Another month went by after the discovery of my new powers, and since then things around DPA had changed drastically.

It's almost everyone had forgotten about my amnesia and was now focused on helping me hone my psionic abilities. And I had to admit, they were pretty damn cool. Cole had even joked and called me a Padawan on several occasions.

Never thought that Star Wars would play a role in the man's teachings, but even I had to admit that it was a pretty good definition considering what I can do now.

Telekinesis was surprisingly easy to learn, it was literally mind over matter so that I could lift and throw things with my thoughts. However, execution of it was a different story. A good deal of concentration was involved in order to even get my TK to work, and would have to 'exercise it' as much as I would a normal muscle so that it would become stronger overtime.

That's where Nathan's new training regiment for me came in. Twice a week I would meet with him and Cole in a room that had been set up with the intention of helping me practice my psionic abilities. We started small, lifting small objects to grow used to it and moving up steadily to larger ones.

Then we started doing more complex things, building things with blocks using only TK, juggling golf balls, we started playing catch soon after. Cole tossing a wiffle-ball my way that I could catch and toss back with my powers.

Nathan said I was making great strides in such a short time, he also said that it was possible for me to unlock further abilities that weren't restricted to what my 'parents' could do. But that wasn't imperative at the moment, and I needed to focus on working with what I can do now.

Though there were other things going on other than my new powers.

Jodie had been coming by the facility far more frequently than usual, staying overnight more often than what had used to be considered normal. And each time she looked more and more distressed.

Whenever we would sit down together, she'd tell me that things at home haven't been going good. Her mom and dad had been fighting more and more lately, and it was all centered around her and the 'strange things' that happen around her.

Her dad had also been acting very cold and distant toward her, which didn't sit well with me. Philip Holmes came off as a complete asshole, the rare few times I'd seen him dropping Jodie off at the DPA he was as cold as stone and looked to want to be anywhere but there for a second longer.

I instantly didn't like the guy, and since I was a kid again I made my dislike of him known as any nine year old could. And my mood didn't improve at all since.

The only thing I could do was be there for Jodie like any good friend should...and just like any good friend I also got very worried about her with something else.

She would come in at times with scratches and bite marks on her hands, arms and legs. At first I thought her father or the kids at her school were going too far and was going to say something to Nathan and Cole, but Jodie told me that the marks weren't caused by a person.

They were caused by 'monsters'.

I'd been skeptical at first, more than skeptical, but the more she talked about it and how she'd been attacked several times in the past. She was scared almost every night that they would come for her again.

I didn't know what to do, but I promised that I'd do what I could to protect her from the so called 'monsters'...of course, I had no idea that my chance to do so would come much quicker than I believed.

It had also been the first time I met Aiden.

X

It was late in the evening, almost time for bed, JD usually spent that time either reading, gaming or getting in a light workout before going to sleep. But recently he had started a whole new different 'hobby'.

Sitting crosslegged in he middle of his room's living space, he stared intently at a large collection of legos scattered around him. The blue aura of his psionics flaring around his outstretched hand as the little plastic bricks rose into the air and assembled together, forming into a six-foot tall model of the empire state building.

He'd been at it for almost two hours now, a slight headache having already formed from all the concentrating required to do the task. When the last brick was placed at the very top of the tower JD relaxed, standing up on dead legs and stretched a bit to get blood flowing again as he observed his work.

Nathan had told him he was free to practice his powers in his room so long as he didn't exert himself too much, and he took advantage of that little green light to do just that.

In only four weeks he'd been able to lift multiple objects, some being as heavy as 10 pounds, and move them without trouble. Though it was only the beginning, and just like keeping himself physically in shape, he had to keep his mind just as sharp to improve his new abilities.

When the pins and needles feeling in his legs finally faded, JD headed over to the bathroom to get changed for bed. Coming out a minute later wearing a simple black t-shirt and sleep pants, he yawned and headed to the small kitchenette in the main room for a drink of water when the sound of raised voices could be heard out in the hallway.

Curious, he treaded toward the door to his room and opened it a crack to see what was going on. Surprised to find Nathan and Cole speaking with Jodie's parents.

"We're done, Nathan! We can't take it anymore." Jodie's dad said harshly at the head doctor, "First there was the 'invisible friend' she keeps talking to, and then there was stuff moving around the house by itself, and now these things that are attacking her in the middle of the night..."

