “Besides, I was getting tired of it smelling like boys’ dirty socks and clothing in there.”

Dante chuckled at that again.

“So… how is it going with your dad?” asked Astrid.

“Oh… it’s going,” said Dante. “Just not going so well. He still blames my abilities for my sister and my mother’s death even though my abilities had nothing to do with it.”

“You need to give him time,” said Astrid.

“I have given him time,” said Dante. “He still won’t see me as anything else, but the cause of my own sister’s death and I don’t want him to see me like that.”

“I understand but he is grieving in his own way,” said Astrid.