"How was your fancy people's party?" Seb asked as I walked in the door.

"Good," I said slowly, "a little weird." I hung the dress in its bag by the door.

"In what way?" he frowned.

"Well, I accidentally found the tablet." I studied my fingers casually.

"Wait, what? In front of people?"

"Yeaaaah, during Ewan's tour. But I had no idea it would happen! Seb, its energy is so strong, it actually yanked me sideways. It practically threw itself off of the shelf at me! They've already moved it to a new area, though, so they're obviously on top of things. I guess you can't be too careful, even at a private party. That's the fun thing about masks." I flicked the kettle on, wanting some relaxing tea.

Seb was still frowning, but he looked a little shocked. "You're right, that is a weird night. I think you should tell Gareth about it."

"That's what Enigma said too," I sighed resignedly.

"Oh, Enigma was there? That's good."

I resisted the urge to remind him that his baby sister could still take care of herself. "Yeah, I guess it was his turn playing sentry."

"Huh, I thought it was Shadow's night." He looked puzzled, but then shrugged.

"I didn't see her around," I commented.

"Well, you wouldn't," he gave me a condescending smile.

"I can feel her, though. She's got a particularly spiteful energy." I grimaced.

Seb laughed. "I believe that."

"Okay," I relented after thinking about it for a moment. "Tell Gareth I want to talk to him.

A few days later, I was reflecting that Gareth had been in my living room more times recently than I would have ever thought possible.

"Kenna," he said after listening to the whole story, "this is more serious than I thought. If I understand correctly, you could be used as a sort of bloodhound to seek out the tablet. That makes you even more valuable to Morgan than we guessed. I just hope he doesn't catch wind of this."

"First of all, did you just compare me to a dog?" I scowled at him. "And you're forgetting, Gareth, about that very human quality we like to call free will. Nobody will be using me for anything."

"I told you not to underestimate Morgan," he answered sternly. "I'm not sure how else I can put it for you. And I know you're not a dog, obviously. It was just an analogy."

"An analogy is a comparison," I retorted, narrowing my eyes.

"Kenna, is that really important right now?" Seb interrupted impatiently.

"Would you prefer I used 'honing device'?" Gareth asked, beginning to look amused.

"I'd prefer if I didn't have to be here right now, but it looks like we're past that," I said acidly. I knew I was being a brat but I was still just so frustrated about being clawed slowly into the Super world in spite of all the effort I'd put in to avoid it. It was desperately annoying to feel like I was losing my agency.

"It does indeed." His voice was level, but I wondered if he was full of glee inside thinking he was closer to getting what he'd wanted all along; Super me. Then, he rose. "Well, I'm going to look into this further since I have to admit it's all very puzzling. I think we should be extra vigilant with you in case he does find out about this."

"Oh, come on, are you going to step up security? He hasn't tried anything yet; I think he's afraid of me," I grinned with satisfaction.

As he made to leave the apartment, Gareth turned and said, "Kenna, the only thing Morgan is afraid of in this world is being unnoticed. I'll see you both again soon."

"Hopefully not too soon," I muttered once he was gone.

Seb rolled his eyes heavily. "I think you're coming to the point where you're going to need to get over this."

"I'll file that advice away, thanks," I said a little snarkily.

"Whatever. I've got to get to evening practice. Don't get into too much trouble."

"No promises. I'll save you some dinner," I answered a little more civilly.

"Cool, thanks." He gave me a small smile. We got on each other's nerves a lot but we were bad at staying angry at one another.

"I'm making spaghetti, though." He hated spaghetti, for some inconceivable reason. If he ever ended up with Lexa it was going to drive her crazy, since it was basically her favourite food.

"Ugh, you're the worst," he complained jokingly.

I got back to writing after a little while, and was fully engrossed in my work when I heard a knock on my bedroom window. I looked up and pulled out my earphones to find Enigma hovering on my balcony. He gave me a small wave. I beckoned to him and he came in.

"Did Gareth put you up to this?" I asked suspiciously.

He looked a little guilty. "Sort of..."

"Ugh!" I groaned, letting my forehead fall down onto the desk.

"He just asked me to pass by the building and make sure everything was normal. I wanted to come up and see if you were extra grumpy after talking to him." He fiddled with the edges of my bunched up curtains.

"Yes I am," I growled.

"Oh, good," he answered, undeterred, and came to lean against the edge of my desk, looking down at me. "You working on your book?"

I nodded, feeling a little self-conscious about the unedited child of my brain laid out in front of him.

To his credit, he didn't peek. "I can't wait to read it," the golden eyes swirled merrily at me. "You know," he remarked, looking around, "it's less messy in here than I thought it would be."

"Didn't I just tell you I was extra grumpy?" I said in a dangerously silky voice.

He chuckled low in his throat. "I think I just got chills. If I was Morgan I wouldn't mess with you."

"Thank you," I beamed, very pleased now.

"I know it's a pain in the ass for you," he said more seriously.

"Yeah," I gave him a small smile, "but it's not you, promise. It's just ... I feel like I'm watching my choices be taken from me, you know?"

