Lennox POV

Adam, Chase, Bree and I were all dressed in our suits and in the lab by 3:30. Leo was sitting at the counter trying to keep his eyes open. "The Darrenell Nuclear Power Plant located in northern Missouri, Central America, is in danger of releasing large quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere," Don was saying while bringing up live feed of the power plant on his computer. "Some idiot was smoking in his work zone and dropped his cigarette on ethoyethane, or Diethyl ether, that wasn't contained, causing a fire. They've been trying to put it out before it causes an explosion, but so far, no luck."

Chase lifts his pointer finger and says, "Question. We're just going there to put out a fire?"

"Not entirely. You see, they need people to help that will be able to withstand certain effects. Chase, you and Lennox can combine your force fields to protect all four of you from the fire or any other harmful effects. They also need you two because, being the smartest people in the world, they want you to try to install a physical barrier around the plant in case there is an explosion. It's never been attempted before because no one knew how," Don finishes while flicking Leo's ear because he fell asleep.

"Have they evacuated appropriately, if things don't go right?" I ask, while my stomach clenches. This wasn't exactly what I imagined as my first mission.

He nods and says, "They have evacuated every town within 500 miles in every direction. I have my chopper ready to leave in five. Leo, you have to stay here, okay buddy?"

Leo yawns and slurs, "Fine with me, it's too early to be awesome."

I roll my eyes and I say (with more confidence than I feel), "Who's ready for some fun?" [Cue badass music]

xXx

Adam sat up front next to Davenport while Bree made me sit in between her and Chase. It took a lot of convincing me to get in a moving vehicle that will take me back up into the air. Add to that it made me feel claustrophobic and deaf, you got yourself a nice big Death Machine.

I feel Chase cover his left hand over my shaky right hand and I immediately pull away. He looks hurt and I can tell he's about to ask me what's wrong, so I mouth back, "Not right now," knowing he'd never be able to hear me over the noise, even if he does have super advanced hearing.

I can tell we're almost there when I hear panicked mind after panicked mind below us. (A/N: Mind reader, remember?) They all sound so scared and hopeless. We land a few minutes later and the horrid thing is finally off, thank you Jesus! We step out and all I can see is smoke everywhere, blinding me and making me cough. Don looks at Bree and Adam and says, "You two go help the firemen inside while Chase and Lennox work on the barrier. Be careful." They nod and hurry inside. "Okay, no I know we haven't done this before so it may be a little difficult. To start, create your force fields." We did as we were told and waited for further instructions. "Good, now to combine your fields, you have to let yours…sort of, accept the other one so they can become one," Donald said, using his hands to demonstrate.

At first, when I tried to morph mine with his, it zapped back in protest. I closed my eyes and focused; I imagined them combining and then expanded to his. I opened my eyes to see Chase in my, wait, our force field and I grinned. When he smiled back, I quickly wiped that grin off my face and turned away; I'm supposed to be mad at him. We both released at see a beaming Davenport. "Great job guys. Next, I want you to try to combine your fields again, but I want you to move it so it surrounds the plant instead."

We combined our fields again and watched it grow. This huge, blue electric dome encompassed the whole town of Darrenell, securing the entire area from the rest of the world. Don looked up at the magnificent sight, along with pretty much everyone, and said, "A couple more things: I need you to lock it in place so you don't have to keep holding it. Second, there's a filter setting in which you can let certain things pass through. You need to select oxygen and the smoke/ash setting."

This was so crazy, I didn't even know I could do any of these things, yet here I am! We locked it in place and selected the filter. I watched in amazement as the smoke and ash billowed right out. "That is wicked," I remarked.

"Isn't it?" Don chuckled. "Now you two need to go help Bree and Adam inside. Be careful," and to our surprise, he wraps us both into a big hug. When he lets go, he nods once and then goes to talk to a plant worker. Chase grabs my hand again, and this time I let him.

