Thank you very much to ShyMusic, AllAmericanSlurp and daphrose for braving the very lengthy second chapter and leaving reviews for it! Much appreciated, guys!

Last chapter. Glad there's been many positive reaction to Amaranth because she will probably officially join the Chronicle canon in a few months. :)

A few Marvel-inspired themes from last chapter and this one, three in total. Can you spot one of them? ;)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite, and followed. It's tremendously appreciated!

iii.

A civil war rages inside him all Sunday long.

His heart and his mind, which had acted against him the previous night, have turned against each other and are strongly pulling him in separate directions.

His heart tells him that he should take his chances and try to win Amaranth over. She makes him laugh, makes him feel great about everything. She makes him want to be better, for himself, for the people that they will be helping in the future, for her. She brings so much light, being by his side, and he's not too sure he wants to give that away.

But his mind always chastises him for these thoughts. She doesn't belong with him, he knows that. She belongs with his brother, and to take her away is criminal. It's also unkind to her. She only signed up for a friendship with him. Telling her these feelings will complicate everything. She's never going to like him back, so what's the use of confessing and making her feel like the bad guy?

He broods heavily upon these things until he goes to bed.

When he wakes up that Monday, he's decided he's going to tell her.

He plans out everything at breakfast – when he's going to talk to her, what he's going to say. He anticipates different responses she might give him and how he's going to reply to them.

His head swims with so many possibilities that he forgets about the results of the assessment coming out today. If they level up, new uniforms with their respective color patches will be sitting in their lockers to wear from that day onward. If they don't, their old uniforms will be waiting for them.

When he opens the storage box in his room, which has been serving as his locker, the high spirit he started his day with plunges to the floor then shatters like a vase.

As he stares at the colored patches, he remembers what all of this is, this friendship between them: it's a deal, nothing more, nothing less. Despite the result in front of him, she's already filled her share. Now it's his turn to fulfill his end of the bargain.

His mind resurges from its previous loss and suddenly, aggressively snatches away the victory.

It's a deal, and he can't cheat her out of it no matter how much he likes her.

"Oh, no!"

He slowly twirls around as he walks towards her, arms opened wide as he models his uniform with a weak grin. "Yep. Still a green bean," he tells her, trying to make the situation light.

She chuckles at his joke. "Oh, man. Leo, I'm so sorry," she says to him as he sits down to join her for lunch.

He sighs. "Yeah. Me, too. But at least I learned some new things," he says. He gives her a smile. In the process, he notices the green patches on her uniform. His eyes slightly widen in surprise. "Y-you…You got promoted?"

She slouches in discomfort. Touching a patch, as if trying to hide it behind her hand, she says, "Yeah. I'm sorry."

"No! Why are you sorry? This is a good thing!" he tells her excitedly, because he is happy for her. He's also jealous, just a tad bit, but he knows how hard she's trained for this, too. He grins. "You're a green bean now, too, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Did Big D and Chase get back with you yet to discuss your full standings?"

She shifts awkwardly. "Yeah."

He can see and hear that she's holding something back, so he prompts, "And…? What did they say?"

She looks at him apologetically and hesitantly, like she's afraid to disclose the entire truth to him. He decides he doesn't like that look, her being uncomfortable with him like that. "That I'm not too far off from Advanced level," she says quietly.

Despite that definitely stinging, he says sincerely, "That's great, Amaranth. I'm proud of you."

She smiles appreciatively, and he finds that it sweeps away the hurt and jealousy. "Thank you," she says.

He nods.

Soon, they fall into silence, but unlike the ones that occurred before, this one is somewhat strained. It makes him uneasy, the lack of words, because then his rebellious thoughts get the best of him.

While he's sorting things out, she's doing the same, too. She's stuck in the middle of opening her drink when something comes to her. She smiles as that something expands in her mind, to the fullest degree that it overtakes her and causes her to finally speak. "Hey, listen – about last Saturday? I had a great time."

He smiles back. "I'm glad that you did."

She mulls over her next words carefully, biting her lips. Then, "There's something I need to tell you."

"Okay."

"The dance…reminded me of something I've been keeping from you these past few weeks," she starts off reluctantly. She shoots that uncomfortable look at him again. He doesn't like it any better. She takes a deep breath. After a false start, she chuckles. "There's this guy that I like," she says, "and I kind of want to know if he likes me, too."

