"Kenna, Ewan, oh my god!" Grace called out when we emerged. She came rushing over and enveloped me in a huge, crushing bear hug. "We have been so worried about you, are you alright?"

I coughed as she strangled me a bit. "I am, but I won't be if you keep your grip that tight!"

"Don't care, never letting go," she said as she continued to squeeze me. I relaxed into her warmth a little as I remembered how tired I felt. I peeked over her shoulder to see Ewan grinning at my plight, and stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'm fine too," he offered dryly.

"You want to join the hug?" Grace teased, throwing out one arm to him.

"Not sure if I'd survive it," he said, trying to move out of the way, but she reeled him in and squished him against us.

"How is someone so small so strong?" He complained, then looked down at me sandwiched between his chest and Grace. "Oh hi Kenna, you look comfortable."

I was not. His body was like a brick wall, and Grace still had a determined arm around my neck. "Actually, I'm living my dream of being caught in a vise," I answered sarcastically. "Are you made of carbon fibre?"

He grinned down at me. "I'm going to take that as a compliment."

It was then that Grant and Lexa apparently decided that this looked like fun and they dogpiled on, knocking us all over onto the steps in a jumbled pile. I may be tougher than your average human, but it was enough to knock the wind out of me a little, while we all lay there laughing. Sweet, laid back Stu who hadn't leapt onto the pile sat down with us in solidarity anyhow.

"Aw, what'd I miss?" Seb's voice came from above us.

"Get down here, mister," Grace called back. "We were worried about you too!"

"Those Supers had a couple questions about what happened before they got there so I was happy to help." It sounded a little rehearsed to my ears, but nobody else seemed to notice, and why would they? They had no reason to suspect anything else.

"Where's Tristan?" I asked, suddenly noticing his absence.

"Oh, he left before the Villains showed up, actually," Ewan spoke up. "He told me thanks for the champagne but he really had to go do some work."

"He's gonna be so mad he missed this," Grant said gleefully. "Lexa and Kenna, even you have to admit that was pretty cool."

Lexa looked at me quizzically. "Is that the word you'd use, Kenna?"

"Well, I have a more extensive vocabulary than Grant," I shot back.

"Why do I bother?" he muttered.

"Because you're a perennial optimist, dear." I used Ewan's brick wall chest as leverage to push myself up and pinch Grant's cheek.

"Kenna, how is your elbow that sharp?" Ewan protested mildly.

"Natural defences?" I suggested, moving off of him while he chuckled.

"Well, now that we're all here and safe, I think I need to go home," said Grace sitting up and stretching. "I feel like I could maybe sleep for a week and, also, that my ears might be bleeding."

"Yeah what the hell was up with that scream? That was the worst." Lexa added.

"Guys, we got trapped in a forcefield today!" Grant enthused.

The conversation continued along these lines until we all finally dispersed to our various homes.

Seb started up the conversation I was dreading when we were halfway back to the apartment.

"Kenna, I know you hate to hear it, but you are pretty useful to have around. Imagine what you could do if you weren't always hiding who you are?"

"Um, masks, anyone?" I retorted.

He rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. If you were hiding who you are behind a mask but not hiding who you really are." Then he grinned, hearing the absurdity of it.

"Seb, I was useful once, tonight. And that was because my friends were involved. I'm too self-interested; I only care about them."

"Kenna, you know even better than I do that a lot of the Supers on the team don't care about any actual people, besides the ones screaming for an autograph." Damn him, using my own arguments against me. "And just think of the weird connection you had with that amulet tonight. It's obviously important somehow, and what if you're the only person who can protect it?"

The thought of that strange siren pull of the energy grabbed me for a moment, but I shook my head to throw it off. "Seb, there is a whole team of Superegos on the case. I'm not going to give up my independence and right to free thought just to babysit an amulet." I knew I was throwing a tantrum, but it had been a weird day, full of people who thought they could control me. I was still trying to avoid thinking of Gareth/Not Gareth and what he wanted me for.

We went the rest of the way in silence. It was dark now, and so we missed the man in black standing under a tree near the front door. It wasn't until I heard my name that I turned and saw him.

"Kenna, hi!" Enigma said a little shyly.

"He knows where we live, huh?" Seb hissed low to me.

"He had to walk me home once, you must know that policy too, guy," I hissed back, even quieter.

"Look, I know this is weird," Enigma looked more uncertain now. "I promise I wasn't stalking you, I just wanted to see if you were alright and ask if I could talk to you for a moment."

Seb raised his eyebrows at me. I gave him a death stare and waved Enigma over to us.

