"Jess, I swear to god, if you can't do it I'll find someone else who can."

"Cut me some slack, this is like my first time trying to –"

"I'm gonna have to move out of there or I'm gonna get fucking eaten alive."

"Well, when?"

"Yesterday. I swear I'm gonna replace you with Nat."

"You know as well as I do that she won't play with you," Jess pointed out, struggling against her controller. "Ha! Got it."

"Yeah, you sure took your sweet time, though," grumbled Clint. "I'm not gonna introduce you to any more new games if you can't keep up."

"That is a blatant lie," replied Jess. "Anyway, you keep buying these two-players video games. If I didn't know any better I'd think you actually like using me for player 2."

"Good thing you know better." Jess's phone buzzed by her side and she glanced down at it, visibly distracted. "You need to take that?"

"Nah," murmured Jess, tearing her eyes from the phone and looking back at the TV screen. "It's just some guy."

"Some guy?" repeated Clint, glancing at her. "Who said you're allowed?"

"Hilarious," said Jess dryly. "Anyway, it's not like that. He's just a friend."

"Is it Charlie?"

"No, it's this new guy who's in a few of my classes. Well, he's not new actually, but I've been out of school for the better part of a year so I find lots of people new."

"What's he texting you for?"

"Just being friendly."

Before Clint could let out a skeptical snort, Natasha and Pepper walked into the room. Pepper was carrying a large, yellow notepad and a pen, and the two seemed engrossed in talking about something practical. "Hey," he called out, drawing their attention. "Jess is texting some guy, I think she has a boyfriend."

"What?" Pepper's eyes shot to look at Jess. "And you didn't tell?"

"No, I –" Jess let out an aggravated sigh. Clint paused the game. "I don't have a boyfriend. He's not my boyfriend." She glared at Clint. "Way to throw me under the bus."

"Young lady," said Clint warningly, pointing at her with a crass finger. "I'm just being a responsible parent."

"You're being rude," corrected Jess. She turned to Pepper and Natasha. "He's just a new friend. Not even a friend. His position is only slightly higher than an acquaintance."

"And yet you're texting him," said Natasha with a coy smile, settling down next to her on the couch.

"He texts first, like, every time."

"Brave boy."

"Oh my god," said Jess and leaned back exasperatedly into the couch. "He is not my boyfriend. I don't want a boyfriend. My life is complicated enough as it is."

"Sure," said Natasha, amused. "What's his name?"

"Andy."

She shrugged. "We can work with that."

"Can we see a picture?" asked Pepper.

Jess rolled her eyes. After a quick few taps on her phone, she turned it to face the rest.

"Oh, Jess," murmured Natasha appreciatively.

"That's the guy who's texting you up?" Clint stared at her with disbelief. He shrugged. "Well, you'd make pretty babies."

"Jesus fuck –" groaned Jess.

"He is handsome," agreed Pepper. "Has he asked you out?"

"No!" exclaimed Jess. "Of course he hasn't! Because we're just friends! Jesus, is this going to happen every time I make a new friend who's a guy?"

"Okay, you're right," surrendered Pepper. "I guess we are overreacting a bit."

Jess sighed with relief. "Thank you," she said. "Jesus." She shook her head, grateful for the quiet.

"In all seriousness, though, if you need protection and stuff –"

"Oh my god!" Jess blurted out, cutting Natasha off and leaping to her feet. "I cannot speak to any of you right now," she declared, storming out of the room.

Once Jess was gone, Pepper gave Natasha a reproachful look. Natasha looked up at her and Clint, only just suppressing a giggle. "Parenting is fun," she said happily through a childlike grin.

Clint was in the kitchen getting a drink an hour later when Jess quietly reappeared. He turned around holding his soda to find her standing in front of him, phone in hand and a strange look on her face. He looked at her expectantly.

"So," said Jess tentatively. "This is embarrassing, but…"

Clint waited patiently with a raised eyebrow, vaguely certain he knew what she was going to say.

"So I was texting with Andy," Jess began. "And uh… well, I think I have a date."