He smiles, because he understands—and it's the most excruciating thing he's ever had to do. "Say no more. I know who you mean," he says.

Her blue eyes slowly widen. "You do?"

He nods. "I do."

She grins bashfully. "Well, does he like me?" she asks.

He gazes at her one last time, knowing that after this he would be losing her. "You're an amazing girl, Amaranth. You're cool and creative and unbelievably kind. You're beautiful," he tells her. "Why wouldn't he like you?"

She stares at him, taken by his words. He watches as gradually, a different smile rises up to her lips, the kind that's warm and comforting and makes the darkness vanish. She's happiness again, perfect in its kind, but he knows that he has no right to it.

She's not his.

She's Adam's.

She invited him to hang out with her siblings at the beach after school to look through the pictures from prom night, and he told her he would come, but he can't bring himself to do it.

He's standing at the entrance of the Academy, debating his next move. He's seen her sitting in a semi-circle with Miller, Miles and an older brother named Donovan, laughing with them as they talked about Saturday night. His first instinct is to join them, but he knows he shouldn't. Spending more time with her will just make things more difficult than it already is.

Mind made up, he searches for Adam among the crowd but doesn't find him. He's about to go back inside to look for his brother when he feels a firm slap on his shoulder. "Hey," Adam says. "Why are you in here and not out there?"

He answers, "Oh, uh, just – I was waiting."

"Waiting? In here?"

"Yeah," he says.

"Oh. Okay." Adam frowns as his eyes sweeps along the coast. "Have you seen Bree? Mr. Davenport is looking for her. He says he needs to do a quick test on her chip."

"Yes, but she left about five minutes ago. She already went inside."

"Mm, she's probably with Mr. Davenport now then," Adam guesses.

"Yeah. Probably," he says distractedly. Looking up, he sees that Amaranth has spotted him and is now waving at him cheerfully. He smiles sadly as he waves back. As he watches her siblings depart one by one, he decides to act on his earlier decision. "Adam?"

"Yep."

Do it quick, like ripping off a Band-Aid. "What do you think of Amaranth?" he asks.

"Amaranth? Your friend?"

He nods.

He looks at her thoughtfully. "She's pretty," he says, but not with the conviction Leo wants to hear.

"Just pretty?" he asks.

Adam shrugs. "I mean, she's cool, too," he says. He then grins. "Awesome DJ. She taught me Saturday night how to operate the turntable, and she made it so fun! There were so many buttons and switches in there, and she told me what each one does, and she put it in a way that I can unders—"

"Yeah, that sounds great! Um…" he then stalls. Quickly, like a Band-Aid. "Do you – do you think you'll like her?"

Adam's features wrinkle. "Like her?"

"Yeah, like, like her like her."

She smiles at Leo when he looks at her.

Adam still doesn't understand.

"She likes you, Adam," he says.

Adam gapes. "She does?"

Something withers inside of him when he sees the curious way his brother now looks at her. He nods. "I just need to know if you will like her back," he says.

A huge grin pulls at Adam's mouth as he responds, "Yeah, of course! Oh, man. And here I thought she likes somebody else!"

He smiles at his brother, because even if he feels terrible, he is happy that she's going to be with a good guy like him. He pats him on the back then nods at her direction. "She's right there. Why don't you go talk to her?"

He observes wordlessly as his brother makes his way towards Amaranth. Amaranth, who's still smiling but is clearly confused, watches Adam as he approaches then sits beside her. Leo looks on as Adam greets her then she greets him back. Adam says something to her (he guesses he told her what he just found out), but instead of her expression brightening, it dims down into nothing. She then forces a small smile on her face. Leo reads an apology coming out from her lips before she darts a hurt glance at his direction. She shakes her head then proceeds to explain something to Adam.

"Ah," Adam appears to say while he nods. Then, he laughs lightly.

She bites her lip, and he can tell from far away that she's trying not to cry.

She's hurt, and it has Leo seeing red.

Instinctively, he marches towards them as she gets up to leave but doesn't catch up to her. He turns sharply towards Adam and asks heatedly, "What did you tell her?"

"I told her what you told me!" Adam replies, hands up and eyes wide as his little brother's reaction catches him by surprise.

