Open Your Eyes

Chapter Two

But after that half second that felt like eternity, the old Sam was back. The Sam she knew, the smiley one who always had a grin on his face and a glint in his eyes. "Yeah, sure. What about?" His happy disposition changed to a look of concern. "Um, Ava, you feeling okay? You look like you just saw a ghost..."

I did, she thought. I saw the ghost of what you've become.

"I'm...I'm fine. I just...thought of something that I saw the other day. But," she said, trying to change the subject, "about what I wanted to say to you." She grabbed his wrist, and led him to her room.

Sam's eyes widened. "Woah, kitty cat, where the he-"

Ava growled, cutting him off. "IDIOT! Nothing like that. I need to talk to you. In private." She shoved Sam on her bed, and sat down in her desk chair. "Now. We all know something's up." She stared at him, silently urging him to open up.

Sam blanched. "W-what do you mean something's up?" He asked carefully. Ava could tell he knew she was onto him.

"Something's up with YOU. Don't pretend. In fact, stop pretending. Please. Just tell me. I can keep a secret, you know. I know who Peter has a crush on, and I haven't told anyone," She said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.

The faintest flicker of curiosity flitted across Sam's face, but he didn't say anything. "You wouldn't understand. Nobody would," he finished softly, looking at Ava's fluffy white comforter, stroking it.

Ava furrowed her eyebrows, impatient. "Well, WHAT wouldn't I understand? We're a TEAM, Sam! You can tell us these things!" Her voice rose a few octaves, close to pulling her hair out in frustration. Why won't Sam just say what was going on?

"Do you ever realize how lucky we are, Ava?" He said, his voice small.

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Us. I mean, look at us. We work with S.H.I.E.L.D, we get to live on the tri-carrier, we go to school, we have friends and family...that's a whole lot more than some people have," Sam looked up at her, his icy blue eyes glassy with unshed tears. "There are- there are others out there. Others who have nothing, others who are on the run, hiding from the bad guys. And they're just children. Children, Ava. Like us. None of us, none of them, deserve what they have to go through. And when- when you're trying to help, you realize. You realize how lucky you are." Sam put his head in his hands, rubbing his temples. "I want to help, Ava. I try. But HOW?" He said in a whisper.

Ava was shell-shocked. Sam. Sam. What the #*! was Sam talking about? Who are they? WHAT are they? Her mind buzzing with unasked questions, she did the last thing she ever thought she would do. She hugged him.

She sat on the bed with the remnants of a cheerful boy. Someone she knew she could always count on when she got depressed, depressed about her family, the amulet, anything. She always knew she could count on Sam to be there for her, to crack a joke when she was feeling down, to give her a hug when she needed one.

And now it was him. He, the depressed one. So she did what he always did for her.

She enveloped him in a hug. "Sam," she said, not sure of what to say. "There's a difference between caring about something, or someone, and loving them. If you care about someone, you care about them. It's as simple as that. But if you truly love someone...it's different. If you truly love someone, you're already making a difference for that person. When someone has nothing, if you love them, guess what? They have you. You, Sam. Whether you know it or not, you've already made a difference, simply by loving. If that person is the world to you, you're the world to them."

Sam said nothing, nor did she. She held him, hoping, waiting, praying, for the old Sam to come back, just a little. She wanted old Sam back. She really did.

Sam pulled away, a small smile on his face. "I now realize why you won that oral presentation contest in school last month. Ava, can you come with me? Please? I have some people I want you to meet." He sat up, and pulled his helmet on. "And suit up."

Her eyes wide, she began to grab her costume from her dresser. She went into the bathroom to change, Sam waiting outside for her. Once she had her costume on, she sat in her desk chair once again. "What now, Nova?"

"Follow me." He held her by her waist, hugging her to his chest as he jumped out the window. Ava now realized why he went out for midnight flights, why he always stayed in the sky as long as possible. She felt she knew what it was like to be a bird, not just a tiger.

It was amazing.

The wind blowing past her, the sunset around her, a beautiful blend of pinks, oranges, and purples. Sam took her even higher up, but not so high as she couldn't breath. Just high enough to see clouds, and the setting sun.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" He yelled across the wind.

She simply nodded in agreement, not wanting to speak, not wanting to ruin the feeling. Ava had never been afraid of heights; always going on roller coasters and Ferris wheels when she and her family had gone to amusement parks. Another repressed memory.

But then Sam touched down, on a sidewalk in what looked like a sketchy part of New York. It looked vaguely familiar; she'd probably been here on a patrol before.

The sun had almost set by now, the street lamps casting an eerie glow on the surprisingly empty street and sidewalk. The street looked almost abandoned, which was extremely out of character for New York. "Why isn't anyone out?" She asked, turning to Sam.

