Hey! I know it's been an extremely loooong time since I've updated this, but here it is! I hope you like it, it's been a very long time for me since I wrote for this story so please, just bear with it! Review please so I can see and understand what's good and what's bad! Thank you for the patience and the support everyone! Oh, and there will be a sequel because this is coming close to the end and I was thinking about it!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything!

Ignite

Chapter Twelve: Weakened Bonds

'It's late…maybe I should head back.' A lone figure thought to herself. A sigh echoed in the silent park, the people of the city now safely tucked away in their homes.

"Well, Lily. Looks like things couldn't have gotten any worse for you," said woman mumbled to herself. The Korean woman scratched the back of her head as she leaned back into the park bench, trying to clear her head of the many thoughts running around.

"Excuse me?" Lily raised a brow as she turned around in her seat. "Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to make sure you were alright," a deep voice suddenly said. Lily blinked a bit as she tried to smile, nodding her head.

"I'm fine," she mumbled as she tried not to look so sad.

"…You don't seem very fine," the man said as he stood behind the bench. He gave her a soft smile, making Lily feel a bit better about the day.

"…Wait… are you-"

"Yes, I am," Lily said, already knowing the question. She stared up at a man, perhaps a few years older than herself, as he smiled down at her, taking a seat beside her.

"I'm honored to meet you."

"Hah, thanks. You must know my name, so what's your?" Lily asked as the friendly man smiled, nodding his head.

"I'm Travis Carter," he said. Lily nodded as she locked the name into the memory bank of her brain.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Travis," she said as the man smiled.

"The pleasure's all mine," he replied back. Lily chuckled as she sighed, staring out at the hills of the park. Travis stared at her for a moment before he turned his attention towards the park.

"You seem to be having a rough day?" he asked as Lily laughed sourly, shaking her head.

"You don't know the half of it," she mumbled as Travis glanced at her. He stood to his feet, confusing the black haired woman.

"Let me help you forget," he said as he held his hand out towards her. The water bender blinked as she stared at this random man's hand. He gave her a fun smirk, sparking something inside of her soul. Lily took his hand with her own and stood to her feet.

"Please do."

"Reed," a voice hissed as footsteps resounded in a rather nicely furnished office. A man with evil intent stood before his many screens and watched as one of the screens showed a more earnest man working hard to find a cure to his problems.

"He got what he wanted, and everything he wanted, he took from me." Victor glared at the man on the screen as he shook his head. He watched intently as the screen zoomed in on the hard working scientist.

"Now it's time to take it back," he said calmly as he felt his blood pumping through his veins, his adrenaline rising with just the thought of destroying his rival and enemy.

"But, firsts thing's first. I need to get rid of his bodyguard," he mumbled to himself as he stared at another screen holding the image of a mutated Ben. He began to smirk as the reels in his brain began to turn and his plan began to surface.

"This was unexpected."

"It really was." Lily laughed as she and her new friend stood beneath the pouring rain. The storm had been sudden and as the two were making their way towards the inner workings of the city, the rain began to pelt down on them. Trying to find at least a little shelter from the rain, the two stood under a rather filled out tree. Lily wiped the rain from her face as she glanced up at Travis, taking some time to actually examine him.

He had dark brown hair that went well with his bright blue eyes. He was toned, not too skinny and definitely not too big. He was taller too, but a bit shorter than Johnny.

'Johnny…' Lily frowned at the thought as she shrunk back into herself. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't truly ever stop thinking about the moronic man. It bothered her so much, but she knew there was nothing she could really do about the situation.

Travis glanced down at Lily to say something but stopped as he frowned and saw a rather gloomy expression etched on her face. He hesitated for a moment before he decided to screw it all.

"Why don't we-" Lily stopped as she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, holding her tightly. She looked over at Travis, who did his best to avoid her gaze, and smiled a bit. The touch wasn't anything like she felt with Johnny, but it was good enough. She leaned into her companion as he glanced down at her and smiled.

"You hungry?" she asked as he nodded his head.

"Yeah. Lets go eat, my treat," he offered as Lily nodded. She pulled herself away from him, and Travis frowned, knowing she was a bit uncomfortable with the touch. Lily looked back at him and smiled as she motioned for him to follow.

"Lets go."

Travis nodded with a smile as he regained his composure and walked beside her, ignoring the rain. As Lily walked down the sidewalk, she glanced across the street and stopped. A brow raised itself as she narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better view of what she thought she could see through the rain.

"Hey-" Travis stopped as he noticed Lily's gaze on a small diner across the street. He walked up beside her as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What are you looking at?" he asked as Lily snapped her attention back to the brunette. She smiled as she shook her head, walking head.

"Nothing…I thought I saw someone, but I think I was just mistaken," she explained as she gave one last glance at the diner.

"Reed…Reed?" Susan approached the said man's desk and her eyes softened as she saw the scientist sleeping soundly. She gently grabbed his hand, shaking it slightly, and watched as the man snapped awake, his rubbery face shaped by the keyboard.

"Wha…" Reed blinked a few times as he gained his bearings again. He looked up at Susan as she smiled sweetly at him. He cleared his throat as he tried to rub the sleep away from his eyes.

"I was just resting my eyes is all."

"So I see," Susan retorted back as she smiled a bit. She glanced at the more worried and serious face and frowned. If only she could make him feel better.