"And you laughed at her?"

Adam chuckles nervously. "I laughed because I was right!" he says. "She likes somebody else!"

He eyes his brother in disappointment. He can't believe he laughed at her. However, what he can't believe more is that as her friend he misinterpreted everything, and because of that he has embarrassed her.

After darting a glare at his brother, he runs after Amaranth as she makes her way to the other side of the island. The students are looking at them as they pass by, but he doesn't care. He's too determined to talk to her. "Amaranth! Amaranth, wait!" he calls after her.

She stops.

"Amaranth, look – I'm sorry," he tells her as she faces him. "I didn't know. I honestly misunderstood. I thought you liked Adam." She only stares at him, and it's obvious that she's mad at him. He doesn't know if he can take it. So, he says, "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you. I'll talk to Chase tonight, in private, and I'll tell him—"

She scoffs, and it's apparent from her bitter grin that not only is she angry, but she's also extremely, incredibly, unbelievably insulted. Her eyes well with tears as she says, "You know, all you had to say was no. That would have been much better."

He frowns. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't worry. I get it now."

That confuses him more. "Get what now?" he asks. "Amaranth, I don't—"

"I was right," she says, her voice breaking. "You can be such a jerk."

Now he just has no idea what's happening.

He starts to reach out for her to offer consolation though he's as puzzled as can be, but before he can touch her hand she vanishes in a mist, leaving him with an empty space to grasp and disappointment to own.

Apparently, the students banding together against him is much worse than them making fun of him.

He learns it the very next day, when he's looking for Amaranth to talk to her. The other bionics have become very open with their dislike of him. They won't say anything demeaning, but it's obvious from the way the girls shoot him dirty looks and from the way the boys glare at him that he has done something that verily offended all of them. It doesn't bother him much at first, but when Miles rolls her eyes in annoyance then walks away from him when he tries to ask her where her sister is, he knows the situation is not good.

Even Spin's increased unruliness when dealing with him, which previously is not really much of a problem, raises red flags.

All of this wouldn't have mattered, though, if he just knew where Amaranth is. None of them would talk to him. He's banned from even thinking about setting foot at the dormitories, so he can't look for her there. He's only got a glimpse of her in Chase's class, and whenever he attempts to approach her, her brothers would quickly form a barricade to prevent him from coming closer to their sister. He texts her, leaves messages in her voicemail, does virtually everything to let her know that he's sorry, whatever it is he has done, he's really, really sorry, but he's been permanently shut out.

He doesn't know what to do. He's becoming desperate. He's willing to do anything just to talk to her and really figure out what it is that he seems to not understand.

The chance opens up during a class transition. He finds Bob, alone by the hydroloop, waiting for someone. After checking to see if any of Bob's siblings are there, he quickly grabs him by the arm from behind and pulls him towards the empty hallway. Bob looks at him like a deer caught in the headlights when he sees him. "Look, Bob, I'm really sorry to do this, but I need to know where Amaranth is," he says.

"Uh…" Bob peers behind him worriedly. "Sorry, Leo, but I'm not allowed to talk to you."

"Not allowed?"

"Yeah. Everybody's kind of…"

"…mad at me, I know," he says. "But, we're friends, aren't we? And you're not really mad at me, right?"

The worry on Bob's features evaporates, revealing that his assumption is wrong. "Actually, I am mad at you." When Leo's brows wrinkle, he clarifies, "Leo, you made my sister cry."

The first surprise of their conversation has him reeling back. He had done something terrible. "She cried?"

"Yeah. It was horrible. We all stayed up Monday night just to make sure she's okay. You should have seen how sad she was," Bob says. "She actually still is."

He sighs. She's right; he is a jerk. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I promise, it was never my intention to make her sad. I just wanted to help her. She's done so much for me, and I – I didn't know she likes Chase."

A frown slowly washes over Bob's features. He narrows his eyes. "Wait. So you really don't know?"

"Don't know what?"

Bob stares at him a while. Then, he throws his head back as he laughs. "Dude," he says, drawing out the word. "Are you serious?"

"Serious about what?" he asks, now getting slightly frustrated.

Bob grins at him then reveals the second surprise of their conversation. "Leo, Amaranth doesn't like Adam or Chase. She likes you."