He shrugged, the helmet bouncing. "I don't know. Guess not much traffic." As if on cue, a car sped past them. "Well, there's your traffic for you."

They stood there in silence for a moment, Ava feeling a little confused. "Um...why did you want me to come here again?" She asked in confusion.

"Look around, Ava. What do you see?" Sam gestured to the dimly lit sidewalk they were standing on.

She scanned the street, the buildings, the sidewalks. "Nothing," she concluded.

Sam frowned. "Look again. Look harder."

And then she saw the girl.

The dark figure coming out from the shadows. As she started approaching, she could see a face, a person.

A kid.

The girl came out, a girl a little younger than Ava, with wavy dirty blonde hair, and dark blue eyes. Sam smiled at her, one of his old, truly happy smiles, the smile that she'd missed over the past few weeks.

"Hi, Saph. Saph, this is White Tiger. She's a friend."

Ava could feel the girl's eyes scrutinizing her. She obviously considered Sam a friend. These were the people he must have been talking about. She smiled at the girl, doing her best to not appear as a threat. "Hey,"

The girl narrowed her sapphire-blue eyes, and something incredible happened.

Wings unfolded from her back, white, fluffy wings, like an angel. Ava judged that the girl – Saph – was seeing how Ava reacted to her wings. So Ava kept her face expressionless, even though she was surprised. "Nice wings," she said passively.

"Thank you," Saph said with a small smile. "Sam, quien es ella? Esta a confiar?" Ava recognized the language she spoke as Spanish, though she didn't know what Saph said.

Sam put a hand on Ava's shoulder. "A menos que yo te digo que no. Saph, this is White Tiger, also known as Ava-" Ava tensed. "Sam, what the #*! are you doing? You can't reveal my identity!" She hissed in his ear.

"She can keep a secret. She's been keeping a secret her entire life," He responded. "As I was saying, this is Ava Ayala. She's my friend, and a friend to you." He shot a warning glance to Ava.

Ava could feel the eyes watching her, and knew it wouldn't be good to disagree. She'd keep whatever secret Sam had. For now.

"Yeah. I'm not telling. But...um...may I ask who are you, exactly?" She tried to choose her words carefully.

Saph, Ava assumed, stepped forward, so she was only a few feet apart from Ava, her white wings spread behind her. "Can we trust you?" She tilted her head to the side.

Ava nodded, more curious than ever. "Of course."

"Good. My name is Sapphire Silver, Saph for short-"

"Wait," Ava interrupted. "Sapphire Silver? Your parents own Silver Corporations?"

"Yeah. They used to. I'm getting to that." She cleared her throat, and continued. "Anyway, yes, my parents own Silver Corporations. But...they died, recently, and my older brother, Dan, is only 15, not old enough to take on the company yet. So the COO of Silver, Jasmine Halley, took over. Miss Halley, she knows the family secret. My parents never knew that, but we found out when Miss Halley pushed Dan out of a fifth-story window and told him to fly. He did; he had no choice. And, after my parents died, who I now assume were assassinated by Miss Halley's associates, Dan and I knew that she was going to take...advantage of us, learn our secrets, and sell them to the rest of the world. I mean, how much would you pay to fly?"

Remembering her flight with Sam, and how exhilarating it was, she said, "A lot."

Saph nodded. "Exactly. So Dan and I had no choice but to run, you see. Miss Halley is ruthless. She would dissect us, children, if she knew she could make a profit. A fortune, if she actually knew how to replicate our wings. Dan and I knew we were in trouble, and we still are now. So we roamed the streets, finding other powered people to protect us, the family secret, and take Miss Halley down." Saph crossed her arms. "These are some...family friends, bodyguards that were hired for me and Dan, before things went south. They're still loyal to the Silver family

Ava had been through a lot of trauma and suffering. But dissection? She'd never had to face that. She had a few questions regarding Saph's story, such as how her parents died, why Dan fell out of a window, and what exactly was Saph's family's secret. But she didn't want to pry any more than she had. She decided to ask Sam later.

She was about to ask Saph how she met Sam, but there was something buzzing at the back of her head. That feeling that you know something, but you can't remember –

Halley. Hale.

Ava recognized the name Jasmine Halley. Or her real name, Yasmine Hale. She had been searching through the S.H.I.E.L.D Index on one of her off days, with no studying to do, her homework done, and the boys at Peter's house playing video games or something stupid like that. So she had decided to search through the Index, just to get a jump on any new villains they might fight. And one of the powered people in New York was Yasmine Hale, also known as Jasmine Halley. Yasmine had super-strength and clairvoyance, due to a freak accident at Silver Corporations. But the Index had listed her as passive. Clearly, that wasn't the case. Maybe the freak accident – some sort of falling into the large vat of bio-weapon chemicals – had made her go a little crazy. It's happened before, what with Goblin and Doc Ock and Electro and you get the idea, Ava thought.