"The new read-offs look very promising!" she said in a more cheerful tone as Reed shook his head, not satisfied with his work.

"Not promising enough."

"When are the next tests?" Susan asked curiously as a heavy feeling began to weigh itself in Reed's chest. He sighed as he glanced up at the blonde woman.

"..I've run out of plants…so I was thinking..maybe…" he looked up at a Susan with a very familiar worried gaze. Her brows furrowed as her stomach began to twist. "There's always…me."

"No," Susan immediately answered as Reed shook his head. "It's too soon."

"..I should get back to work," the stretchy man said, deciding to avoid any further conversation about the subject; he had already made up his mind. Susan shook her head as she set her papers on the desk and walked over to Reed.

"You need a break."

"Sue, please, not now."

"Come on," she insisted as she grab the man by the arm and made him stand to his feet. Reed gave her a tired looked but smiled as Susan smiled at him.

"Lets go."

A small diner on the corner of a street kept it's customer's happy, the people eating and chatting amongst themselves. Conversations stopped as an abnormally loud burp filled the air.

"Excuse me," a low and gruff voice said as the waitress chuckled, nodding her head and taking the empty plate. Glancing up at the man across the table from him, Ben grab his cup and took a loud sip of it, trying to annoy Victor. That didn't work.

"I know it's not easy. Life hasn't changed much for Reed, Sue, Johnny, or Lily. At least they can still go out in public," Victor pointed out. Ben stared at his companion, not understanding the direction of the conversation. "But for you-"

"If you're trying to make me feel better, it ain't working," Ben said, wanting his conversation with Victor to just end.

"I'm just saying, I know what it feels like to lose something that you love. To see it slip away and know it's never coming back," he said, trying his best to push the orange man over his limit.

"Look, Reed is gonna fix me up, ok?" Ben said, putting all of his faith and trust into his best friend. Victor gave Ben a small smirk as he shook his head slightly.

"For our sake, I hope you're right," he replied, sighing slightly.

If he could win an award for best actor, he would have won it.

"I trust he's working as hard as he can, you're his best friend, so what possible reason could he have for taking his time," Victor said, hiding the evil intent in his eyes. Ben began to think as Victor's words slowly and unwilling fully sank into his mind. He could hear Victor echoing in his ear, and he didn't like it.

"I mean, other than spending more time with..Sue." Victor looked up and for a moment, he and Ben had a silent conversation, and at the second, Victor knew.

'I win.'

"Wow, this is actually pretty cool." A grin appeared on a young man's face as he made his way down the sidewalk, receiving fan calls from here and there. He chuckled as he waved at a few fans and shook his head, turning his attention back to the proto-type toy in his hands.

"It's pretty accurate too," Johnny mumbled to himself as he pressed the small button on the back.

"It's clobbering time!"

The fire wielder laughed to himself as he glanced up at the sky, the storm finally over. His smile faded slightly as he glanced at a puddle on the ground. Somewhere, deep in his soul, he was begging for the guilty filling his stomach to go away.

"You are a pathetic excuse for a person and a friend, especially a friend."

"Ugh!" Johnny shook his head as he rubbed the back of it. He sighed as he felt his spirit dropping slightly.

"I actually tried to stick up for you!"

"Ok, I get it! I screwed up!" Johnny snapped to no one in particular. He rubbed his face as he pulled his cell phone out. He hesitated for a moment, not sure what he was going to do or say. He shook his head and as he went to dial his friend's phone number he stopped, hearing the sound of a familiar voice. The faint sound of someone laughing caught Johnny's attention as he looked over and his eyes brightened a bit.

"Lily," he mumbled as he began to walk towards his friend. As he went to call out her name, he stopped, his brows furrowing.

"Travis? You ready to go?" Lily smiled back at her new friend as the young man nodded his head. The young woman watched as Travis paid for both of their meals and she chuckled, shaking her head. Surprisingly enough, she was actually enjoying herself much more than she had expected she would. She had mostly forgotten about her earlier troubles and was happy to be able to breathe again. She sighed and glanced up at the sky, slightly disappointed that the rain had stopped.

'…What's this feeling?' Lily glanced around as she sought out for the pair of eyes she felt on her. She raised a brow as she saw a familiar face in the crowd. Her eyes widened as she took a step forward.

"Johnny?" Her breath hitched as she watched her friend stare at her with a defeated look in his eyes. She blinked as she made a step to cross the street but stopped.

"Lily?" Said woman stopped in her tracks as she looked back at her almost forgotten friend with a surprised look. "What are you doing?" Travis asked as Lily glanced back over in Johnny's direction. Her eyes softened as she found the man gone from his spot across the street. She stared for a moment longer before forcing a smile and shaking her head.

"Nothing, everything's fine."

'Who is that guy, anyways?' Johnny shook his head as his hand balled up into a fist. 'He looks like a complete chump if you ask me...' Johnny snapped in his head. As he stomped down the sidewalk, he couldn't help but frown more. He slowly came to a stop, looking back in Lily's direction.

"You sure everything's ok?" Travis asked as Lily smiled up at him and nodded.

"Yup! Why wouldn't it be?" Lily said as convincingly as possible. The brunette hesitated but nodded, taking Lily's word. As the black haired woman let her friend go on ahead, she turned around, hoping to see the person she'd been doing her best to avoid all day. She stared for a moment longer with a forlorn look on her face before turning back around.

"…Too bad."