so this chapter took a while to get up. I haven't been able to use a computer for a while, but it's also the longest one I've written for this story so far.

And I had a lot of trouble actually writing it, but I think it came out alright. So enjoy and stuff I guess. I'll try and get the next chapter up reasonably soon.


They reached the 'city' in only a couple of hours. In actuality, in was a bunch of three story brick buildings in a line, and then a bunch of little houses. In the distance, you could see a large mansion, surrounded by an immense amount of sparkling grass.

It annoyed Liza, just like all rich people and expensive things did. Why waste your money in a mansion when you could fix up a falling apart orphanage?

She could remember the nights when she was little, in the winter, when her and the other girls in her room would all curl in one or two of the cots, trying to conserve body heat and protect themselves from the cold air that would drift through the walls.

She tried not to pay attention to the mansion.

Her and Scott found a little diner, where they each ate a pile of pancakes, because they were only serving breakfast that early in the morning.

When they'd finished eating, Scott had left her in the diner, telling her to stay out, while he went to search for a cheap motel.

So she sat inside of the little diner with its wooden chairs and tables, and it's classic waitresses with pigtails and checkered aprons.

At least the food was good.

Scott had left her a couple of dollars, so she ordered herself a cup of coffee, and watched as the little city woke up, and the streets became filled with people, the all seemed to walk everywhere, and only two cars passed the little business.

It was kind of a comfy homey feeling here, Elizabeth thought to herself, as she watched pedestrians greet each other in the street. Everyone seemed to know everyone else.


*Scotts POV*

Scott walked down the now crowded street. He didn't like being in the midst of a lot of people. There was that much more of a risk that his glasses would fall off.

So he kept towards the edges of the crowd. That ended up being his mistake. He should have realized that even in tiny cities like this one that there would be thieves and muggers. But of course, he hadn't thought of that.

So when someone pulled him backwards into and ally, he was incredibly shocked.

When he saw a gun pointed at his head, he couldn't think straight. The only actual thought that went through his head was the signal word 'shit'.

There were two men in the ally. One was restraining his arms, and the other stood in front of him with the gun aimed directly at Scott's forehead.

The man with the gun opened his mouth, as if to speak, but before he could, there was a flash of motion, and suddenly the man was on the ground.

A guy who looked like he was in his late teens stood over him.

Then man restraining Scott shoved him to the ground, and went to pick a fight with the kid.

As Scott hit the ground, his glasses flew off. All he could see was red. Even more so than usual. It was as if the entire world had been set on fire, and Scott was in the center. And then Scott forced his eyes closed.

he didn't know what happened after that until he felt his glasses forced into his hand. He placed them on his face and opened his eyes. The kid was standing over him now, his hand out as if to help him up.

Scott accepted his help, and stood up. Both men were gone. He looked at the kid, and muttered his thanks, before trying to rush around him and out of the ally. It wasn't that he hadn't been grateful, but the kid had seen his eyes go all flamey and stuff, and he really needed to get back to Liza and out of that town.

It didn't work like that.

The kid seemed to anticipate his movement, and moved to stand directly in front of him.

"Your eyes pack a pretty good punch there" he said, but there was something wrong in his voice.

It wasn't shock, fear, disgust or even awe. Scott could've anticipated any of those. It was in fact, that the kids voice was noticeably absent of all of those traits.

"I know all about that kind of thing." The kid said, meeting Scotts eyes with his own. "I'm Alex. Do you think we could talk somewhere?" He asked.

Scott stared at him for a moment. There was something incredibly familiar in his face.

Land had he just said he knew all about the fire? Scott wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but yes he decided, he would have to talk to this kid. See if he posed a threat to him and Liza.

"I'm Scott. " he responded warily, "And... I guess so."


Twenty minutes later, they walked into the diner, with Elizabeth staring up at them in confusion.

"Scott?" She said in a questioning tone.

"It's alright Liz," he responded, trying to ease her mind. He turned to Alex. "This is my little sister, Elizabeth."

Alex's eyes flicked up at him, and he asked hesitantly, "Does she do it too?"

"Not exactly." Scott sighed, "But it's close enough."

He walked over to the table Liz was sitting at, and sat down next to her. Alex sat on the opposite side of the table.

"Liza, " Scott began, gauging her reaction carefully, "this is Alex, he just pretty much saved my life, but when he did, my glasses fell off." He watched as his little sisters eyes widened.

"What happened!" She demanded.

He sighed, he knew that she would react like this. While he had come to accept that the fire was a part of him, and he count do anything, it still scared him. It scared Liza ten times more.

"Nothing important but-"

"Scott Summers!" She exclaimed, "if it involved your life needing to be saved-"

"Liz, you need to calm down, I'm fine, no one dis hurt-"

"Wait a minute, Your last name is Summers?" Alex asked, a strange look on his face.

That made Liza's mood flip to confusion in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, Why?"

"Nothing, just your names are Scott and Elizabeth Summers. That sounds really familiar. Plus that's my last name."

"Your name is Alex Summers?!" Scott demanded, sure they had come across kids named Alex before, it was a common name, but never before had someone told him that their name was Alex Summers. "How old are you?"

"Why does that-"

"Just tell me!"

"I'm fifteen." He stammered out.

"When's your birthday?" Elizabeth breathed out.

"I dunno actually, when I was little I ended up in an orphanage after the plane crash that killed my parents. All I knew was my name, and that I was three. "

Scott could think straight. This kid was fifteen, and his parents had died spin a plane crash when he was three. To top it all off, his name was actually Alex Summers.

Eliza seemed to be in a similar state.

"Where did this happen," she asked in a breathy voice.

"Why should I tell you?" Alex demanded.

"Was it over Nebraska?" Scott asked in a hard voice.

"How...? Yeah. The Kansas Nebraska border. "

Scott closed his eyes. This couldn't be happening. Alex couldn't be alive. It just wasn't possible.

He heard a rustling noise, and opened his eyes to see Eliza digging through her bag. He knew what she was getting. Her and Alex had had matching teddy bears when they were little. Hers was pink, and his was blue, and each had their initials on it, but they had never used their own, they had always switched.

Sure enough, her hand retreated from the bag holding Alex's bear.

"When you were little... " she hesitated, "did you have one of these? But pink? With E.S on the feet?"

Alex stared at her. Then he slowly reached his hand out to touch the bear.

"with a bow on its neck." he breathed out.

"and the bow said Lizzy." Liza replied. Slowly she tugged the ribbon she wore around her wrist off. On it was childish writing in permanent marker reading the word "Al"

She let out a little sob, as Scott watched, hardly able to believe what was happening in front of him.

"Alex." And he reached across the table to pull his little brother into a hug.