"Nobody's evil. They just decide to forget who they are." -Cindy; The Walking Dead

Opal's mind began to wander as she watched Erik do a bit of research. Since he was helping Jane out with her studies and whatnot, sometimes he'd go over her work to ensure she got it correct. It wasn't that Erik thought Jane was a bad scientist, he just knew how much of a perfectionist she could be with her findings. Erik helped out whenever he could. So, while Erik did his work on Jane's discoveries, Opal found herself going down memory lane. Preferably, to the day the bad thing happened. It hadn't been long since Opal left Charles' institution, but she hadn't quite contacted Erik yet. For the most part, things had gone smoothly. Opal had an understanding on how to control her powers, and she knew the steps to take if she wavered a little. But there was one day that changed it all for her. It was the day Opal's little sister, McKinley, died.

The day Opal had been sent to the psych ward, she'd only been sixteen, which meant McKinley had been eleven. Opal and her sister had a relatively close relationship; but after the psych ward incident, any contact between the two sisters stopped. Opal had no idea what was happening with her family, so when she went with Charles to his school, she tried distracting herself with the schoolwork and meeting new people. Once Opal had finished her education — along with deciding she wasn't going to pursue any form of college education just yet — Opal went out to just explore what she could do. But then there came a phone call. It was from Charles. He'd received a letter from Opal's family, which they had written out to the psych ward, saying that McKinley had died.

"How did she die?" Opal had asked. It felt as if a black hole sucked out any rational emotion out of her body.

"Cancer," Charles had responded, sounding grim. "That was what the letter said."

"Cancer?"

"Leukemia."

Opal had thanked Charles and hung up the phone. The news hadn't settled well in the young girl; her mind started spinning, her heart started racing, her breathing became labored. Opal didn't even realize her control over her powers were slipping until it was too late. Items were being thrown, the walls collapsed, the windows shattered — anything that was capable of moving or breaking was shown no mercy from her grief.

In no time at all, Opal's powers reached the streets, where car windows exploded and their doors were ripped off, the tires exploding; neighboring buildings were nearly crumbled; lampposts were violently ripped from the ground and thrown wherever; stop lights exploded — nothing was safe. The blast of Opal's powers covered a block and a half, destroying anything it touched. As for the people, countless were injured but there was only a small handful of potentially life-threatening injuries.

Once Opal heard of that, she fell into even more despair.

Luckily, Opal was able to leave without being noticed by law enforcement, who started conducting a search for whoever was responsible for the catastrophe.

Charles tried contacting Opal, but she refused to acknowledge him. She couldn't face him. She couldn't face anyone. In the time since the incident, for about two and a half months, Opal lived in seclusion, refusing to socialize in any way possible. She jumped from motel to motel, going to small, no-name towns. It felt like the right thing to do. Not only that, but in the two and a half months since the bad thing happened, Opal tried using the steps Charles had given her to fix the control she'd initially had over her abilities. That proved to be very difficult.

Then she decided to get in contact with Erik. She needed to make a few adjustments, and the way she was living had to be one of them. When Erik had come to get Opal, she looked like she hadn't showered in weeks, she had dark circles under her eyes. The older man had known of McKinley's passing, had been there for the funeral. Opal didn't want to know when the funeral would be, she was terrified of what would happen if she had gone.

Time seemed to pass on since Opal started living with Erik. She slowly began regaining control of her life and her powers, and not long after, she moved with Erik to New Mexico. It actually seemed like things were turning up.

O.O.O.O

"Jane needs us at her apartment," Erik said. He had spent a better part of two hours going over Jane's research, doing some revisions where he saw fit. Both he and Opal knew that their friend was very smart, and her scientific data was hardly ever wrong, but Jane could be a big perfectionist. So her work needed to be spot-on at all times.

"Why does she need me?" Opal asked, looking at Erik lazily. "I'm not science-y like her."

"Probably to help with her equipment."

"Is this going to be another late-night adventure?"

"Possibly."

"Another one of her nighttime phenomena?"

"Sounds like it."

With a sigh, Opal ran a hand through her auburn hair. "She needs to stop doing this," she said. "We're not machines. I don't think she understands that."

"Once Jane has her mind set on something, it's nearly impossible to make her stop." Erik's face became somewhat solemn, but mostly neutral. "Once she's gathered enough data on these occurrences, she'll work herself to death on finding a conclusion."

Standing up from the sofa she was laying on, Opal looked at Erik with an arched brow. "Doesn't this irritate you? She's a scientist who turned into a storm chaser," she exclaimed.

"It's frustrating, but this is what she wants to do. I'll try not to intervene too much."

With a hum, Opal threw on a sweat-jacket and her tennis shoes before waiting for Erik to gather all his belongings. After everything had been gathered, they headed out.