"Saph – Jasmine Halley? Or her real name, Yasmine Hale? She found out because she has clairvoyance. She knows what'll happen, including knowing Dan can fly. I saw her on the Index, a list of powered people we have in sh- Sam, have you told her about...it?"

Sam nodded.

"Well, the Index is a list of powered people we have in S.H.I.E.L.D. We use it to keep of powered people, in case we need it for something like now. Taking down a villain. You know you'll have to go on the Index, right?"

Saph stared at Ava. "No, I won't. I'm not a single powered person, I'm part of a-"

A beeping noise cut her off. Saph looked down at a silver bracelet with a round silver pendant dangling from it. She tapped the pendant, and a screen came up.

"Dan says he won't be back until sunrise next morning, he's gathering our allies. We've been roaming around New York for the past few weeks, trying to get powered people that don't have anywhere to go to join us. Dan says he wants to make a team to help us run Silver Co. once we get it back, and help us take down Miss Halle- Hale. Miss Hale. If she's as powerful as you say she is, and she has the full of Silver Corporation on her side, then we're going to need help. Lots of it," Saph said.

And the past few weeks were when Sam was acting strange. Maybe he was helping Dan? It would make sense, and with the whole helping people, if Dan and Saph have been on the streets trying to find powered people to help them.

"What if we got the team to-" Sam interrupted Ava by shaking his head.

"No. No one except for us can be in on this, because we don't want S.H.I.E.L.D to know. Then they'll have questions, questions Saph and Dan would rather not have to answer. Questions about them, questions about their powers, questions about-"

"No le digas demasiado, Sam. Confío en ti, pero no estoy seguro acerca de ella," Saph told him, again speaking in Spanish.

"Quiero confiar en ella, pero por otra parte, hay un montón de gente que no se puede confiar. Y ella es una parte de S.H.I.E.L.D. Puedes confiar en mí, porque me gustaría convertir fácilmente la espalda a ellos si hicieron algo no estaba de acuerdo con el, pero ella no estoy seguro," Sam replied. All this Spanish was making Ava nuts.

"Why do you speak in Spanish?" Ava asked Saph.

"It's the native language of my kind."

Ava raised her eyebrows. "Forgive me for prying, but what exactly is your kind?"

"We are known as the los Angeles del Otro. The Otherworldy Angels,"

I will leave you to wonder about the Otherworldy Angels.

If you want your OC to be a part of the Saph and Dan's team, then fill out the form below! Please note that I am only going to choose 3 or 4 OCs, so the more in-depth and 3-D your OC is, the better chance of me choosing it. Here are the rules below:

They must be between or the ages of 12 and 15.

No over-powered people, or Mary-Sues. They're allowed to have powers, but keep it on the down low at one or two powers.

You have to explain why they chose to side with them, and how they met Dan.

Canon relationships are not guaranteed, as more then one person might choose the same USM boy.

Your OC does NOT have to be a superhero. They can just be a powered person, or even a villain. Superhero, civilian, villain, I'd like a mix.

You can submit as many OCs as you want, but there's no guarantee I'll use any of them. But if you're one of those people like me who just love to create OCs, go crazy!

You must fill out the form below to be accepted.

Name:

Nickname/s (if any):

Age:

Gender:

Affiliation (good, bad neutral):

Looks:

Civilian clothes:

Superhero outfit (optional):

Villain outfit (optional):

Powers and how they got those powers:

How they met Dan:

Why they wanted to help Dan and Saph:

Why they were on the streets:

Love interest (A USM person [see above] or Dan or Saph):

And that's it! I know that's a whole lot of rules and a crazy long OC form, but I want detailed characters. The more detailed, the better, and the better I can know them and write them. And I need to know some things about them regarding to Dan and Saph, too.

I do need an older OC, Yasmine Hale/Jasmine Halley's assistant. They don't need to be evil, they just work at Silver Co. and are first in command to Hale. Also, they need to be a young adult or adult, old enough to have a professional job. Use the OC form above if you want to submit an OC for that.

Also, one of the OCs, either mine or yours, will die. Someone will die, and they'll be an OC. So if you don't want your OC to die, please specify that.

Thank you so much, and I hope you submit an OC!

REVIEWS, FAVORITES, AND FOLLOWS, AND OCS FEED THE HUNGRY STARVING UPDATE MONSTER!