Nathan shook his head, "Philip, I know it's difficult, but I-"

"You don't understand." Philip Holmes said, his tone cold and serious. "We're done. We quit. Tell her we had to go away, I don't even really care, but there is no way she's coming back home with us, okay? We want our normal life back."

Jodie's mother cried a few feet away, but said nothing as her husband did all the talking. Cole looked somewhere between sad and angry at the situation.

"She's just a child..." Nathan said, not wanting to believe what the other man was telling him. "You're the only family Jodie's got! She needs you...You can't dump her just like that!"

Philip shook his head, "She'll get over it. But we're done pretending, okay?"

JD felt like he was just punched in the chest. Jodie's parents were abandoning her! Just throwing her away because her uniqueness was becoming too much for them to handle...or, too much for her so called father to handle.

The shock of what he was witnessing was replaced by a burning anger that steadily grew each passing second. Opening the door the rest of the way, he stepped out into the hallway and attracting the attention of the four adults.

"JD? Hey buddy, were we too loud?" asked Cole. Doing his best to not let how things were affect his attitude toward the young psionic.

JD didn't respond to him, instead sending a hard, burning glare at Jodie's dad who now looked very uncomfortable. "You don't deserve Jodie." he said, his voice very cold and making everyone but Nathan shiver. "And you're no father, a real dad would never abandon his child."

Philip snapped his head, to Nathan, "Can you get him out of here? This doesn't concern him."

"Jodie is my friend!" the de-aged fighter snapped, completely forgetting that he was supposed to be acting like a kid. "And you're hurting her! Leavng her because you're a coward!" he looked toward Susan Holmes who looked distraught, "And so are you, for letting this happen at all." When he was finished he pushed past the adults and headed to the door leading to Jodie's room.

"Hay!" Jodie's dad said gripping the 'boy's' shoulder. "Where do you get off you little-"

JD whipped around, his eyes blazing with blue ethreal light, his hand snapping up as a small wave of power shot forth. Philip was stuck in the chest by the unknown force and landed heavily against the wall on the other side of the corridor, everyone stunned silent by what had happened giving the psionic time to go into his friend's room without trouble.

When the door closed behind him, JD leaned against it heavily with his eyes wide. Looking down at his hands wondering what had happened back there.

He didn't intend on 'blasting' the man back like that, but he was a complete asshole for what he was doing to Jodie and he just lost it. For someone to forsake their own child, and willingly abandon them because things were becoming 'too much to handle'. Did he not see how special Jodie was? How much support she needs?

"Fucking dickhead." JD thought bitterly as he dropped his arms and sighed, deciding to worry about what happened later, along with any reprimands he might get from Nathan or Cole for doing what he did, he had more important things to concern himself with.

Walking farther into the room, he found Jodie sitting in the middle of her bed, dressed in a pink nightgown with her knees pulled up to her chest with her chin resting on them. Tears sliding down her round cheeks as she stared at nothing.

"Jodie?" he asked, making her blink and look his way. The broken look on her young face tearing his heart in two. What monster would put a child through this willingly?

Without saying a word he crossed the room and crawled onto the bed, sitting beside her and putting an arm around her shoulders. The brunette turned and buried her face into his shoulder, light sobs shaking from her as she started crying, her smaller arms going around his middle as she held onto him with everything she had.

Neither of them spoke as JD held the broken girl and offered her what comfort he could, "They don't want me anymore." she said when she calmed down enough to speak.

"They're stupid to let you go." replied the psionic, "They don't know what they're throwing away."

Jodie raised her head and looked up at him, "N-No one cares about me, JD. I-I'm just a freak-"

"No you're not!" JD exclaimed, pulling her to him and hugging her again, "Nothing about you is a freak, Jodie. And I care about you. No matter what happens, no matter what other people say or do, I won't abandon you."

"...Promise?" Jodie whispered, holding her friend tightly.

"I promise." the psionic said back

They stayed like that for a while, not wanting to move for one reason or another. Eventually they separated, sitting side my side on Jodie's bed. "Aiden saw what you did to my dad..." the brunette said while playing with the hem of her nightgown.

"He did?" asked JD, a little surprised at the mention of Jodie's 'friend'.

When she first mentioned Aiden, he'd been a little skeptical, thinking that she had made an imaginary friend like most lonely kids. But then he started noticing things whenever they were alone together. Objects moving on their own, echoing noises that seemed to come from nowhere, and then there was the morning he woke up and found his room completely trashed.