That one has him stumped. He blinks after his mind completely blanked out. "Come again?"

"Amaranth's liked you since the first time we met your family," Bob explains. "She just didn't say anything because you were dating that other girl. When she found out that you weren't anymore, she waited then – here we are. When you talked to her at lunch Monday, she thought you understood, but when Adam came to her and said what you said, and then when you said what you said, she thought that that's your way of telling her you're not interested in her. That really hurt her, because with the bear and the shoes and the dance, she thought you liked her, too."

Leo stares at him in disbelief. Is it true? That she likes him? Is that what he's been missing all along? With renewed determination, he tells Bob, "I have to find your sister."

"Bob."

They look up and see Charlie and Donovan close by, arms crossed, clearly unhappy. "Come on. We're going to be late for class," Charlie says before darting a poisonous glare at the other boy.

Bob regards Leo apologetically. "Can't help you, bro. This is kind of something you have to put back together on your own," he says. Then, he jogs away towards his brothers, leaving Leo by himself.

Bob's words replays in his head as if on a loop. She likes you. She thought you liked her, too. It sounds so good, too good, so maybe it's not true. Maybe Bob didn't understand. Maybe she cried because she felt humiliated, because he gave her help that she probably didn't want. Maybe that's it.

But then, what he said makes sense. The way her face lit up when he told her he knew who she was talking about, the way she smiled sadly when Adam talked to her, the way she cried at the beach, all happiness gone from her face—it adds up. Oh, goodness, it does. It all adds up. And he's so stupid not to realize it.

He has to find her, before it's too late. He doesn't care how many students he has to battle just to get to her. True or not, he's going to tell her that he likes her, even if it hurts him.

A mission alert comes in Thursday afternoon. Authorities in a European country received a note that an explosive had been placed at a park and will go off in an hour. They had narrowed it down to two locations, but because of the distance apart and the scope of the places, they called in help from the bionics so that they can find the harmful device in time to disable it.

Because of the situation, Adam, Bree and Chase decide to bring in qualified students to assist.

Amaranth is chosen to be one of them.

He knows this is the worst time to attempt a conversation with her, but he doesn't have any choice. He sneaks out of the Academy, goes back to the lab where his stepfather's recently rebuilt Davenporter is, and then uses it to transport himself to the mission site to half find her and half help out.

Over the com set that he's taken with him, along with a few other mission gears, he overhears that the team of six has split into two groups: Adam, Bree and Jack at the location two hundred thirty five miles away, where they suspect the explosive is, and Chase, Charlie and Amaranth at the dense lakeside forest where he now stands.

He listens carefully to their conversations. With only fifteen minutes left on the clock, he decides to wait out until the mission is over before he looks for her. Right now, he's just dodging them, making sure that none of them knows he's there so he doesn't interrupt.

"I've searched through the whole perimeter here, but I didn't find anything," Bree reports.

"I didn't pick up anything either," Jack says.

"Are we even sure that there's a bomb here? What if the guys who sent it are just playing a prank?" Adam asks, obviously bored and tired of the search.

"We can't take our chances. If there really is one somewhere here, it can hurt the rangers who are out here to help us. And in that place where you're in, Adam – it can hurt more people," Chase says.

Adam sighs. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"Charlie, any news?" Chase asks.

"No. Just trees, trees and more trees," Charlie says.

"Amaranth?"

"Nothing in here, too," she says.

Leo keenly listens to his surroundings. At the same time, he keeps his eyes open for anything suspicious. Like Adam, he's getting somewhat anxious to find what they're all looking for so they can get out of there. Talk to Amaranth first, and then get out of there.

"Chase, what if I use my sound manipulation to act as a sonar? That way we can find it easier," Amaranth suggests.

Chase is silent for a second before he says, "That's a great idea, but with your frequency range it might trigger it to go off. Just keep searching. Where are you anyways?"

Amaranth says nothing for a while, and it makes Leo somewhat nervous. Then he hears behind him, "What are you doing here?"

Leo turns around in surprise and finds her frowning at him.

"Amaranth? Who's that? Who did you see?" Chase asks, somewhat alarmed.

Amaranth says nothing. She just stares at Leo and waits until he answers his brother's question.

He sighs. "Hi, Chase," he says, busted.

"Leo?" his siblings say in unison.

