— Samantha Eve Wilkins (Atom Eve) —

*FWOOSH*

BOOM*

Eve dodged forward, narrowly avoiding the lazer blast that had been fired at her. She continued rushing and managed to get just in front of the villain. The helmet-wearing villain attempted to backhand her out of the way, but she formed a shield in the air which blocked the hit.

"Ha!" She shouted, pushing the shield toward the man and hitting him hard on his head, sending him flying backward.

"Graah!" He screamed in pain as he landed on the concrete ground. A moment later, his arm dropped to the ground and he stopped moving, embracing unconsciousness.

"...Maybe I went too far." Eve whispered, looking at the villain.

"[Nah, that guy is a jackass. I'd say you used the adequate amount of force.]" Darius chuckled through her ear piece.

"[You used the shield bash I recommended! Nice one, Eve!]" Mark cheered.

"It was a good suggestion." She nodded, using her powers to thrust herself into the air. She let out a relieved sigh and looked at the night sky. It was pretty dark…maybe she should wrap things up here?"

"[I'm glad you made it out unharmed. Kilcannon ain't no joke.]" Darius said with more than a little bit of pride in his voice, making her face brighten and a small smile form.

"Don't worry about me, I'm tougher than I look!"

Eve flew off, deciding to head back to Headquarters for the night. Headquarters being Darius' house where all the monitoring equipment was set up.

As she flew, suddenly a bright light was caught in her eye, forcing her to stop and shield her eyes. After a few seconds, she looked past her hands to see nothing around. She blinked in confusion and kept looking around, trying to find the source of the strange light.

Eve paused as she saw an old man wearing dirty clothes waving both hands at her, trying to signal her. She tilted her head at this. It seemed very shady, especially with how it was nighttime, but she was a hero now, and a hero wouldn't look the other way when someone looks in distress.

"[Something wrong, Eve?]" Darius asked through her earpiece.

"There's someone waving at me."

Silence rang over the call for a moment before he spoke again.

"[Can you describe what he looks like?]"

She raised an eyebrow at the question, not expecting it. "He's an old man wearing dirty clothes."

"[So a homeless man?]" Mark questioned.

"Looks like it."

"[Well, it's up to you what you wanna do. If you choose to go help him, don't get within grabbing distance.]" Darius warned, earning a nod from Eve and she slowly began her descent.

Eve landed on the ground approximately three meters from the man and stared at him. "Do you need something?"

The old man stared at her with some shock, likely not expecting to actually gain her attention. He smiled, one that looked like it was meant to be a calming grandfatherly smile, but instead came out creepy.

"It is good to finally meet you face to face. I wish it could be under better circumstances, and I'm sure we can talk later. For now, you must stop using your powers."

That sentence set red flags off in her head, and she took a single step back which wiped the smile off the man's face.

"Wait, don't go!" He stepped forward, in response she took two steps back.

"Adults teach stranger danger for a reason, if you don't have a problem, then I'm leaving!" Eve frowned, glaring at the older man.

"Wait, I know you, if you would only give me a moment to expl-"

"And this couldn't get any more creepy." Eve made a disgusted face and used her powers to push herself off the ground.

"You can see atoms!" He shouted, causing her to freeze in place. A cold sweat ran down her forehead as she looked back at the man in shock and a tinge of fear. "Not only can you see them, but rearrange them as well. The exception being animals and people, only animals and people.

"H-How."

The man let out a sigh and smiled at her. "Forgive me for scaring you and waiting this long to introduce myself. I am Doctor Brandyworth, and I was the man who helped deliver you into this world."

Eve stared at the man in surprise. She didn't know what to say in response to that, and judging from the silence in her earpiece, neither Mark or Darius had anything to say either.

"Explain." She said with a determined look as she took a couple steps forward.

"Samantha…if I can call you that?" He asked, earning a small hesitant nod from her. "Allow me to explain from the beginning. As I said, I am Doctor Elias Brandyworth, and once upon a time I worked for the government, I was tasked with a job, an important one. To create a superhuman with the abilities to alter matter on a subatomic level."

Eve's eyes widened in shock. "Y-Your job…you created me?"

Brandyworth waved his hand in a 'kinda' motion. "Do not misunderstand, Samantha. You are not a robot or anything like that. You are the product of a mother whom I had grown to know very well, and a father who I had never met."

She let out a sigh of relief. The way he said that he "created" a superhuman made her worried she wasn't actually human. Suddenly something the old man said came back into her mind. "Wait, you said you know my mother?!"

"I knew your mother, and not the one you're thinking of." Brandyworth corrected, his face drooping in sadness.

Oh…

"We may not have much time, so I'll try and explain everything quickly." Brandyworth frowned. "The parents you know are not your biological parents. Your mother's name was Polly. When I first met her, she was…a woman who volunteered herself for the sake of Humanity. A pregnant woman might I add."