Clint's face broke into a grin, and he walked over to Jess raising his hand for a high-five, which she numbly returned. "Atta girl," he said with a chuckle.

"But I don't know how to date," said Jess, looking up at him in slowly growing panic. "I don't even know what to wear. Clint, I can't do hair!"

"Don't worry, I'll fix you up," said Clint, unfazed.

"You?" asked Jess skeptically.

"Yeah. How do you think Nat always looks so put together when she goes undercover?"

"Well, she used to be a Russian spy."

Clint waved a hand dismissively. "That's only, like, twenty percent of it. The other eighty percent is that she has me do her hair and make-up. She doesn't actually need my help with it, but I also happen to have an eye for fashion."

Jess stared at him, bewildered. "Where the hell did you learn to do hair and make-up?"

He shrugged. "YouTube."

Jess bit her lip. "So you'd really help me out?"

"Sure." He opened the tap on his soda and took a sip. "So this guy," said Clint casually, though sincerity trickled through the gentle look in his eyes. "You like him?"

Jess shrugged nervously. "I tried not to, I mean… I figured it would just get all messy. But I guess I accidentally stopped trying."

Clint gave a wry smile. "So what's his deal?"

"His deal?"

"Yeah. Tell me about him."

Jess tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't know," she murmured. "He was always nice to me and stuff. We're in math together, and he looks like he actually enjoys it, which is kind of crazy to me, you know? And he's like, super smart, which is great. When I went back to school after all the time I've missed because of Loki, he was being really nice, asking me where I've been and if everything was alright. Then after Steve told the world about my powers, he texted me asking if I was okay."

"He sounds like a good kid," remarked Clint. "How'd he get your number?"

Jess smiled. "Amy," she said. "They worked on a project together last year so they already kind of know each other, and he asked her for it. She was almost as bad as you guys when that happened."

"Listen," said Clint seriously, putting his hand on Jess's shoulder. "Everything's gonna be swell as long as you remember one thing." He gave her a somber look. "Always remember, Jess, that you were wrong about this and we were right."

Jess chuckled. "Shut up," she said, hitting him playfully on the chest. "You're the worst," she added sincerely when Clint started to laugh.

Loki was already waiting for Jess when she walked into the training room.

"You're late," he remarked.

Jess raised a brow. "You got someplace else you need to be?"

"You shouldn't talk back to your mentor," advised Loki. "You might end up in an awfully compromising position."

She shrugged. "Might not. And anyway, I don't know if I would go as far as calling you my 'mentor'."

Loki flicked her forehead gently as she approached him. "Cheeky."

"Ow, rude" Jess rubbed her forehead with a pout. "So are we going to do some magic or what?"

"Shortly," he replied. "First I'd like to get a better idea of how your powers work. Tell me, right now, when you aren't using your powers actively, can you still feel, physically, that if you so desired you could?"

Jess shifted her balance from one foot to the other. "It's not exactly like that," she said. "It's more like… like I can feel it all in my veins, just raw power. And I can channel it and make it produce fire if I want to."

Loki nodded. "Do so now, if you will."

Jess raised the palm of her hand, and a deep purple flame danced across her skin. She looked up at Loki expectantly with bright purple eyes.

"Describe how you feel now, using your powers."

"Like I could do anything," she said. "Like this flame is me just scratching the surface of my potential, and I just need to reach out to do things even more powerful."

"Then do it."

"What?"

"Reach out. Find what else you are capable of." Loki smiled. "You needn't be afraid of this force."

"Of course I do," countered Jess with a frown. "After everything I went through with my dad, I know exactly how much crap it can cause."

Loki gave Jess an odd look. "Put out the flame," he said suddenly after a long moment.

She did, looking at him with hazel eyes and a puzzled expression.

"Jess, do you fear your powers?"

"What?" Jess scoffed. "Nah. You know me, I'm not afraid of anything." Loki looked at her sternly. Jess slouched in defeat. "Okay, yeah, fine, whatever," she grumbled.

"Why?"

"Because –" Jess trailed off, struggling for words. "Why wouldn't I be? It's freaky shit, I don't wanna have a superpower! It's weird! And honestly, I don't want that responsibility!"