"What are you doing here?" Chase asks, now highly upset.

"Well, I heard that you guys were going to Europe, and I came here to join the party!" he says with a hopeful grin. "Well, actually, just Chase's party, if you know what I mean."

"How did you even get here?"

"Big D's teleporter."

A sigh. "I'm calling Mr. Davenport…"

"Twelve minutes left, Chase," Bree reminds him.

"…After the mission is over," Chase amends. "You're going to be in so much trouble."

Leo can only imagine the punishments his parents are going to give him when he comes back, but he can't do anything about it now. So instead, he just turns off his com set and makes the best out of what he has. He turns his attention back to Amaranth, who has turned off hers, too. "Can we talk after this?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "No."

"Please? Just one minute, before we go home. Just hear me out," he pleads.

"No. I don't want to talk to you anymore," she says resolutely. Leo can read anger in her features, but he can also see the sadness Bob told him about. In a milder tone, she says, "You should probably get out of here. Find Chase. Charlie's close by, and he's going to be upset if he sees you."

"Amaranth—"

She again vanishes in a mist.

He groans then whines. This geo-leaping thing is really making it hard for him to catch up to her. He briefly wonders if this is even worth the frustration. He's so limited to his humanness, and she's able to do much more. This misunderstanding alone has been requiring him triple the effort to resolve, which he doesn't even seem remotely close to achieving. How much harder will it be if the situation is more complex?

But he remembers that, with all good things, hard work will always be required. It was the case with the assessment. Though he failed that one, it shouldn't deter him from giving the chance for just one conversation with her his all. She's worth it, so he's not going to let himself fail this time.

He turns on his com set before making his way towards the lake.

"I know. Just stay in there, just in case. You have more people to worry about there than we do here," he hears Chase saying.

"Okay," Bree says.

The conversation lays static for a while.

Then, Charlie speaks, "Chase, Amaranth and I are by the lake. We found it."

Knowing that he's closer, Leo heads towards them.

"On my way there. Bree?"

"Just need to get Adam and Jack. We're coming."

"Okay. We still have roughly eight minutes to disable it."

"Uh…" Amaranth starts nervously, "we don't. There's only a minute and a half left on the clock."

"What?"

"It's a trap," Chase tells them as he realizes it. "Bree, get the rangers out of here."

"On it."

"Charlie?"

"I'll try to disable it," he says.

Amaranth gasps. "Wait, no, Charlie–" There is a loud thump then a crash. "Charlie!"

Leo runs and wishes at that moment that he had Bree's super speed.

"Amaranth, what happened?" Chase asks.

"They've set something around the explosive, and – Charlie's knocked out," Amaranth reports in distress.

Barely a minute left, Leo thinks.

"Just get out of there," Chase instructs.

Leo reaches the lakeside just in time to see Amaranth sitting by Charlie, holding onto him, mist appearing and then disappearing around her. "I can't," she replies quietly, disheartened as she sees the negative effect of her strong emotions. "My bionics are glitching."

"Bree—"

"Chase, I can't!"

"No. There's not enough time. Others come first," Amaranth says firmly, realizing then that she and her older brother are about to die.

"Amaranth, no!"

"No, Jack—"

"Let me go, Adam! My siblings are in there!"

"Chase! Where are you?"

"Bree, get them first—"

With a few seconds left, Leo runs in between Amaranth, Charlie and the explosive. He holds out his right hand despite knowing that he's taking a risk.

When the explosive goes off, he activates his energy transference and absorbs all the energy. It's a terrifying spectacle, one that he has the front seat to, seeing all the angry flames and the results of chemical reaction swirling and zooming towards his hand as if he's holding a vortex. There's too much of it, although, he can tell, because his arm is starting to tingle in a very excruciating way, but he sticks to it until all is gone even if he can feel some things inside him rupturing and his hearing suddenly ebbing out.

He then concentrates all of the energy he has absorbed into a sphere, like he has learned from his trainings with Douglas. He forms it until it has completely encapsulated the energy he can't neutralize. Then, using his super strength, he hurls it far to the middle of the lake.

As soon as the sphere touches the surface, the unstable energy it holds explodes, causing the water to curve then ripple into big waves that lessen in volume as it travels to the shore. Leo shields his face as droplets spray around them. The echo that the reaction created is loud, but he doesn't hear any of it. All that comes to him is that shrill monotonous ringing.