"Hi, Enigma. We're fine, as you can see," I spread my arms out to show him like a TV game show presenter. "This is my brother, Seb, who was at the museum today too."

"Yeah, I've heard a lot about you," Seb said with a sly look at me. I glared him down fiercely. This was my punishment for the tantrum, clearly.

"It's great to meet you, Seb," Enigma answered politely, though I swore I saw the hint of a smirk ghosting on his shadowed face.

"Well, I'm gonna head up. Kenna, I'll see you a little later? Enigma, good to meet you too. Thanks for what you did today." Seb would always make sure to thank his fellow professional.

"I could have done better," Enigma said a little ruefully. "I'm sorry you got caught in that." His tone was so sincere that Seb smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.

"It wasn't your fault, man." Then he disappeared into the apartment block, leaving just Enigma and me out on the street under the watchful eye of Stan, the doorman.

"Do you mind if we go somewhere where that guy's not giving me the beady eyes?" Enigma murmured.

I laughed. "We've lived here for a couple of years, he's just protective of his residents. But yes. We can get away from scary Stan, Super guy."

"I'm not scared," he protested, but then his golden eyes met mine and he grinned. "Maybe a little."

"Come on, man of mystery," I snickered, pushing on his back lightly. Unsurprisingly, he was hard to move. "You are very solid, as it happens."

"Sometimes," he said with an inscrutable air.

We wandered down the boulevard, and Enigma was quiet for a few moments. I found that there was something comforting about his presence.

"So the first thing I wanted to say was thank you, again. I know you probably don't want to talk about it anymore, but what you did was really important. I'm afraid that I can't really tell you why, though I promise I'd like to." He studied my face. I wondered if he was nervous around me, though he had no reason to be.

"Is that because it's a ... Super Secret?" I joked, unable to contain myself.

He actually laughed at my terrible joke. "Yes, Kenna, that's exactly why. They'd love it on the team if I started calling it that," he said sarcastically.

"Take it from me, Cobalt has no real sense of humour," I answered cynically.

"Another mark against him," Enigma smiled.

Now we'd gotten to a nearby park, which I often avoided after dark. It was just easier that way.

"There are usually weirdos in there at night," I warned as we approached the gate. Another look at Enigma, and I reconsidered. "Though, I've got a feeling they'll probably leave us alone."

"Yes, madame, you're safe with me," he said, opening the gate with a flourish. "That's actually the other thing I wanted to talk to you about," he continued once we were walking down the park path.

"Oh?" I prompted quizzically.

"I wanted to say that I really am sorry for assuming that you ever needed saving that night. I did believe you afterwards, but tonight really made it obvious that you are strong and fierce and, quite frankly, a force to be reckoned with. So, it was presumptuous of me, and I'm sorry." His golden eyes were extra swirly as he waited for my answer.

My cold little heart flooded with warmth, and a little bit of guilt too. I was all of those things, but I was also as Superhuman as he was, and he didn't know.

I swallowed a small lump in my throat and said, "Enigma, you don't have to apologise for doing your job and doing it well. But thank you, it does mean a lot."

"I can't promise never to save you again, but I will promise to make sure you want me to first." The corner of his mouth crooked up.

"That is the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," I laughed.

"I aim to please," he said warmly.

A little silence fell where neither of us seemed to know what to say. Then, something popped into my head that I'd forgotten earlier.

"Can I ask you a question, if the answer isn't a Super Secret?"

"If it's how did I get to be so awesome, I'll tell you I just don't know." He slanted me a look and I groaned.

"Oh man, that's bad! Is that 'talking to press 101' on the Super team?"

"Is that your question?" he asked cheekily.

"No! I wanted to know how you got out of the forcefield tonight. It was actually pretty awesome."

He looked at me intently for a moment, and I wondered if I'd pressed too much. But then, he grinned mischievously.

"Well, Kenna, it does happen to be a Super Secret, and one that most of them don't know. But this one I want to show you, and I can because it's mine. Come on." He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a clump of trees.

I didn't protest. His fingerless leather glove felt soft and cool against my palm.

"Okay," he said, dropping my hand. "One of the things I can do is camouflage myself to my surroundings. Like so," he disappeared, and then just his disembodied voice floated towards me. "It's not that I'm invisible, you just can't see me. If you see the distinction."

"I see trees," I quipped.

He flickered back into view. "Kenna this is serious," he scolded with fake sternness. "There will be a quiz at the end. Okay, now for the real fun. Are you ready to see my Super Secret?"

"Yessir!" I nodded.