He regarded me steadily for a moment, still leaning against my desk. "You'll always have a choice, Kenna."

I looked away. "You can't guarantee that."

"No, but you can."

Taking in a deep breath to steady my fluttering heart, I leaned back in my chair and chanced a glance up at him. He smiled a little. It didn't help the fluttering, but still, I tried to squash it down. The air felt thick around us again.

Then, suddenly, he straightened up. "So, do you feel any better?"

"A little," I smiled back. Besides the inner turmoil, and all.

"Great, well then my work here is done. I'd better go and let you get back to your writing. Goodnight, Kenna. Signing off of duty." He gave me a cheeky salute, then turned on his heel and headed back to the balcony door.

"Goodnight, Enigma," was all I managed.

When he was gone, I let my head drop to the desk for the second time, annoyed at myself for feeling a little disappointed.

***

Soon, the weekend rolled around again. Lexa, Grace and I decided to have a girls night on Saturday, complete with dinner and a movie. It was Lexa's turn to choose the restaurant, so we were eating Italian.

"Lexa, I almost had to live forever in your gorgeous dress like a second skin," I was reciting dramatically over my lasagne. "You should really oil up that zipper or something."

Grace snorted with laughter. We'd moved to finding it funny at this point.

"Thank god you didn't do anything drastic. That dress is worth more to me than you," Lexa joked.

"Seems fair," I nodded.

"So how did the schmoozing go, anyhow?" She directed this mostly to Grace.

"Pretty well, really. It looks like we're going to be working with their team to develop our new corporate marketing strategy so it was nice to get to know more of them than just Tristan," Grace answered.

"Grace has some really great ideas for the strategy, so I think they're going to love her," I said enthusiastically.

"Aw, you're making me blush," she grinned, pinching my cheek.

"Hey, I only work with the best," I reiterated. "No one can pitch my books like this girl."

A few moments later, Lexa and I had switched to talking about her upcoming trip to Paris for a fashion show, when Grace suddenly burst out, "Okay, I need to tell you girls something. I can't contain myself!"

"What is it?" I asked, not sure whether to feel alarmed or not.

Her huge grin as she dipped her hand into her purse made me feel better.

"Ta-da!" She exclaimed, whipping out a pregnancy test stick with a little pink plus sign on it. "I found out this morning. I know it's early, but I just had to show you!"

I clapped my hands over my mouth in shock and delight, and saw that Lexa's jaw had also dropped. I knew that they had been talking about trying, but didn't know they'd decided to go for it.

"Oh my god, Grace, that is amazing, congratulations!" I pulled her into a fierce bear hug while we giggled giddily.

"Congrats, beautiful," Lexa added to our bear hug. When we all pulled away, she pointed at the test. "Didn't you pee on that, though? Are you just carrying it around in your purse with you?"

She grinned when I smacked her arm.

"I guess it's kind of weird, huh? I promise I won't stick it in your food, unless you deserve it," Grace laughed.

I checked my watch. "Okay, not that I don't want to bask in this glorious moment, but we'd better get hustling if we want to make the movie. Are you ready to go, you radiant goddess?" I asked Grace.

"Yep, let's do it. Lexa?" She passed the question on.

"Semi-radiant, and ready," Lexa quipped.

Buoyed by Grace's good news, we floated out of there on a cloud of excitement.

The movie was, mercifully, a rom-com, devoid of any mention of Supers, and it provided an hour and a half of mostly mindless entertainment for our enjoyment.

We ended the night with another group hug and more fervent congratulations for Grace, and then all went our separate ways from the theatre. I had only walked about a hundred metres when Gaia popped up beside me.

"Did you like the movie?" She asked.

"Why, yes I did," I answered, still in an excellent mood. "Did you?"

"Well," she appeared to think about it. "It was trite, predictable and ... yes I did," she grinned at me.

I laughed. "I wish you could've come and sat with us without raising questions. I feel bad that you had to just hang out in the back by yourself."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it, I'm on duty anyhow. Besides, I never feel weird about taking myself to a movie."

"Does it ever get to you, having something like this control so much of your life? Do you feel like it takes away from the other work you do?" I needed to ask someone else who really seemed as though they cared about Super work.

"Sometimes, I suppose," she answered honestly. "But I wouldn't do it if it wasn't important. I need to use what I can do to make the world better. This is how I choose to do that. There's many ways, though. It doesn't have to be this, but I like it." It seemed as though she saw right into the core of my question.

I smiled gratefully. "You're a good Super, Gaia." We'd entered a small park now that was part of the shortest route back to my apartment. "Hey look, your kindred spirits," I joked, gesturing to the trees.

"What's your kindred spirit, then?" She laughed.

"Air? Wind?" I suggested, making her laugh again.

"So sorry to intrude upon all the fun," said a pleasant voice, one which I now recognised. "Hello, again, Kenna."

Well, alright! Looks like something's about to go down here ... stay tuned to find out what!

Thanks as always to everyone who reads, votes, leaves a comment and/or adds this story to their library!