"Well, this has just been a banger of a day," Gareth sighed as we finished the grim debrief. "I need a stiff drink and a day alone to come up with anything resembling a counter plan. This makes us look pretty awful, all things considered."

Nobody argued with him, since everyone was already stewing in their own flavours of discontent.

"I'm in for whatever you come up with," I said firmly. "You can count on me." I took only a moment to reflect on the weird, irrevocable turn my life had taken.

"Oh, how I've dreamt of those words," Gareth allowed himself a smirk. "Somebody pinch me, please." When I didn't shoot back and only rolled my eyes, his smile became genuine. "It's an honour, really."

"I think we're all ride or die here," Seb spoke up, to nods across the board.

"Thank you, everyone. You are all true Superheroes. I'll call a team-wide meeting tomorrow. In the meantime, be on high alert. It should take Morgan a little time to get things underway, but we never know what else he might have up his sleeve."

The mood was sombre as we all left him in his office, with an assurance that it was the safest place for him, and dragged our weary bodies home.

Soon it was just Ewan, Seb and I walking along the dark, deserted street. A silence had descended on us, but it was only a matter of time before Seb broke it predictably.

"Alright, guys. What. The. Hell?"

"I'm not sure what to tell you, besides that we're sorry we didn't tell you sooner. There was just a lot going on, and we wanted to keep it to ourselves a little longer," I explained.

"How about you tell me how this even happened? How long have you known that Ewan is Enigma, Kenna? How long have you known about both of us, Ewan? It's a lot to process," he scowled at us.

"I honestly didn't figure it out until recently. Ewan's known about me ever since that night on the rooftop when you interrupted us, and he's known about you since we snatched you from the belly of the beast. If it's any comfort to you, I'm not sure Ewan was ever going to tell me." I flashed Ewan a sardonic look.

He spoke for the first time in the interrogation. "Look, Seb, you know as well as I do what a tricky thing it is to tell anyone about your Super side, and I'm a coward. I'm truly sorry that I dragged it out with both of you, but I spent a long time caught in a trap of my own making and it took a little bravery from Kenna's vast resources to pull me into the light at last. I'll spare you the gory details, but let me be clear that I've known for awhile that there was nobody for me but Kenna. I'm sorry if that's weird for you, I really am."

I felt every part of my heart constrict in a frightening and beautiful way, and for a moment was unable to do anything but squeeze his hand.

There was another silence, and then Seb groaned, running a hand over his face.

"Okay. It's gross, but I'll survive. You guys both deserve to be happy. Don't screw this up, either of you. I don't know what I'd do."

I laughed and dragged him into a hug, ruffling his hair affectionately while Ewan threw an arm around his shoulders.

"Well, the world might be burning, but we've still got each other," I quipped, holding them both tight.

The next day I had to readjust to the concept of normal life, and show up for a meeting with Grace at her office.

When I arrived, I found both Grace and Jackson waiting for me in the meeting room.

"Hey babe, this is Jackson's last week of shadowing, so I'll be signing off on him to be a fully fledged agent and I thought what better way to do so than with his favourite author? Not that either of us have a favourite, of course," she grinned.

"Well, how exciting that is, and I'm flattered, of course," I laughed, reaching out to shake Jackson's hand. As I felt the same strange hum of energy under his skin, I glanced up and met his eyes, noticing the traces of mostly healed bruising around the left one.

My insides froze.

Somehow I kept a normal look on my face and sat down calmly while a war raged in my head. I felt as though I had to tell Grace what I'd realised, but she had also taken professional responsibility for Jackson, and I didn't want to load any stress onto her when she already had so much going on.

By the time the meeting was over, I'd decided I'd speak to Jackson first. As Grace stood to leave, I made my excuse.

"You know, I think I'd like to make those notes on the manuscript right now while they're still fresh. Perhaps Jackson could stay and go over it with me, as a last bit of training?" I asked innocently.

Grace looked a little surprised, but not particularly suspicious. "Sure, that's a good idea. I'll catch up with you a little later, Kenna?"

"For sure," I smiled. When the door shut, I dropped the smile and turned to face Jackson.

He eyed me expectantly, though I might have imagined a little concealed wariness. "So you ready to get some notes down?"

"That's quite a shiner you have there," I remarked, ignoring his question.

"Oh, yeah," he laughed, too casually, "got too cocky at the gym."

"So you didn't get it in a fight, huh?" I asked, my tone dangerously silky.

I saw it then; alarm, a brief struggle, then a mask of polite confusion, all in a split second.

"Why would you think that?"