"Right. Here goes." And then, he turned and walked straight into a tree.

Except he didn't. He sort of melted into it until I could see his figure on the other side. He stuck his hand back through and waved at me. I'd never seen a tree wave before. He reappeared through the trunk, grinning.

"Weird, right?"

"Woah. You can phase?" I was honestly impressed; this was a first for me. "I've never met anyone who could phase."

His mask lifted a little like he was raising his eyebrows. "Just how many Supers do you know?"

"A few," I answered defensively, realising I'd said too much.

"I think you might be the enigma, Kenna." He looked at me curiously.

"Show me again," I deflected, though I did want to see more.

He stepped in front of me, so we were close and face to face. I tried to ignore the little flutter that ran through my stomach. Then, he raised his hand.

"Put your hand against mine," he said, glancing down at me.

Wordlessly, I lifted mine and placed it onto his. It touched briefly and then drifted right through as his own became insubstantial. I felt the cool rush of air flowing in to occupy the space as I passed through.

"I don't have to camouflage at the same time, I just did it tonight to confuse him. And because it was funny." He moved his hand back and forth through mine while he talked.

"What if you get tackled?" I asked mischievously.

"Try it," he dared.

I lunged for him, and predictably fell straight through his body, which melted out of the way.

He let out a whoop of laughter. "You knew that would happen, and you did it anyway!"

"Scientific method," I shrugged.

"I always wondered how that worked," he joked.

Suddenly, I stiffened, staring fixedly at a point over Enigma's shoulder into the dimly lit park.

"Uh, Enigma. Remember those weirdos I was talking about? You might want to check that out." I pointed to the spot I'd been staring at.

He turned quickly, and I seized my moment. I threw all my weight behind me and leapt up onto his back, pulling both of us to the ground.

"And that is called testing a theory," I wheezed, laughter spilling out of me.

"My god you're strong," he coughed, "and did you just pretend to be scared to trick me?"

"Is that crazy?" I was still laughing.

"Yes it is. I think I need you around for training more," he chuckled, the deep rumbles of it reverberating onto me.

We both sat up to catch our breath, and I wondered how I could feel so comfortable with someone I'd only known for a couple of weeks. And whose face I could only see half of.

It was a nice half though. The corners of his mouth tilted up just slightly even when it was passive.

I shook these thoughts away from me and stood up. I'd told myself I'd never get involved with a Super, not after Cobalt. The thought sent my heart scurrying like a frightened rabbit.

"Just keeping you on your toes, mystery man." Despite that frightened rabbit, I accepted the hand he offered to pull me up .

"To be fair, I am a lot less likely to listen to a Villain or look where they point, although from now on I'll have to be careful about scoundrels like you too." He dusted himself off robustly.

"Can't trust a writer, we have too much imagination. Oh yeah, that's a secret for a secret, I suppose. I'm an author, but I use a seeeecret identity: Kennedy Jacobs. It's all very cloak and dagger stuff, you know," I smirked.

"Maybe I ought to read your books, Kennedy Jacobs," he teased. "Get some insight, what to expect and such."

"I would be just thrilled to sign one for you, but you'll have to buy your own; no freebies," I joked back.

"That, Miss Jacobs, is cold-blooded."

"I'm going to regret telling you that, aren't I?" I sighed.

"What if I told you I've already read your books?" He gave me a sidelong look. We were walking back out of the park now, heading towards the apartment building in an unspoken accord.

"Then I'd ask you what you thought of A Circle of Fire and Smoke?" I looked at him slyly.

"And I'd tell you first of all, that it's A Ring of Fire and Smoke - jeez, you're the author - and that I found the descriptions of magic and abilities to be very realistic and thoughtful, especially from someone as suspicious of Supers in real life. You put your characters through a lot, especially Rosilia, but they earned their happy ending." He grinned triumphantly at me as I gaped.

"You weren't kidding."

"I was not. And I liked them. It's clearly your calling." He wasn't grinning now but looking at me rather matter-of-a-factly.

"Wow, Enigma, you really are a mystery. That's quite a coincidence," I said, still staring at him in astonishment.

The corners of his mouth tilted up a little more. "Life is a funny thing. Well, here we are, Miss Jacobs. When do I get that autograph?"

I turned to find myself standing in the light of my building's entrance. "My people will talk to your people, we'll figure it out." I suddenly remembered how tired I was; I must have gotten a second wind out with him. "Good night, Mr. Enigma. I'm sure with my luck, I'll see you again soon." I saluted him cheekily.

He laughed. "I'll count on it."