"Why else?" prompted Loki gently.

Jess stuffed her hands into her hoodie's pockets. "Alright," she sighed. "Alright. It's 'cause of my dad. Of course it's because of my dad, I mean, come on. Most of my experience with these abilities or whatever they are comes from being on the receiving side, or witnessing it being used to hurt people I cared about. This thing killed my mom, and probably my brother, except I don't actually know how my brother died." She looked at the wall behind Loki. "All I really know is that these powers are the reason my family's gone and my head's a mess."

"No." Loki shook his head. "That isn't true. You know that isn't true." Jess nearly did a double-take when Loki pressed two hands to the sides of her head. "Your powers did not cause the deaths of your family, your father did. And you are not your father."

Jess pressed her lips together. "There's no way for us to really know that, though," she whispered. "He was a young, promising piece of potential once, too. I'm already crazier now than he was when he was my age. So you don't know, really." She shrugged. "Maybe I'll be worse."

"Jess," said Loki forcefully. "You are not your father. Believe me, I know crazy when I see it. You are not your father." Jess swallowed hard and blinked rapidly, and Loki's hands slid down to her shoulders. "Do you understand?"

Jess's eyes were too bright, and her jaw was clenched. She nodded shakily. "Yeah," she managed.

Loki let go of her, taking a few steps back. "Very well," he said, growing a smirk. "Now. Do as I told you. Reach out."

Jess lifted the palm of her hand. Swiftly, a bright flame burst through her skin. She glanced at Loki hesitantly.

He nodded. "Go on."

Biting her lip, Jess looked back down at the flame. Nervously flexing the fingers of her other hand, Jess could feel the power surging through her arm.

So she took the power and made it stronger. The surge in her arm felt even realer somehow, and the fire in Jess's hand was gone. In its stead, in the center of her open palm, half an inch from her skin, floated a raw purple gem, rock solid and diamond hard, about the size of an apple.

Jess stared up at Loki. "Holy shit," she breathed. She shifted the fingers of her raised hand, her focus unwavering, and the gem's shape altered accordingly: it turned into a perfect sphere and then took the shape of an already cut diamond, and then, after some precise thinking on Jess's part and a strained movement of her fingers, became an artfully sharpened blade, the length of a long pocket knife.

The ends of Loki's mouth tugged softly in a content smile. "Well done."

"Wait," said Jess. "I'm not finished." The knife vanished in a sigh of purple dust and Jess lowered her hand, but her eyes did not retake their hazel color.

"Jess," said Loki, the smile leaving his face. "Your eyes."

"I know," she said. "I told you, I'm not finished." She offered her arm out for him. "Touch my skin."

With a frown, Loki obeyed. "It's warm," he noted.

"Yeah." Despite the unnatural glow in her eyes, it was impossible to miss that they were filled with satisfaction. "I'm warming myself up. My powers are on under my skin. I'm never going to have to wear a sweater again."

Loki smiled widely. As the glow faded out of Jess's eyes, he nodded his head absently. "Well done," he repeated. "Very, very well done."

"Thank you," said Jess politely. "So what now?"

"Well," said Loki, "would you like to practice combat?"

Jess grinned brightly. "Okay."

By the time they were finished, Jess was sweaty and out of breath. Loki, on the other hand, had not even a hair out of place.

Asshole, Jess thought.

"So how did I do?" she asked, sitting down at the edge of the room to drink from her water bottle, where she'd previously left it by her phone.

"Given that this is the first real training you have ever received?" asked Loki. He smiled. "Phenomenally. I never quite realized how naturally this will come to you. But then again, it is as much a part of your being as your limbs."

"So do you think now I'm ready to participate in glorious battles?"

"Maybe if they purposefully let you win."

"Boo." Jess reached toward her cell phone, checking the notifications. "Oh, look at that," she said. "I'm so popular today. First I get asked out, then a video is sent to me from an unknown number? I guess advertisements like me as much as boys do."

Loki frowned deeply. "Come again?"