O.O.O.O

"OK, so if my research is correct, there should be another sighting in this location." Jane pointed to a marked spot on her map. There was an almost childlike glee on her face as she started talking about it. "This will be the most important part of my research."

Jane was a relatively pretty young woman. She had dark brown hair and expressive brown eyes, but Jane's focus seemed to be directed more towards her work than trying to establish any kind of romantic connections. The last man she dated, a man named Donald Blake, ended badly. Jane won't talk about him under any circumstances.

"We're going to be pulling an all nighter, aren't we?" Darcy asked.

"Yes." Jane looked at Darcy firmly. "I need to get as much data as I can, so we'll be pulling an all nighter."

"This should be fun," Opal mumbled sarcastically. "Look, I don't even have a college education, why am I here?"

"Well, we need help moving some equipment," Jane stated, "and someone who can scare any animals or people who come our way."

"So I'm like a freaky bodyguard?" Opal's tone became tense, almost offended. "Is that why you're keeping me around?"

"I didn't mean it to offend you." Jane threw an apologetic look Opal's way. "You're a mutant and should a dangerous situation arise, you'd be able to end it in a heartbeat."

Rolling her eyes, Opal crossed her arms over her chest. She tried not to take offense over Jane's words, but she knew that, in a sense, those words were true. If there was an intruder of some sort, or some kind of predator who was willing to attack, Opal had the ability to stop them. Opal would try her telepathy first, hoping the rewrite the enemy's mind in hopes of getting them to leave without harm; if the enemy somehow manages to remain unaffected by the telepathy, then Opal's telekinesis would be used. Any form of physical harm would be used as an absolute last resort.

"We should probably start getting everything loaded up now," Jane announced, looking between her three companions wit h the utmost seriousness. "First, we'll have to make sure everything's working properly."

"Everything?" Darcy groaned.

"Everything."

O.O.O.O

What only took two hours in total felt like a lifetime for everyone else, minus Jane. They had to inspect every computer, every camera, each heat signature setting that Jane possessed — the list seemed to go on. A lot of Jane's scientific devices she made herself, since a lot of the machinery she needed wasn't sold in any store. So having them checked as frequently as possible was another one of — at least Opal saw it as one — Jane's big obsessions. She didn't want to find out at the last possible second that her inventions short-circuited or just decided to stop worrying. But, during an instance where she was about to go on an adventure to find more scientific information, she would also do a bit of a last minute check just in case. That was just how things went down.

And once Jane was satisfied with how her electronics were functioning, she'd make sure all the files, data, etc., were up-to-date and not lost in any way, shape, or form. Once all of that had been finished, then everything could progress the way she would want it to.

"Everything's good?" she asked, closing her laptop with a sigh. When a murmured response of general agreement was heard, Jane nodded and started gathering some of her belongings. "Let's get all of this in the van!" she exclaimed excitedly. "It's getting close to sundown, let's not waste anymore time."

And so, while they weren't exactly as enthusiastic as Jane was, Opal, Darcy, and Erik helped load the necessary materials into Jane's van.

(A/N):

I know, I know — the chapter's been delayed for a little bit. But here it is! It's a little late, but I hope you guys enjoy what I've written so far. I tried having a little more of Opal's backstory explained, and I am hoping it made sense. If there's anything that's confusing about what I wrote in this chapter, don't hesitate to let me know, OK? Communication is important, especially if it's something that's a bit squishy for you guys.

Do I own anything in the MCU? No. No I don't. I'll take credit for my OCs and any subplots I put into my story, but that's it.

So, I guess (I'm probably really behind on this, but I thought I'd mention it anyway) a brief summary on THOR RAGNAROK has been released onto the interwebs. Like I said, chances are I'm a bit behind on this, but I thought it'd be something worth sharing. Anywho, I guess Thor's in some kind of prison somewhere in the far reaches of the Universe. He doesn't have Mjølnir. Thor's going to have some gladiatorial duel with Bruce Banner. Asgard's going to be facing (I'm only guessing, correct me if I'm wrong) a kind of apocalyptic destruction by Hela. I guess Jane's no longer making an appearance or serving as Thor's love interest, since he seems to be crushing on a woman named Valkyrie.

That's all I've got. I don't know if that interests any of you.

Also, TWD fans, how'd you like Sunday's episode? Rick and company didn't seem to be making much progress at the Hilltop or the Kingdom, but hopefully things look up for them!

I also know this may not be of interest for any of you, but the title of this story was inspired by MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE's song 'I'm Not Okay (I Promise)'. I'm sure you guys figured it out the last chapter, but I thought I'd let you guys know.

I digress.

Leave a thought on anything I can improve on.

Thank you.

Judith W