He'd mentioned it to Jodie, who looked scared and angry at the air above them. It had been at that point when he started to realize that Aiden might not be as 'imaginary' as he first thought.

Nodding in answer to his question, Jodie turned to look at him, "You didn't have to do that. What if you get in trouble?"

JD shrugged, "The things he was saying, and acting like it meant nothing to him, it made me mad. I wasn't expecting to blast him away like that. And as for getting into trouble? It was worth it."

Jodie smiled at him and layed her head on his shoulder, the broken heart from her family abandoning her slowly mending.

X

Inside the monitoring room, sitting at the bank of computers that showed the various camera angles within the childrens' rooms, Nathan and Cole were both smiling as they watched the interaction between JD and Jodie.

"He's certainly protective of her, isn't he?" asked Cole as he took a sip of the coffee infront of him.

The older researcher nodded, "Their friendship has been ironclad since the beginning. And Jodie certainly has benefited from it." he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "I can't believe that Philip would go this far...The night attacks were a surprise, but I thought he would at least care more for her well being than to just throw her away like that."

Cole hummed in agreement, a flash of anger going over his eyes at what the Holmes' had done. "JD was right, he is a coward. And Susan's no better, what mother could allow this to happen?"

"The only thing we can do is be there for her when we tell her the truth." said Nathan as he slipped his glasses back on. Looking back at the screen and smiling again when he saw the two kids curled up together fast asleep on Jodie's bed. "At least she has someone who will be there for her and is reliable."

Yawning a moment later, Cole looked toward his good friend and patted his back, "You look beat. Why don't you get some sleep. I'll take first watch."

Nathan nodded as he yawned again, "Alright, wake me if there's trouble. Night, Cole." he said leaving the room and heading toward his own for the evening.

"Night, Nathan." replied the other researcher, taking another drink from his coffee and watching the feeds before him.

X

It was much later at night when Jodie suddenly opened her eyes. The lights in the bedroom were off, but the ones in the living area were dimmed to allow just enough illumination to see.

Rubbing her eyes, Jodie looked over to see JD still sleeping, his face relaxed and peaceful as he dreamed.

She smiled at her friend and laid back down to try and go back to sleep when she noticed something was missing. "Bunny Gruff!" she whispered to herself, remembering that she never got her cherished stuffed rabbit from her overnight bag.

Slipping out of bed as quietly as possible so she didn't disturb JD, Jodie slowly made her way toward the living area and the chair where she had set the bag down. Unzipping it and finding the stuffed animal sitting inside waiting for her, she smiled as she picked it up and hugged it close before making her way back to bed.

The lights around the room suddenly started flickering, making her freeze mid-step. Her breath catching in her throat when an all too familiar cold chill went up and down her back.

"A-Aiden?" she whimpered, hugging her rabbit close as she looked around the room in growing terror. The entity hovered down close to her, watching as every electronic around them started going crazy. The lights flickering non-stop, the tv turning on and off, and a nearby radio sputtering static. Neither of them could see anything, but they both knew something was there.

Something that had come after Jodie before.

Breathing heavy as her fear mounted, Jodie remained rooted to her spot as she tried to figure out where it would come from.

"Jodie?" her eyes snapped to the doorway to the bedroom where JD was stepping out yawning while rubbing his eyes, "What's-" when he looked at what was happening he became wide awake, his gaze darting around the room a few times before settling on the girl. "What's happening?"

Jodie fear stricken face filled him with dread, "Th-They followed me..." she whimpered.

"Who?" asked the de-aged fighter, worried about his friend while the lights kept flashing. "Who followed you, Jodie?"

The brunette opened her mouth to speak...then froze completely. Her eyes widening as she looked at something that moved in the shadows back in the bedroom...

"BEHIND YOU!" Jodie screamed.

JD whipped around just as something slammed into his stomach, the force knocking the wind out of him and throwing him across the room into a bookshelf that collapsed on impact. He hit the floor with a loud thump and groaned as pain reverberated through his body, pain that was forgotten when Jodie screamed again.

Bringing his head up, he saw things around the room getting tossed around. His friend ducking and hiding in her kitchenette behind the counter to avoid being hit. "AIDEN! GET HELP!" she called out a loud growls started echoing through the room.

Movement on the ceiling caught JD's attention. The surface looking to distort like water while something came crawling out of it. A creature that looked more alien than anything he had ever seen, the body of a squid that looked to be made of shadows with a wide, gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth at the bottom end with a pair of sinister red eyes that glowed in the darkness.

