"Whatever happens tomorrow, you must promise me one thing. That you will stay who you are. Not a perfect soldier, but a good man." -Abraham Erskine, Captain America: The First Avenger
In the fourteen years that Elizabeth has been living with Will and Jeanne, she became very aware of how grateful she was to them for taking her in. While Elizabeth had little to no knowledge on her birth parents—no one did, for that matter—Elizabeth was just happy someone brought her into their family. The D'Aramitzes were a relatively normal family in Elizabeth's eyes: Will and Eddy would watch football games on Sundays; Jeanne would take Elizabeth to go shopping with her—they did normal family things.
And while Elizabeth treasured the normalcy that came with living with the D'Aramitzes, she started becoming concerned about the abilities she couldn't quite explain. She had always been aware of them, even when she was really little, but no one ever had a clear answer on what they were or where they came from. Jeanne would brush it off whenever the subject came up; Will just didn't want to talk about it. Eddy didn't like hearing about it, either, so Elizabeth didn't have anyone to talk to.
Why wouldn't anyone want to talk about disappearing or walking through walls? That had been the question jumping around in Elizabeth's head for a little while, but that was before it happened. She had been in the bathroom, getting ready for school, when Eddy started slamming his fist on the door. The sound startled Elizabeth, which, for some reason she couldn't quite explain, a pale blue ring appeared around her waist. It started separating down the middle, but dissipated before it could get very far.
Elizabeth didn't mention it. While it seemed like something important, she had a feeling Will and Jeanne would brush it off like everything else. She didn't dare mention it to Eddy, either. He'd get really mad.
While Elizabeth knew that certain parts of her abilities weren't exactly a secret, in a way it was. They were starting to progress, and she had to keep that hidden from her family.
*тεεηαgεяs*
"You're being overdramatic, Liza." Jeanne threw a slightly amused look Elizabeth's way. "Your father got a new job, it isn't that big a deal."
"It kind of is a big deal if we have to move," Elizabeth snapped. "Why did Dad have to get a new job anyway?"
"You know why," Jeanne responded. "His old one was going out of business, he needed to get one."
Elizabeth scowled. Her father had worked at a relatively successful security system company. The company wasn't that far from where they lived—a place named Empire City—so it worked out well for Will. But when the company started to lose money, and the occasional employee, that was when things started going South. Eventually, Will said that it was going out of business, so he'd have to find another job. And he did. Will said that his new job was at some laboratory in a town called Amity Park.
"I just don't want to leave here," Elizabeth muttered.
"Neither do I," Jeanne sighed, "but it's a good thing Will got this job, it's hard to find jobs nowadays, Liza."
Sighing, Elizabeth nodded.
"Let's finish packing."
*тεεηαgεяs*
Looking at her bedroom, Elizabeth felt a sense of emptiness in her. It was the last night she'd be spending in that room, in her home in general. Will had said that they'd be waking up early the next morning to make sure nothing was left behind and to get everything ready for the moving people. The announcement that Will's new job required a move had been sudden and left everyone feeling a little unprepared, but it was something that had to be done. Will said that he had been searching for homes in Amity Park when he learned he got the job and found a relatively nice looking one. He spoke to the owner, a couple real estate agents and bankers, and not long after that Will had bought the home.
From the way it was described, the home was two stories with plenty of space. It wasn't too much—too over the top.
Sitting on the edge of her bed, Elizabeth tried finding it in her to want to sleep, but she was too restless. She wasn't super excited about moving to Amity Park, but she had to wonder what it was like there. Were the people nice? Was it a big or small town? She wanted to know, but at the same time, she didn't.
You're not even giving it a chance, she thought, mentally scolding herself. Once you see it, maybe you'll change your mind. Stop jumping to conclusions.
Sighing, Elizabeth laid down and tried forcing herself to get some sleep.
*тεεηαgεяs*
By the time Will had come by Elizabeth's room to wake her up, he was surprised to see her already dressed. But that didn't mean he missed the look of exhaustion on her face.
"You feeling OK?" he asked.
Jumping a little at the sound of his voice, Elizabeth looked at Will for a moment before nodding wordlessly.
"Rough night?"
Another wordless nod.
"Lizzie, I know you don't like the idea of moving, but this is going to work out, I promise." Will tried for a smile, hoping it was convincing enough. Elizabeth looked over at him, and that was when Will could definitely see the exhaustion in her bluish-green eyes. "If you want, maybe we can come up here one weekend every month to see your friends."
"Do you mean it or are you saying it to make me feel better?"
"Both."
Elizabeth thought it over before shrugging, which Will took as a "yes". He turned to leave without another word. Looking at where Will had been standing, Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief knowing he was gone. Will's guess on her having a rough night was right. She would've had a nice rest, but that restless feeling came back to her and she woke up with a jolt. And that was when she realized she wasn't even on her bed, and no, she wasn't on the ground either. She was levitating at least a good foot off her bed. Elizabeth had started panicking, trying to figure out what was going on, and that was when she realized she looked different. Instead of being in her pajamas, Elizabeth was wearing an outfit she would never see herself wearing—black and white pants that were fitting around the waist but became more lose fitting the further down they went; a black and white shirt that fell off one shoulder. The shirt's sleeves were long (the end of the sleeves just barely covering half of Elizabeth's hands), with the shirt itself being somewhere in-between lose-fitting and fitting (though if Elizabeth were to make any kind of estimation, she would say it was a little more lose-fitting). As far as the rest of the outfit was concerned, Elizabeth didn't really get a good look at the rest of it. She wasn't sure what happened or why she was dressed the way she was, or how she ended up floating a foot above her bed, but all Elizabeth knew was that she wanted it to stop.
And then it did.
That pale blue ring appeared around her waist before splitting in two. One ring covered the upper half of her body while the second ring covered the lower half. In what felt like a millisecond, Elizabeth was back in her pajamas and fell onto her bed with a grunt.
She couldn't go back to sleep after that.
And she couldn't tell the others.
(A/N):
Sorry it took a bit to put this chapter up, but hopefully you guys like it.
Do I own anything in the DP universe? No. No I don't.
So, Elizabeth's moving to Amity Park with her family; she's trying to keep the progression of her powers a secret from them; and when she was asleep she somehow transformed. Whether or not her adoptive family was aware of her transformation will be revealed in later chapters. So will Elizabeth's background.
If you've got ideas on who Elizabeth's birth parents are, by all means leave a review or PM me. I know it's two chapters into the story, but...whatever ideas the reviewers have are interesting and important.
Anyway, I'll leave the rest up to you guys. Let me know if there's anything to improve on.
Thank you,
Scarlet Tchaikovsky