"You know, I think I'm gonna actually take a look at this ad thing," said Jess to no one in particular. "I'm feeling quite generous."

"Could you just repeat what you said concerning boys, please?"

"Maybe later when I'm antsy." Jess tapped the video. The sound of static filled the room, and her phone screen showed the face of a young brunette, her features sharp and hard and her eyes icy green.

"Jessica Cory," said the brunette, her voice like lace.

"What the fuck?" muttered Jess with furrowed brows. Wordlessly, Loki sat himself down next to her, his expression stony and unreadable.

"My name's Dawn Deputy," continued the brunette. "We haven't officially met. I hate to get too technical, so to put it simply, I am the head of a group of powered individuals called The Sun. I don't imagine you've heard of us." The edge of her mouth tugged into a smirk. "We've been lying low for a while now, waiting for the world to be ready for us. It isn't yet, but we think you are. You're probably wondering who we actually are."

The brunette – or apparently Dawn – became smaller on the screen as the camera zoomed out. Behind Dawn stood another girl, with dry looking yellow hair in a ponytail, and a man with tousled brown hair and piercing eyes. They both seemed younger than Dawn. "The Sun is a five-member group," said Dawn in a businesslike tone. "The three of us, plus Mark behind the camera. And, of course, our little wonder boy. I think you'll want to take a very close look at him."

Mark must have turned, because so did the camera. Dawn and the other two disappeared, and for a while all Jess could see was an empty room.

Until a boy sitting silently in a chair entered the frame, his eyes soft and his skinny hands clutching what appeared to be today's paper. His oversized clothes, cheap and faded, hung loosely from his frame and his limbs were spread around the chair like they were too long for him to figure out what to do with. His lips were just barely parted.

And he was surely and unmistakably Emmett Cory.

Jess barely even registered making the sound that she did, a strangled cry from the back of her throat that trembled its way right out of her. Her hand clutching the phone shook just as much while her other hand flew up to cover her mouth. Loki reached out and with gentle fingers plucked the phone out of her unsteady grasp to hold it up without distorting Emmett's image beyond recognition. His remaining free hand took Jess's out of the now empty air and wrapped itself around it, squeezing softly in silent support. Tears popped in Jess's eyes and she blinked at them weakly, panicked at the thought of her living, breathing, existing brother being blurred away from her sight.

On the screen of Jess's phone, the camera was turned away from Emmett and refocused on Dawn. Jess couldn't hold back an instinctive moan – she just wanted to see her brother again, not this stranger, please just turn back the camera please-

"So let's make this simple," said Dawn lightly. Her dark hair framed her face perfectly and turned her light eyes hypnotic. "As you can tell, we have your brother. Don't worry, we haven't harmed him in the past year. You see, what happened was that your dad, quite an unpleasant man, by the way, has helpfully brought Emmett to our hands with grand promises that this scrawny kid of his will soon develop special powers. Purple flames right out of his palm, he said, and long story short, that hadn't happened. So we find ourselves in a rather embarrassing position." She smiled coldly. "Because while your brother remains totally free of special abilities you, on the other hand, do you see, we were promised a superhero but instead we got an ordinary eleven year old so here's what we're gonna do. You, Jessica Cory, are going to show up where we tell you in an hour. And if you don't, well, just because we've known him a while doesn't mean we got attached to your little brother, and we may all be super but we are hardly heroes. So show up on time. Fail to do so and Emmett fucking dies. Show up with anyone other than yourself and Emmett fucking dies. Do anything other than coming quietly like we tell you to and Emmett fucking dies. On the bright side, if you do everything right, we let Emmett go. No additional strings attached. You have an hour. See you soon."

The video came to its end, leaving Jess staring at the screen with wide eyes and a ragged breath, her heart beating like a sapling tree caught in a hurricane. She blinked her eyes rapidly, clawing desperately at what little remained of her rational thought. "Emmett –" she muttered breathily. "Emmett's alive, he's not- he's not dead, I gotta get to him, I- I gotta get him out –"

Loki nodded. "It's alright," he said. He stood up, pulling Jess to her feet as well. "Don't worry, he will be back by your side before you know it. We can tell the Avengers together and they will bring him here –"

"What?" Jess's eyes shot up to look at him. "No. Did you not hear what she just said? They'll kill him if anyone but me shows up, I can't risk that. I don't know what these people are capable of, how powerful they are –"

"Well, surely you don't plan to just walk into their open arms unaided." When Jess looked down and tried to turn away from him, Loki grabbed her arm to keep her in place. "Jess. Explain how that can possibly be a good idea."