Four long, whip-like tendrils sticking out of its sides latched onto the sides of the strange opening it was crawling out of that helped launch it into the room. The living shadow then banked left, coming back around and flying straight at Jodie with its mouth wide open, a haunting shriek bellowing as it closed the distance fast.

Doing his best to ignore the pain wracking through him, JD snapped his hand out and picked up a handful of books with TK and flung them at the creature. The projectiles reaching their intended target...and passing right through it.

Whipping around when the books had gone through its form, the creature shrieked in outrage before launching itself at the young psionic. Snapping out of his stupor from his attack having no affect, JD barely had enough time to roll out of the way, going over shattered wood and scattered books as the entity vanished into the floor where he had been laying.

Staggering to his feet, feeling the sting from the cuts on his arms and face, JD looked left and right. Trying to find where the creature would come out next when Jodie screamed again. Finding her gripping the counter she'd been hiding behind while the shadow-creature attempted to yank her into the air with its tentacles wrapped around her feet.

"JODIE!" he shouted, grabbing anything he could with his powers and throwing them at the entity, but like before the objects passed through it and having no effect. "Fuck! What do I do!" he shouted in his thoughts, desperately trying to think of someway to attack the thing attacking them.

That's when he remembered what had happened with Jodie's father earlier, the blast of psionic energy he hit the man with when he grabbed him.

With no other options, and with the creature getting more violent in trying to yank his friend into the unknown, he started to replicate what he had been feeling the moment he knocked Philip Holmes back before.

Letting his anger build, he also felt his power building as well, when he managed to get a feel for it he mentally grabbed onto it. Remembering the meditative and concentration techniques he'd been learning, he started gathering it all to his hands.

The light-blue aura of his powers flared as he thrust both open palms forward, a blast of psionic energy launching forth and hitting the creature dead on. A shriek of surprise echoed from its maw a moment before it was blown through the wall and vanishing from sight.

Jodie yelped as she was released and dropped to the floor, shaking off the fall quickly and getting to her feet before running to JD, whose eyes were glowing with the same energy he had unleashed on the entity. "W-We need to get out of here." she said, clinging to her friend's side while her eyes darted around them.

More shrieks could be heard, three more strange portals opened on the walls allowing three more creatures to come flying into the room. JD didn't hesitate and blasted one of them away, the other two doing an immediate about face, roaring at the kids and shooting toward them.

The psionic quickly blasted one of them, grabbing Jodie and pulling her down as the other flew over their heads and disappeared back into the shadows.

Even though the attacks were working, JD was starting to feel light headed. Constant use of his powers was already starting to take its toll on his young body and was making it harder to maintain them. Jodie was right, they needed to get out of there and fast.

"Jodie, get to the door." he said, concentrating on keeping his abilities powered up and looking out for more creatures. The brunette nodded and ran for the entrance, the moment she started moving another entity burst out of the bedroom and went for her.

JD grit his teeth and threw a psi-blast at it, throwing the creature back into the bedroom. But he failed to see the second one come out of the wall on his left, black tentacles latching onto him and pulling him into the air before throwing him back to the floor.

"JD!" Jodie screamed, another creature coming out and grabbing her arm trying to pull her into the wall it had come through. "AIDEN HELP!"

The entity holding her screeched before it exploded in a black mist. Aiden having returned from waking a sleeping Cole, using his powers to obliterate the creature before going after the one that threw JD. The dark entity was destroyed just like the previous one, leaving nothing more than a black and grey mist that faded into nothing.

One creature remained, coming from behind the tv, knocking it over in the process, and making a b-line for the bound entity. Maw and tentacles wide in hostility, but it was quickly met with a powerful strike from Aiden and ending its existence.

When everything went quiet, Jodie quickly moved toward JD and dropped to her knees beside him. "JD? JD?!" she exclaimed, shaking him lightly and trying to get him to respond.

JD groaned into the carpet, raising himself up just high enough to turn his head. His scratches bleeding a bit and smeared across his face as he turned to look her way.

"They gone?" he asked, the dizziness from overuse of his abilities still affecting him.

Jodie nodded, thankful that her friend was okay. "Yeah, Aiden took care of them."

The psionic sighed in relief, "That's good." he grunted while pulling himself up into a sitting position. His whole body ached, feeling the bruises already starting to form on his torso from the hits he'd taken. "Definitely will feel this in the morning." he thought just as the door to the room burst open, Nathan and Cole rushing inside and instantly going to the kids' sides.

