Alex Chen smiles, feeling a sense of victory and accomplishment. She had just used her powers in a completely new way and overcame the fear that her powers had given her. She stands up and steps off to the side as Gabe walks over to hug Ethan, "Whew. This was quite an adventure on my first day here. Starts with me beating the shit out of Mac and ends with me helping Ethan."
Gabe looks at her and smiles, "Yeah, it seems like it has been quite a day."
Suddenly an alarm starts ringing, "What in the world?" She asks,
Gabe curses, "What the fuck, they know that we are up here. Unless Mac didn't, that son of a bitch. If we live through this, I'll kill him." the rocks start falling suddenly and Gabe quickly gets Ethan to cover.
Alex sees a boulder coming toward her and dodges it by jumping over the side of the cliff, still attached to Gabe.
Gabe is trying to pull her up, "Alex!" Ryan is also trying to help.
Alex can hear the rocks flying and she looks from the top of the cliff to the water below, "Cut the line!"
Ryan hearing that makes a split-second decision, brings his knife out and cuts the line and quickly gets himself and Gabe back as the rocks continue to fall.
Alex feels nothing but cold and darkness as she hits the water below. She has also lost her glasses, so she can't see very well.
Gabe looks at Ryan and shoves him, "What the fuck did you do that for? She wasn't too heavy, we could have pulled her up!"
Ryan looks at him, "But not in time. We would have went over the cliff as well. Man, I am sorry, I really am, but imagine what Ethan and Charlotte would feel if you had died. Ethan would go through life blaming himself and Charlotte...wouldn't know what to do."
Gabe looks down, he just got his little sister back, he only had a few hours with her and then this. He doesn't know what to feel. Anger at Ethan for not listening, Ryan for cutting the rope, Alex for telling Ryan to cut the rope, himself for wanting to punch Ryn in the face, knowing that Ryan is right. Despair for what just happened to Alex, Guilt that it was Alex instead of him. So much more, so much of everything.
With that, they head back to town, tomorrow will be a hard day for everyone. However, Gabe vows to himself, 'I am going to make Typhon pay for this. I don't care if Typhon is the only thing that keeps this town alive, I am going to destroy Typhon and if it means that Haven Springs gets destroyed in the process. So be it.' He feels all the grief that he has.
With that, they part ways, Gabe taking Ethan home and Ryan going to the ranger station to write up a report.
The next day, they are at the Black Latern, having Alex's wake.
Suddenly and without warning, a wet and cold Alex bursts in through the door and she speaks up, "You know, it was really hard to get back to town."
Gabe stands there stunned, "Alex?"
Alex grins over at him, "Surely you didn't think that something like that would kill me. Now, I need a towel and a change of clothes, I'll be down in a minute."
Diane speaks up, "Since no one has been injured or dead, then I guess there is no longer a need for an investigation or a settlement."
Alex had stopped as she had gotten to the stairs, "No need for an investigation. My sexy ass, there is no need for an investigation. That stunt could have gotten all four of us killed. One of them an innocent eight-year-old. If that say that there is no need, I don't know what does." She storms up to her room, feeling angry at the dismissive nature of Diane.
Steph whispers, "You know, she really does have a sexy ass."
Gabe, who had heard it, looks over at her, "Shut it Steph, one, this isn't the time, and two, that's my sister. I don't want to hear that." He turns and looks at Diane, "Now, I don't know if it was Typhon that screwed up, or if Mac never reported it because he didn't care if we got killed. I can see Mac not reporting it to get me hurt out of a desire of revenge, but since he knew that Ethan was up there. No, Mac is above letting an innocent child possibly get hurt or killed. So what happened?"
Mac feels nervous, he knows that since Gabe survived, he can't deny that the call went through. He thinks of a different idea, "Man, the call to my supervisor had dropped. Phone line went out, I tried the other methods, but... by the time that they realized, the blast had already happened."
Diane sighs, "Ignoring the fact that it was due to a mixture of poor parenting and bad decision on the part of an 8-year-old, who should have known better by his age. This sounds as if that it was a technological issue and not a human one."
Alex comes down, dried off, fully dressed, and with her spare glasses on, "Then the investigation should be about why the phone went out at that time. I find that to be quite convenient though. I have ways of finding out answers, no matter how much people try to hide them. You had better really think about what you want to do."
Diane looks at her, "Is that a threat? Are you threatening me?"
Alex smiles as she feels anger coming off of her, "Threat or honesty, you or Typhon. Take your pick. Tell me though, what could be so bad that Typhon has to hide that they would risk killing four people. What secret does Typhon have to bury?"
Diane begins to sweat as her anger turns to fear.
Alex hears Diane's voice, 'She said it, she said the word bury, but she doesn't know, she can't know. It's impossible.' She smirks, "You only need to be afraid if you are the only one that is guilty. However, you aren't. You also didn't sign up for killing of innocent lives to protect the past."
Diane looks at her, her own voice trembles slightly, Alex had uncovered so much with just a few words, as if her own mind is being read, "So now, what am I supposed to do?"
Alex nods her head, "Well, that's the million-dollar question, isn't it? Good luck to you Diane. Now, everyone, thanks for the wake, and I need some sleep." She chuckles and she goes on upstairs, 'Thanks for the wake. I never thought that was something that I would say.' She undresses and lays down, thinking on what later will bring