"I can't let them hurt him." She looked at him desperately. "No more than they already have- Jesus, who knows what they've already done to him."

"Jess, listen to me," hissed Loki. "You cannot cooperate with these people. You cannot so much as consider it."

"I have to!" Jess hissed back. "It's Emmett! It's my baby brother and I thought he was dead. I already failed to protect him once, I won't do that to him again! This is my chance to save him like I was supposed to." Her heart was beating like goddamn gunshots. She forced herself to take a deep breath and tried uselessly to stop the tears from leaking out of her eyes. "Please, I have to do what she said." Her voice cracked through the last syllable.

"If you do this, you will be just as much a hostage as Emmett was," argued Loki.

"I don't care. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as Emmett is safe, he's just a kid, he's my brother."

"The Avengers can get him out –"

"I can't risk anything happening to him!" Jess wiped impatiently at her cheeks. "Please. Loki, please let me do this, please don't tell anyone about this until it's over. You can tell the Avengers to come for me once Emmett is as far away from these people as possible, this… Sun group or whatever they call themselves. I just have to get him out first, you know there's no other choice." Jess's phone vibrated and she looked down at it. "It's from the same number," she mumbled biting her lip. "It's an address. I have to go, there's no time –"

"Then I'm coming with you."

"Loki, no, you heard what she said, if there's anyone else with me –"

"Don't be stupid, Jess, you cannot make the trip there in an hour by yourself," snapped Loki. "I will take us there with my magic."

"You can't –"

"I will wait outside and cloak myself. When Emmett comes out of there, safe, I will bring him back here and alert the Avengers." Loki briefly bit the inside of his cheek. "You are right; this is the safest plan for Emmett. But you cannot go through with it alone."

Jess hesitated. "You're not allowed to leave the Tower."

Loki offered a flat smile. "As if that would ever stop me."

Jess sighed. "Thank you," she whispered weakly. She took a shaky deep breath, anxiously running her hands over her eyes.

Loki's dry smile softened. "Chin up," he said. "Your brother lives."

And when Jess's hands dropped away from her face she let out an exhilarated, uncontainable laugh of joyful relief.

Loki's magic has transported the two of them in front of a dark, secluded mansion. It seemed to lack windows and was built out of grim gray stone. They were surrounded by tall forest trees.

Loki still had his arms half-wrapped around Jess from the transportation, and now Jess broke away from him and stared around. "Does this look like a supervillain group's evil lair to you?" she asked dryly. "I was picturing more of a shadowy warehouse, or another abandoned building."

"Can't have your enemies turning predictable, now, can we?" murmured Loki, examining the mansion carefully.

"You know, I used to just be a nerdy teenager," remarked Jess pensively. "I never really expected to have enemies who have evil lairs." She turned to him. "I should go," she added.

Loki gave a long, slow nod. He was wearing a frown so deep and settled Jess wondered if it was going to become permanent. "Good luck," he said. "Whatever happens, keep your wits about you. Try to refrain from doing anything foolish."

"And you better behave," retorted Jess. "When my brother walks out of there, try not to scare him. Be nicer than when you first met me, at the very least."

Loki smiled humorlessly. "If your brother is as difficult as you were, that might be a challenge."

Jess chuckled softly. Then she looked at Loki seriously. "I'm gonna see you soon," she said.

"You better," he answered grimly, "or I will have a group of very angry superheroes to answer to."

"Look after my brother until I'm back," said Jess. "And we're not going to do this whole 'what if everything goes wrong and I'm not back' thing. I'm just gonna be back and that's final."

Loki nodded. "Understood."

"Good." Jess glanced back at the mansion. "See you in a bit."