"You little shit," I snarled, slamming my palms down on the table. "I hope Seb socked you a good one."

"He probably looks about the same," Jackson muttered, abandoning the pretence.

I snapped then, pinning him hard against the wall from where I stood. "How dare you, Jackson? I can't believe I ever gave you the time of day! What kind of creepy little game do you think you're playing at? Or would you prefer I call you by your asshole name, Electron?"

He struggled against my hold with a grunt. "Look, I'm sorry Kenna, okay? I didn't mean to say that, you caught me off guard." When I narrowed my eyes at him, he tried to pull his hands up in defeat. "I didn't mean for things to get this far, I swear! I was just bored, directionless and frustrated with never being good enough for my stupid family. Morgan's very persuasive, you know. It was all his idea for me to try and lure you to our side, but I won't say that I didn't love it. Not using your brother or your friend against you, I wasn't thrilled about that, but I was in too deep by then. You would have made a great Villain you know. Ouch! Okay, I won't say it again," he grimaced after I'd pressed harder in anger, "but you're beautiful, fun, tough and smart, and talented, so I thought I'd give it a try. That was stupid, it seems."

"You're damn right that was stupid," I glowered at him. "You are one of the worst Villains I've ever met."

"You're the first person I've met who my stuff didn't work on. I tried to hypnotise you for Morgan once without any success," he frowned, "though I was a little relieved about that honestly, even if it made me look terrible."

"I'm basically immune to all that junk. I hear Morgan's siren song for the off-key seagull squawk it really is." I still didn't let him go.

"I think I'm done with being a Villain. They're all assholes," he complained.

"You think?" I asked, dripping with sarcasm. "Honestly, what is wrong with you?"

"I'm working on an answer for you," he retorted. "Will you let me down now, please? I think you know that I can't and won't hurt you. Have I ever actually tried to hurt you?"

"Uh, you kidnapped my brother, punched him in the face, and also held my best friend hostage at her big fashion show. That was her first solo design, you dick," I growled.

"Neither of them are actually you, you know," he smirked, then coughed as I squeezed him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't like doing that either, and I won't do it again!"

"I think your moral compass is pointing south," I scowled at him.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed. "I could get it to point west, though, I think."

I considered this, still holding him in place. "I'm going to keep hating your guts. You are most definitely not forgiven, even if you leave the Villains."

"That seems fair," he nodded.

"Alright," I said slowly, easing off the pressure, "I have someone for you to meet, dingus."

*

"Well, this is very interesting," Gareth said, leaning back in his chair as he surveyed Jackson. "You've caused us a lot of trouble, Electron, but you might just be useful this time. How comfortable are you with subterfuge?"

"Oh, I think he's pretty comfortable with it," I cut in bitingly, leaning against the door in case Jackson changed his mind and tried a runner.

"Perhaps I should rephrase that," Gareth flicked me a 'look.' "Do you think you would be able to work as a 'double agent,' so to speak, gathering information from Morgan's team for us?"

"I'm ready to begin atoning for my sins, as they say," Jackson replied. "I think I can manage it."

"Kenna?" Gareth looked at me again, inviting my opinion this time.

"Despite what his Villain performance might suggest, I think he's actually pretty smart," I conceded dryly. "He'll probably be good at it, unless he's still a lying little toady."

Jackson actually grinned. "That's pretty much a glowing recommendation, if you'll believe it."

"Oh shut up," I snarked.

"In that case," Gareth pressed on, "I'm sure you can figure out what we'd like from you. Rejoin Morgan, keep your ear to the ground, let us know anything useful. It's probably best if you communicate with Kenna through your agency, as that would raise the least suspicion and she's perfectly capable of keeping you under control. And yes, that is a threat," Gareth added pleasantly, "but do your best work, and we'll see about that atonement. Thank you for facilitating this, Kenna. A word, if you would?"

I held back as Jackson left, shutting the door behind him.

"That was very well done. Excellent thinking, especially considering what he's put you through personally. I just wanted to commend you, and also to make sure you're comfortable with this arrangement. If you're not, we don't have to go through with it."

That moment was the fondest I'd ever been of Gareth, and I gave him a very genuine smile. "I appreciate that, but don't worry about me. It's all about taking Morgan down, even if I hate my business partner. He said I'd make a good Villain, you know," I added almost as an afterthought, surprising myself.

Gareth smiled gently. "You make a better Super."

I laughed. "Thanks, Gareth."

WELL.

This is the second to last chapter, everyone!

In about a week, I will publish the very last chapter of Enigmatic!!

I can't believe it's finally here!

I am so excited to share this with you all, and I hope you enjoy!