Chapter Five:

Past

I heard a knock on my door and opened it. Cole was standing there, beaming.

"What's up?" I asked.

He held up a newspaper. "Joan, you're getting recognized as a hero!"

I took it out of his hands and looked it over. There was a picture of me fighting Sasha, followed by several other pictures of me blowing up tar-filled trucks and protecting everyone from the explosions.

"Cool," I said. "Wanna come in?"

Cole came in, and just then noticed that I was drying my hair with a towel. "You just get outta the shower?"

I nodded. "I had to get that tar stuff out of my eyes. I do not like hearing Sasha's voice, especially if it's screaming at me for burning her."

"She can be pretty pissy," Cole murmured.

I tossed the towel into the bathroom and sat on the couch. "So, you just came here to tell me this?"

"That, and…" He made a face. "I'm worried about something."

"What would that be?" I asked sarcastically. "If it has anything to do with me, don't worry. I'm fine."

Cole frowned. "These powers we have… Maybe they're gifts, but maybe, just maybe, they're also a curse. We have to make sure—."

"—That we don't abuse them. That we use them for the greater good," I finished for him. "Cole, when I woke up in the hospital, I didn't know a single damn thing. I found out I had amnesia, that I had to start my life over, and that they may never be able to find my identity." I sighed. "When I found that out, I wanted to kill you for starting the blast. I wanted to make you suffer for making me suffer. But…" I shook my head. "In my heart, I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it. That was the only thing I knew about myself at that moment; that I couldn't kill someone, even when my hate was overflowing. And now that you're standing in my living room, talking to me so casually, congratulating me on a job well done, I want you to know that I'm just fine here. Whatever this is—gift or curse, I'm going to use it to help people."

He smirked. "Quite the speech."

"Shut up." I got up and opened the fridge. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"With my potential killer? Yes." He sat down at the table as I glared at him. "Joan, I'm glad you're on my side."

I grinned. "Hey, no prob. God knows that you need a little help."

A few days later, I was watching the TV on the street through the window. That news reporter lady was on, telling everyone to keep calm, that everything was going to be okay for us, yadda yadda yadda.

Someone bumped into me and brought me back to the real world (considering my face was practically glued to the screen).

"Sorry!" she said, and started moving on.

"No prob!" I yelled after her. "Is bumping into random people on the street a hobby?" People really need to watch where they're going!

I shook my head and turned around, away from her, just as she stopped dead in her tracks. I heard footsteps running after me, and as I turned around I was tackled to the ground.

"Hey! Get off of me!" I exclaimed, and managed to turn around onto my back.

"Kayce! Kayce, oh my God!" the girl hugged me fiercely, taking the breath right out of my lungs.

"Can't… Breathe…!" I pushed her off of me and got to my feet, keeping a hand out to stop her from advancing.

When she looked up at me, getting to her feet, there was something so strangely familiar about her; it was nagging at the back of my brain.

"Kayce, don't you recognize me?" she asked, taking a step forward.

I took a step back. "Back off! Tell me who the hell you are and why you're attacking me!"

"I wasn't attacking you! I was hugging you!" I brought my hand down just a little bit in confusion. "Kayce, don't you recognize me?"

"N-No, I don't." I studied her face, trying to get a reading, but I got nothing. Who was she?

"Kayce, I'm your sister!"

I took another step back, my breath caught in my throat. "My… My sister?"

She nodded. "Kayce, I'm your little sister! It's me, Dana!"

Cole appeared behind me as I stepped into him, looking about as shocked as I was. "Joan, is she really your sister?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I don't know I don't know I don't know!"

"Joan?" she repeated. "Kayce, what's going on?"

I turned tail and ran. I didn't know what else to do. What could I? Suddenly be all like, "Oh, that's cool! Now, let's get my memory back!" No, in my mind it's more like, "What the hell? I'm out! Good-bye! See you in another lifetime! I don't need to deal with this shit right now!"

That's great. I can go against Reapers, but in the face of my past? Hell no.