He soon brings his arm down slowly and sees the damage his action has inflicted on him. Burns and blisters riddle the skin on his right arm. Underneath, it feels like his bones have been burnt. He looks at his other hand as he turns around. Blotches of deep purple and red bloom under his skin, along where his veins are.

He lifts his eyes up to find Amaranth gazing at him in horror. She says his name, but he doesn't hear. The only other sound to fill his ears is his own breathing, now labored as his insides twitches just to function.

As too much pain overcomes him, his brain automatically shuts him down. He falls to the ground with a thump.

The last vision he sees is of Chase rushing towards him, with Adam and Bree emerging from the forestry behind, before he lost consciousness.

He wakes up to a beeping sound overhead.

He slowly blinks back the haze in his eyes and the fog inside his head.

The first sight he sees is the off-white walls, and it tells him that he's in his room at the quarters.

The first observation he makes is that his body, especially his right side, feels unusually heavy, and it tells him that something is wrong. It causes him to panic slightly.

Looking down, he finds that he's wearing the blue and gray shirt his aunt Janice gave him last year when she visited, the one that came with the plaid pajama set. From under the left side of his collar, there's something plastic sticking out, and he can feel wires taped around it. He guesses it must be recording his vitals, letting whoever's watching from the outside know how he's doing.

He examines his right side next, and sees his sleeve rolled up to accommodate a metallic gauntlet binding his forearm. He checks his left arm and finds that it, too, has the curious device on. In fear that he has lost both of his arms this time, he tries to move his fingers to see if they're still there.

He feels them moving though weakly.

"You're awake!"

He looks up and sees Bree coming into the room with a huge grin, Chase and Adam walking in right behind her.

He releases a breath he didn't know he was holding, because seeing them lets him know that he's really safe.

Adam excitedly holds up a newspaper and says, "Look, Leo! You're dead!"

He examines the front page. He doesn't understand the words on it, but he recognizes the picture in the middle. It's of the lake at the mission site.

With a smirk and a roll of her eyes, Bree snatches the paper away from Adam.

"Miscommunication," Chase explains to his brother. "Mr. Davenport tried to tell to the authorities there that you were badly hurt, but his very nervous interpreter told them, and I quote, you 'were badly died.'"

His brows wrinkle. "How long have I been out?" he asks, his voice somewhat hoarse.

"A week," Bree says.

"A week?"

"Yeah. You nearly killed yourself with what you did," Bree says.

He glances at the gauntlet on his right arm. "He didn't turn me into a cyborg this time, did he?" he asks seriously.

Adam grins.

Bree and Chase chuckle. "No," Chase says. "Douglas and Mr. Davenport placed the gauntlets on you as compressions and to track how you're healing. Even though you were able to neutralize and expel most of the energy from the blast, your body still absorbed some of it. Thankfully, the amount wasn't very lethal, but it did fry the bionic circuitry on your right arm. It also ruptured veins on your left and on some of your organs."

Adam smiles at his youngest brother, and it's evident through it that what happened has given him a scare. "Yeah. We really thought we were going to lose you there, buddy," he tells him.

He smiles back apologetically. Something that Chase said then replays in his head, and it pulls out the expression from his face. "So – does that mean I'm not bionic anymore?" he asks him.

"No! I mean, no, it doesn't mean that but yes, you're still bionic," Chase says with a laugh. "Like the first time when your arm got…you know, Douglas still used the same components to fix what's been destroyed."

"So I still have all three abilities."

"Yeah. Three." Then Chase mutters, "For now."

He stares at him. He knows there's something that his older brother isn't telling him, but he decides to save that conversation for a later time when he has enough energy to react properly. Turning to Bree, he asks, "How's Amaranth and Charlie? Are they okay?"

"Amaranth's fine. Charlie's still recovering, but he's okay, too. His siblings have been giving him the superstar treatment ever since we came back," Bree replies.

Adam laughs. "Oh, speaking of superstar treatment…" he nods at the bedside table.

Leo turns his head to where his brother directed him to look. Different objects cluster that side of the room. In there are balloons, flowers, a surfboard with messages and names signed on it, candy bars from the cafeteria, melted trays from the cafeteria, seashells and other smaller things that he can't really see from where he is.

