All right! Another chapter up and ready! I'm trying to be much better about updating, and I think I'm doing okay at that. At least a little. XD Not as often as I used to update, but it's something! First post of the year for me! Yeah! XD

Anyway, here's something that's long overdue:

Thank you, all of you guys that have checked out my story, faved it, wrote some reviews on it, and gave me your general opinions about the story. Without you guys, I probably would've quit writing these stories a while ago. XD I can't manage to finish them for some reason unless I have people pushing me to do so, so thank you very much! And thank you, those of you that still occasionally read TFI every once in a while. XD I find it surprising that people still fave it and everything, but I'm happy that people can still enjoy it!

And thank you for sticking with this story so far, even when I stopped updating for MONTHS! XD So sorry about that!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! :)

I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me through the building, going through the halls and trying to find the exit. I needed to get away. I didn't know how people here would react to freakish actions like mine, but with my experience with life so far, I decided that it would not be a good reaction. However nice I was treated by them right now, I didn't want to take the risk to see what they would do knowing my true power. I glanced behind me to see if anyone was pursuing me, and thankfully there was no one running behind me. I slowed down to a halt and looked around the hallway, completely and totally lost. Sighing in frustration, I put my hands on my hips and glared down the way I was heading. I had no clue where I was and I didn't even know where to begin to go. Curse me and my challenge with directions! No one taught me how to navigate, and I didn't even know what the damn compass points were called!

I heard a faint commotion behind me, growing steadily louder. It sounded like a large group conversing rather loudly. Was it the guy that had seen my power telling people what he saw? I hoped not, but I let my instinct kick in and ran to the first door I saw, opening it and quickly closing it as soon as I went inside. It appeared that I was in a storage room of some sort, as there were boxes everywhere stacked on shelves and stacked on each other. I sighed in relief quietly, this would be a good place to hide. I pushed a nearby large box away with a great amount of effort and went to the side of the room it was hiding, trying to move the box back in place so that I could hide.

Unfortunately, before I could even move it back into place and hide, the door to the room opened and I saw Peggy walk in. Shit. She turned toward me and looked at me questioningly, "Robin?" she asked, "What are you even doing in here? I told you to stay put, didn't I?"

I looked at her with wide eyes, my mind racing at how she would react to what the others have seen. "Uh," I said quietly, "Was . . . er . . . looking! See more stuff! Yeah!"

Peggy sighed, replying softly, "Robin, if you wanted to explore, you shouldn't have just left without taking someone with you in case you got lost."

I stared at her in silence for a while.

Her expression showed pure irritation, she was not amused. "You got lost, didn't you?"

"Ehh . . . yeeeaaah," I said slowly. "Sorry."

She sighed, "Robin . . ."

Before any of us could say anymore, a small group of people walked in, one of them being the man that had seen me conjure fire out of thin air. "There she is!" he blurted, "That's the one!"

Peggy looked to the group, a confused expression on her face. "What are you talking about?" Apparently she hadn't been informed yet. I shrunk into the nearby corner, looking at the people warily and fearfully.

The man pointed at me, "That little girl over there is not normal!"

I stared at him indignantly. Little girl? I thought scornfully, I'll have you know that I'm already almost thirteen years old, dumbass! Wait . . . maybe he's saying I'm short and tiny? Or that I look like a little girl? Oh, fuck that guy!

Peggy narrowed her eyes at him, "What do you mean by that?"

"She was playing with fire and making it float and everything like magic or something!" he said hysterically.

Peggy looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and then gave the guy a look as if he was crazy, "Right," she said doubtfully, "like that would happen."

"I'm telling you! It did happen! She knows! She did all of this crazy voodoo shit!"

"Hey, watch your language," Peggy chided, "The kid's not deaf, you know!"

I looked at her in confusion. Um . . . what? Can no one actually tell my real age? Do I still look like an innocent little child to them? Really? What the hell is up with that?

"Sorry," he said briefly before continuing his seemingly mad ravings to most of the people there, "But I'm telling the truth here! Ask her!"

Peggy looked to me and smiled softly, obviously expecting me to say no. "Is he telling the truth, Robin?"

I looked at everyone's expectant stares. It would have been so easy then and there to tell everyone that the guy was crazy, that he was making it all up. But where would that get me? They would find out eventually. It was not something I could hide forever, and I wouldn't be able to increase my strength in my power if I didn't practice it. And if it got out later, everyone would know I was lying, and that would not get me very far in their trust. I sighed and looked at Peggy sadly, "Yes."

She looked at me in surprise, "Wait . . . what?"

I sighed, "Look." I held up my hand and let it light spontaneously on fire. Everyone jumped back in surprise except for the guy who had seen me do this before. That man simply nodded and looked at everyone else, as if scolding them for not believing him. I let the fire slide off of my fingertips again and formed it into a fireball, letting it circle around my hand carefully before I put it out.

"How interesting!" one of the researchers said, an older looking man who stared at me with pure intrigue. "We must do some tests! See what else she can do!"

I widened my eyes at that. Tests? That didn't sound pleasant to me. I immediately shouted at him, "No! No! Do not want!" I curled up into a fetal position and tried to stay as far away from that other man's reach as possible.

I heard Peggy sigh softly and felt her hand touch my shoulder gently. "Robin," she said softly, "Robin, it's okay."

I looked up at her, my eyes slightly glistening with tears, "I-Is it?" I stared at the other people warily.

She nodded, "Yeah. They're just curious, that's all."

I whimpered softly, "Don't like it . . ."

"It's okay," she repeated softly, "They're not gonna hurt you. I'll make sure they don't. Maybe all they want to do is ask questions. That could be it, right?"

I stared at her, "Really?"

"It could be. Does Steve happen to know about this?"

I shook my head, "No . . . never done around him yet."

Peggy nodded, "I see. Well, you're gonna have to tell him when he gets back home safe and sound. He deserves to know at least that if you're gonna live with him, okay?"

"'Kay," I said softly.

She smiled and said gently, "Good! Now, come here, let's get you some lunch."

I uncurled myself and looked at her with wide eyes, "Food?"

She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah! Food! You hungry?"

"Yes!" My stomach was growling, actually. She smiled and stood up. I got up as well and brushed myself off before following her out of the room to head to the lunch room. At least Peggy was okay with my powers, it seemed. However, I could never quite trust the emotions of humans very well.