She turned to approach the mansion. When she hesitated and turned back, Loki has already disappeared in the shadows.

Jess knocked on the front door. Her heart felt like it was going to beat right through her ribs and she wondered if she was going to faint.

The door swung open and Jess stood face to face with the yellow haired girl from the video. She was chewing gum. When her eyes landed on Jess's panicked expression, she grinned, her teeth glinting in the night.

"She's here!" she called over her shoulder. "Dawn, she's here! I knew this would work." She looked back at Jess and opened the door wider. "Come in," she said, satisfied. "Please. Be our guest."

Jess hoped the other girl couldn't hear how shaky her breathing was, or notice how rubbery her legs had suddenly become. She stumbled through the doorway, blinking and anxious.

"Katie, if you don't mind holding her in place," said a voice from inside. Jess's eyes flickered toward the source of the noise to find Dawn staring right back at her wearing a smirk. The girl who had welcomed her into the mansion stepped in front of Jess now to block her path.

"I know I'm not technically holding you, but I suggest that you don't try to go through me," advised the yellow-haired girl. "I'm Katie, by the way. I'm so glad you're here. Now the Sun will finally have female majority." There was no way this was her natural hair color – she must've dyed it, but the color had faded. The harsh yellow of her hair clashed cruelly with the bright baby blue of her graphic tee.

Jess did her best to swallow down her emotions. "Emmett," she said shakily. "Where is he? He's the only reason I'm here."

"Obviously." Jess had a feeling that Dawn's voice permanently sounded like a drawl. "Don't worry, we've still got him. Mark! Lee! Get the baby."

Jess was almost too scared to let her eyes wander to where the sound of shuffling footsteps filled the room. Her heart beat so hard she thought it would just stop. Her fingers shook and she could feel waves of purple trying to force themselves through her skin. She pushed them down, staring at the source of noise.

The young man who had stood next to Dawn in the Sun's video must've been Lee, because now he emerged with someone who had to be Mark. Mark was noticeably the oldest of the group – while Katie and Lee looked like college kids and Dawn appeared somewhere in her late 20's, Mark's face was wrinkled around his eyes and mouth. His hair might've been brown once but now it was almost entirely gray, and his blue eyes seemed pale with age. Jess noted something odd about him, possibly the stiff way he carried himself with his head hunched between his shoulders, and possibly his pale eyes that seemed unable to stop shooting around the room as if he were a panicked rodent.

Lee, unlike Mark, was probably handsome.

Jess couldn't pay him enough attention to tell for sure.

Because slouched between the two of them, with skinny, gangly limbs and matted hair and large brown eyes, stood her little brother. Emmett Cory.

It took all Jess had not to make that pathetic noise again. Instead she stared at Emmett with wet eyes and tightly clenched fists, mentally urging him to look up at her.

Slowly, the boy's head turned upwards. His eyes slid hesitantly across the room like he was uncertain of what he would find. And then his gaze locked with his sister's, and he simply uncoiled.

It was like… like Jess had been drowning, but she didn't fully realize it until this very moment; like ever since the day their father came back empty handed telling Jess her brother was gone she hadn't been able to breathe, but now a colorful gulp of air was filling her lungs. Dawn, Katie, Mark and Lee all disappeared as Jess forgot about the Sun altogether, lost in thoughts of her brother alive. Now all that had to be done was to get him out of there safe for everything to be alright forever.

Emmett was still staring at her, years old trust radiating off of him as if he'd bathed in it, when Dawn spoke again. "Lee," she said. "Make sure she didn't bring anyone with her." As Lee crossed the room Dawn gave Jess a venomous look. "You better pray for your kid brother you didn't. I'd hate having to deal with a dead body."

Jess clenched her jaw and did her best not to lose her mind. It's fine, she told herself. Loki's invisible. It's fine it's fine it's fine it's fine-

"There's no one there," confirmed Lee, closing the front door behind him as he returned. "We're good."

"Are you sure?" pressed Dawn.

"No, I was just wildly guessing." Lee rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm sure."

Dawn ignored him. She nodded towards Mark. "Get it over with."