"Jack's been telling his siblings about what happened during the mission," Adam explains. "That's just their way of saying thank you for saving Amaranth and Charlie."

Leo looks back at the random items. This time, a small curl pulls at his lips.

Bree's brows softly knit when an inquiry comes to mind. "Leo? What were you really doing at the mission site?" she asks.

Leo regards her blankly. He then blinks in surrender. "I wanted to talk to Amaranth," he confesses.

"Why? And why didn't you just wait until she comes back?"

He sighs. "The situation here wasn't really ideal," he says. "And I needed to talk to her because I just wanted to know if what...someone…told me is true."

"What someone told you?"

"That she likes me," he answers awkwardly.

His siblings exchange glances.

Then, "Someone needs to take a social class next semester," Adam singsongs, grinning.

Leo frowns. "Huh?"

"Man, the whole school knows that Amaranth has a crush on you," Chase says, laughing again. "Even our family knows! You've spent almost every day with her, how – How could you not know?"

He's as stunned as when Bob told him about it. He also feels embarrassed. He stammers, "Well, I – I didn't think that she likes me, and I thought she was just helping me out with leveling up with the assessment, but then I stayed at green, but I know I still had to help her with the person she likes and – I was still trying to get over what happened with Janelle, okay? And—ah!"

Bree eases him back down as he huffs in pain. "Okay, okay, settle down. We get it," she assures him.

Wincing, he looks up at his sister. "Why didn't you guys tell me?" he asks.

"It's not my place to tell," Bree tells him simply.

Chase raises his hand and says, "In my defense, I thought you guys were already dating."

Adam shrugs. "Didn't really know until she told me herself," he says.

He breathes out and realizes that he's starting to feel very tired.

Chase's features wrinkle. "Wait. You said you stayed at green?"

He wants to say 'yes,' but he's too winded so he just nods.

Chase shakes his head. "That's not possible. I did your assessment myself. You're ranked as Advanced," he says. He looks at Adam. "Didn't you give him his new uniform?"

"Yeah! I put it in his locker by the Training Center," Adam says.

Chase glares at him. "Adam. He doesn't have a locker. He lives with us."

Adam ponders over it. Then, he chuckles. "Oh, yeah," he says, nodding. "I think I accidentally put it in Donovan's locker. I was wondering why he's an orange when his aim is so bad."

Bree narrows her eyes. "He's almost twice Leo's size. Wouldn't it have looked awkward on him?"

Adam hitches a shoulder. "Yeah, but the dude's been bench pressing weights non-stop, so."

Bree narrows her eyes more but soon decides to shake the thought off.

Leo's almost halfway back to sleep when his siblings address him again. "You're still barely at the safe zone, Leo. Why don't you wait for another week to talk to Amaranth?" Bree asks.

He shifts. "But if I don't talk to her now, she might not talk to me again," he answers blearily.

Chase gets up from his seat. "She'll talk to you, I promise," he tells his brother. "Just go back to sleep."

Adam says something, but it doesn't register to him. He's already softly snoring by the time the sentence is finished.

Seeing that he's out, his siblings leave him, Chase turning down the lights for his little brother before closing the door behind him.

He does a lot of sleeping during the next week and a half, but he also does a lot of getting better.

As Chase has said, going to the mission unauthorized gets him in serious trouble. His parents hold back when they talk to him, but he can see in his mother's eyes that he's done something that incurred her wrath. It's in a raincheck for now, while he's still not very well, but she says that he will be cashing in on it in about a month's time. He's moved to fake out being sick when that day arrives, but she's his mother, and more than likely it won't work, so he just prepares himself for whatever will come his way.

Still, he apologizes to them, because he owes them that.

Douglas comes in pretty regularly to help him with gaining mobility, a physical therapy of sorts. He's not as frantic as his parents, but Leo can tell during the sessions that his step-uncle didn't like what he did either. He tells him, too, that he's sorry, but Douglas just replies with a grumble and a "Just don't do it again." Douglas is not sold, especially because from time to time he gets to watch his step-nephew struggle with the effects of the damages, and Leo knows that, but at least it's a start.