"Let's go find Adam and Bree," he says before guiding me inside. There are firemen, police and black smoke in every direction. We fight through the crowd and see them up on a catwalk with several other men with hoses coming through windows. The stairs leading up there look very precarious but we didn't have a problem climbing them. When we reached the top, I had a sudden idea.

"Chase! What's the main thing that's feeding this fire?" I ask, full of fresh excitement.

He frowns at me and says, "Oxygen."

"Exactly! So if we were to deprive the fire of the oxygen―."

"Then the fire would die out! Genius! Okay, you ready?"

I smile and say, "One hundred percent." We make a force field together and transfer it to the fire. By this time, my eyes start to water and twitch really bad. We lock it in place and I fall to my knees.

"Lennox!" I hear Chase yell. I try to look at him, but all I see is black. My head and lungs feel like they're on fire and I can't breathe. Everywhere I look: black. Suddenly, I feel light-headed and then succumb to the darkness.

xXx

I'm swimming in a black ocean, and I feel as light as air itself. There are voices rippling through the waves, but I remain calm. I look up, expecting to see the bright blue sky, but instead I see more black. I'm instantly terrified, why can't I see? The voices from the waves start to call my name and it's all too much. I cover my ears and scream for them to go away.

I'm awakened by warm hands on my arms. "Lennox, it's okay," the voice comes from Tasha, but I can't see her.

"Tasha?" I whisper.

"I'm here, honey," she responds. Still, I can't see her.

"Why can't I see you?" I ask.

I hear her pause before she sighs. "The fire, well you see…you've been temporarily blinded by hydrofluoric acid. The doctors don't know how long it will last, but they say you weren't the only one and some of them have already gotten their sight back."

Temporarily blinded. Maybe not even temporary. I could be sightless for the rest of my life. The thought frightens me more than I want to admit. I wave my hands in front of my eyes, as if I don't believe her. I can't see a thing. Before I can stop myself, I say, "Chase?"

I hear a chair scrape frantically beside me and he's instantly at my side. "Yes?"

"Did our plan work?"

"It was your plan Lennox, but yeah, it worked. The fire was put out about fifteen minutes after you collapsed. You've been out for two and a half days, its 10:37, Saturday," Chase finished.

I strain my ears to see if I can hear anyone else; I don't. "Where's everyone else?"

"Donald and Lao went out to get some books for you, Bree's in the gift shop and Adam is in the hospital's cafeteria. I don't think Chase has left your side for more than two hours. I'm gonna go get you something to eat, I'll be right back, honey," Tasha said, she got off my bed and walked out the door.

As soon as the door closed, Chase took her spot on my bed. He took my hands and pressed them to his lips. We stayed like that forever, when he suddenly whispered," I thought I'd lose you, Lennox," into my hands. "I was so scared, riding next to you in the ambulance." He kisses the palm of each hand and lays them back down gently. "I do want to know something, though. What did I do to you that hurt you so bad?"

I can almost feel his anxiety; it all seems so stupid now. "I, uh, saw you holding hands and laughing with Mallory. At the pier. I guess I was just jealous, or something," I said, feeling very embarrassed.

"That's why you were mad at me? Lennox, what you saw was a clingy girl with a crush and me laughing nervously. I admit, I liked her a couple months ago, but I've been over that for so long! And when I met you, I just…I―."

Suddenly, I felt Chase's hands capture my face and his soft lips finally meeting mine. Electricity flowed through my body at his touch and I immediately responded, wrapping my arms around his neck. One of his arms reached behind my waist and pulled me in closer to him. The gentle kiss started to get harder, more desperate. Like we couldn't get enough of each other, like we were trying to make up for lost time. I tangled my hands in his hair and smiled into the kiss.

"Well it's about damn time," was what sounded like Bree from the doorway.

A/N: One of my most favorite chapters to write! Sorry it's not very long, but hey, it had a kiss. Those count for like 1,000 words themselves! Again, review and wait eagerly for more!

~Ordinary :]