"My God! Jodie! JD!" Nathan shouted as he held both of them. "Go get a doctor, NOW!" he ordered, Cole running down the corridor quickly.

"It's okay." Jodie said catching the man's attention. "It'll be alright now...Aiden's not afraid of them anymore. He and JD protected me."

Looking from her to the trashed room, the de-aged fighter couldn't help but wonder what had happened. And if this had only been the beginning of something.

X

After getting checked over by a doctor, both JD and Jodie were cleared when no serious injuries were found. The scratches had been cleaned and bandaged, the psionic having the worst of them, and the kids were sent back to bed.

Since Jodie's room needed to be cleaned and put back together, it was agreed that she could stay in JD's room with him for the night.

Given what had happened, she didn't complain at all and was infact happy at the sleeping arrangements.

A couple hours later, after everything had settled down and the two children were put back to bed. JD laid awake staring at the celing above him, the attack earlier had left him a little paranoid and was finding it hard to go back to sleep.

Jodie laid beside him, hugging his left arm close with her stuffed rabbit between them as she sleep peacefully. "At least one of us can rest." the psionic thought absently, smiling at her sleeping form before turning his attention back to the ceiling.

He never once thought that the stories she told him about monsters coming for her at night would be true. But seeing them in person, he knew now what he should have believed before. It made a bit of sense why her family was in such a hurry to ditch her...but it should promted them to try and protect her more instead.

He was just thankful he was able to help her when he did. Things could have been a lot worse in the end.

Blowing out a puff of air while trying to get his brain to stop wandering so much, he got the feeling that something else was in the room.

Sitting up, doing his best to not wake Jodie, he scanned his room for any signs of the creatures from before. Preparing to fight again to keep them both safe.

But something was different, the feeling he was getting wasn't one of hostility or malevolance, infact it almost felt...friendly.

"Hello?" he whispered to the silent room, "Someone there?" His response was a very soft echo, no real words, but whatever was there was attempting to communicate with him. JD's eyes widened when one possibility of what, or more infact who, it was. "Aiden?"

The echo resonated again in confirmation making the de-aged fighter breath a little easier. "I guess this means we finally meet in person, sort of."

Aiden seemed to agree then went quiet. JD looked around for any sign of the entity but found nothing, but he knew full well that he was there as he kept the conversation going. One that he believed needed to be had after recent events.

"Look, I know why you were lashing out to me when Jodie and I hung out." he said to the air, "You were protecting her. I don't blame you for doing it, she deserves someone watching out for her. But I care about her too, and I'm going to be there for her when she needs me just like you are."

There wasn't a response, but JD knew that the entity was listening closely. "I will never abandon her, Aiden." he said with conviction. "And I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that she's happy."

The sound of rustling paper caught his attention, a notebook that had been sitting on his dresser flew across the room and landed in his lap. A pen followed a moment later that started shakily scratching at the blank page before him. Hard to make out at first, but after staring long enough the words 'Thank You' became very clear.

"It's no problem, she's just as important to me as she is to you." JD replied smiling. Aiden echoed again before going quiet. The psionic put the notebook and pen on his nightstand before laying down, feeling sleep finally starting to settle in as he got comfortable.

Jodie cuddled into his side, a content sigh escaping her as she continued to dream. It was the last thing he remembered before he finally succumbed to his own dreams.

Aiden hovered above the bed, a watchful guardian over the sleeping duo as he kept silent vigil all night.

X

A few days after the attack, Jodie's parents returned.

JD watched the scene unfold from the doorway of his room, arms crossed as Philip weaved a bullshit story about them being transferred off the base and would be leaving. But that they intended on coming back to visit her when they could, and that when she was 'better' she would come to live with them again.

He didn't think it were possible for him to hate these people anymore than he already did.

When it was all said and done, the Holmes' left. Jodie's mother the only one showing any emotion at all about leaving her behind as they simply walked away. JD went into his friend's room where Nathan and Cole were consoling her.

She looked to him, tears streaking down her face once again, before moving quickly his way and hugging him. The psionic embraced her back without hesitation, "It's going to be okay, Jodie." he said into her hair. "I'm not going anywhere...you'll never be alone."

Despite her still fractured heart, Jodie smiled as she held him tighter. Aiden hovered close to them, offering his own comfort to the one he was bound to.

An unspoken promise that she was cared for and that she would always have them in her life no matter what.