Mark strengthened his grip on Emmett's shoulder. Katie grabbed Jess's arm.

The two began walking toward each other, each with their prisoner dragging along. As the distance between Jess and Emmett was crossed Jess felt more and more like shaking off Katie's loose hold and running to him. When they stood directly in front of each other, Dawn's electrical voice froze Katie and Mark in their spots.

"Wait," she said sharply. Katie looked at her curiously. Mark just kept vacantly staring at the floor. "I just had a thought." Dawn smirked and walked over to the two siblings. "I mean, this is a really touching reunion," she said conversationally. "Because – Jess, you thought Emmett was dead, didn't you? And now just an hour ago you've found out he isn't? And that he'd just been captive here? That's some tear-jerking stuff right there. I just- this doesn't feel right. Am I seriously going to tear you two apart again now that you've finally found each other?" She shook her head ruefully. "I don't know if I'd be able to live with myself."

Jess's mind was going wild. "No," she found herself saying before she really knew what was happening. "Don't you dare. We had a deal." At any other time she would have been pleased with how much steel her voice held. But now she was just trying not to get hysterical.

"Congratulations," said Dawn with a wide grin. "I've changed my mind. Instead of breaking you two up again, you guys get to stay together right here. Isn't that wonderful?"

"You bitch," hissed Jess. She thrashed against Katie's quickly tightening hold, newfound rage flooding her system. "Let him go. We had a deal! He's no use to you, you said it yourself, he doesn't have powers!"

"Aw," said Dawn with a pout. "Don't be like that, Jessie. Look at the bright side. We're all gonna work together as a team! We can be like a family. I thought you two would like that, since all of yours is dead or in prison."

"Emmett hasn't got powers," hissed Jess. "Let him go."

"I don't know if it was wise of us to put all this pressure on a twelve year old," remarked Dawn. "It's not like you got your powers when you were twelve. Maybe if we just wait around a bit he'll get them, too. And I'd hate to think that I lost a potential Sun member just because I was impatient." She turned to face Mark and Katie. "Take them to the iron room," she ordered. "Lee, go help them."

"No." Katie's hands clutched at Jess's arms so hard it hurt. She tried to wriggle out of her hold, but Katie was deceptively strong.

"Oh, god, please don't fight," said Katie ruefully. "I really don't feel like hurting you, we're supposed to be teammates!"

"Get off me," Jess snarled. Her eyes turned vivid purple and Katie removed her hold instinctively with a startled cry at Jess's suddenly white hot skin. Jess broke away from her, lifting her hands in front of her holding her flames. "Let Emmett go," she threatened, "or I swear to god I will burn you all to death."

Dawn chuckled. She seemed entirely unfazed. "Sure you will," she said.

Jess narrowed her eyes. "I just came to offer myself to you as a hostage to get my brother back," she snapped. "Are the lengths I'd go to keep him safe seriously questionable to you right now?"

Dawn shrugged. "I don't know, I don't really care. Are you going to pull yourself together or do I need to make you?"

Jess gritted her teeth. "Let – my brother – go."

Dawn gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine," she said irritably. "We'll do it the hard way."

She flicked her hand in a bored gesture. Jess saw blue lightning erupt from her fingers in her direction, and then she was burning and everything was black.

GUYS I WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS CHAPTER TO FINALLY HAPPEN. I'm so glad to have Emmett back.

I really really hope I didn't mess this chapter up. I'm super excited about this story making its progress like I've been planning for so long, and I would really appreciate it if you told me what you think! If you have any criticism at all, I would love to hear it.

Regardless, I just wanna say again how much I love you all. We're now over 150 followers and I'm over the moon. I wish I could just thank you each personally because you truly have been wonderful. I wish I could be friends with all of you. I wanna get to know my audience a bit better, so here's what I'm gonna do – I'm gonna ask you, if you could, to leave me a joke or a fun fact or just a random thought you've had in the comments below. I'm dying to hear from you. I know I haven't been replying to most reviews, but that is going to change because you guys are so amazing. Can't wait to see what you all have to say!