The students, on the other hand, have a more positive approach when they visit him. Under Bree's supervision, Charlie, Miles, Miller and Spin are the first ones to visit him. It starts off awkward at first, but once the words 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry' come out from both camps, everything goes much smoother. Bob, Jack and Amaranth visit him the next day. Amaranth sits back and lets her brothers talk, but from the smile she gives him, Leo knows that they're okay and that he'll get to straighten everything out with her when he's ready.

Once Douglas gives him clearance, only to attend the afternoon classes, he rejoins everyone at the Academy Tuesday after lunch. He's a bit nervous, walking in with that specialized crutch, the arm compression sleeves, and a limp. His only source of confidence, really, falls on the orange patches that now sit on his shoulders.

However, when he gets circled by nearly everyone as soon as he sits down at his regular table, all of them asking him how he is and telling him how they've been waiting for him to come back, he discovers that his anxiety has been baseless.

Three days later, while the rest is inside preparing for the now monthly movie night in town, he finds himself sitting at the beach, staring out to the waters ahead. Beside him is Amaranth, quietly observing the birds flying miles away with the binoculars Chase had let her borrow.

He looks down on the black and yellow shoes sitting in between them before glancing at the green patches on her uniform then the orange on his. "There's something vaguely stoplight-ish going on here," he observes astutely.

She turns her eyes to what he's looking at. "Oh, yeah," she says. She picks up her shoes and then slips it back on. She beams, "There. Much better."

He smiles back. The silence between them is comfortable, and he almost doesn't want to disturb it, but his words, all built up for weeks now, do not allow him to just sit by. He almost died just trying to talk to her, and to rescind that chance now would plainly not make any sense. "I'm sorry I hurt you," he tells her. "I'm just… I guess there were a lot of things going on that I wasn't really thinking clearly."

She puts down the binoculars. The smile comes back to her face when she tells him, "Okay."

"Okay." He scratches his head awkwardly. "Oh, by the way, uh, Bob and my siblings told me something."

She tilts her head curiously.

"And you'll probably find it funny, but, uh…" he stalls, and he feels like a coward trying to avoid the topic like this. He takes a few seconds to gather any courage he can take a hold of, any that hasn't yet hidden from him yet, before continuing. He chuckles to diffuse his nervousness. "They told me you like me?"

She stares at him, as if asking why that would be funny.

He's known it, has suspected it, and has been told it, but hearing it from her (or, actually, seeing it) makes an entirely different impact. He's in that emotional tilt-a-whirl again, but this time he's spinning within a ride that makes him feel, well, awesome. Words, phrases and sentences rush up to his mouth, but he restrains them to prevent himself from babbling. He pores over them, picks the right ones, and uses those to further the conversation. "Ah. Okay. So you do," he says.

She chuckles. "Bob told me you didn't know while you were out. Kinda made sense, why you're trying to pair me with Adam then Chase."

He nods. "Did Bob also tell you that I like you back?"

Now she's the one who's surprised.

He grins. "Oh, good. It's kind of something I wanted to tell you myself," he says. He takes in a breath then releases it. He's set on telling her again that he likes her, but then he remembers something: three years ago, on this day, he took Janelle on their first date.

That memory doesn't hold any special place in him anymore, but at the same time he doesn't want to start a new relationship on the same date his former one began. He doesn't want Amaranth to live in the shadows of his past one. He wants her to have her special date and special memories, because she's worthy of all of it. She deserves all the perks of being in a relationship with someone starting over again and who will definitely make sure that everything will work this time.

"Amaranth," he says, "I like you a lot, but – do you mind waiting just a little bit longer before we start this? There's some more pulling myself together that I kinda have to do. It's not going to take me forever, I promise! But, I just need some time."

She smiles, and he catches a glimpse of that happiness that he's now sure he'll get to see frequently. "I've waited for months. I think I can handle waiting a little bit longer," she tells him.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Later, she grins as she looks into her binoculars. "By the way, on that first day you talked to me?" she says. "I was staring at you because you're beautiful."

He looks at her, and then he laughs, unknowingly bringing about an anticipation of what their future will bring now that it's filled with at least one bright prospect to look forward to.

Almost a month later, three weeks after summer began, they go on their first date at an event in downtown San Francisco, thus becoming the second couple to have formed at the Academy (Miller and Caitlin's cousin, both of whom had kept in contact with each other since prom, became official two days beforehand).

END.