Eve clung to every word the man was saying as if missing one would mess up her life forever.

"So, I used the experimental drug on your mother's womb as was planned in order to create a powerful superhuman with the ability to rearrange matter. Though, as I ran more and more tests, I grew closer and closer to your mother, eventually we became friends. As time went by, she began to regret her decision. She didn't want her baby to be a soldier for the government, and she made me promise I'd help you live a normal life…so I did."

Eve couldn't believe her ears. Everything she had known about her life had been flipped upside down so dramatically and so quickly.

"H-How…what happened to her?" She didn't think she wanted to know the answer, but she knew she had to hear it.

"Your mother went into labor early. I rushed her to the hospital and ended up going against my superiors orders in the process. Once we got inside, we rushed her to a delivery room, but unfortunately…your mother didn't survive."

"No." Eve whispered, tears welling in her eyes as she dropped to her knees. All her life, she had a feeling her parents just weren't her parents, and now she had been proven right. More than that, just when she learns she has a different mother, she learns that her birth mother is dead.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Brandyworth giving her a small, forced smile. She could see in his eyes that he was still affected by her death to this day.

"She promised me to help you live a normal life, and I did just that. I kept you out of the government's grasp, and over the years, have kept a watchful eye on you. I've gone completely off the grid, all in hopes that I can fulfill my duty, my promise."

Tears began to flow out of her eyes like an open dam, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop it.

Her mother…she was dead, and all she wanted was for Eve to live a good life. It tore her to shreds. Never once had she known or thought about the woman, and yet she gave everything to see her live.

That was much more than she could say about the parents that raised her.

"I know this is all hard to come to terms with, and I'm sure it will take time for you to accept. But I must warn you…" Brandyworth started in a serious voice. Eve wiped the tears off of her face and looked up at the man. "You mustn't use your powers. If you continue to do so, the government will find you, and they will stop at nothing to get you back."

Even now, after all the suffering she was going through in her life, there were still more people that insisted on making her life worse?

Eve pushed herself off the ground and stood up in front of the old doctor.

"I understand." She took a deep breath and looked at the man with eyes full of determination. "But I will not stop being a hero!"

Brandyworth stared at her in shock and fear for what could happen to her.

"I beg of you, Samantha. Please reconsider!"

Eve shook her head and looked down at her fist. "I won't. I like helping people…I like saving lives. It makes me feel good, and it helps the world, even if only a little."

"Samantha…"

"I'm Atom Eve, and I'll change as many lives as I can for the better! The government can come and get me for all I care!"

Brandyworth looked at her with disbelief. He took a step back and let out a very tired sigh.

"I…I understand, Atom Eve. I highly suggest against continued hero work, but if you must, then there is nothing I can do to stop you. I just ask that you take care of yourself. I'll be around." With those final words, Brandyworth began walking away from the quiet street and disappeared around a corner.

Eve stared where he went for a long while before she heard Mark speak in her earpiece.

"[That was…intense.]"

"[Intense may be the understatement of the year. Are you doing alright, Eve?]" Darius asked with more than a little concern.

"I…I don't know. We'll talk when I get back to HQ."

The two remained silent as she flew over to Darius' house. All the while she thought about everything Dr. Brandyworth said. She fought back the tears that began welling in her eyes again.

Who knew the start to her story was so tragic?

After about ten minutes of silence, Eve arrived at HQ and flew through the opened bedroom window. She landed and looked up at the two boys who were looking at her with awkward concern.

They obviously didn't know how to feel about what they just heard, or if they should have heard it at all, and she felt the same way.

"It's getting late, I think I should head home before my mom gets worried." Mark said, rubbing the back of his head with a nervous frown. He grabbed his backpack and was about to walk out of the room before he turned around and looked at Eve. "I-I know that was…a lot, but we're your friends Eve, never forget that."

After she watched Mark close the door behind him, she hesitantly looked at Darius who was still sitting in his chair while facing her. He stood up and walked over to her and stopped just in front of her.

"You don't need to be tough in front of me, Eve."

Those words were all she needed to hear. She crashed into him and began balling her eyes out. She let out loud cries that were muffled by his shirt, and all the while he held onto her tightly. Minutes of nothing but muffled wails and tears went by before she finally gained some semblance of peace. She pulled away slowly and looked at the mess she made on his shirt.

"...I just can't stop messing up your shirts, can I?" She asked, attempting to throw in a little bit of humor, which worked as Darius chuckled.

"No, you cannot, but I've already told you before-" The taller boy smiled warmly at her, stroking her hair out of her face and allowing her to see him clearly. "I'll go through a thousand shirts before I turn you away."

Eve stepped forward and put her head against his chest again, although this time, she wasn't crying. She just wanted to be close to him, to feel his embrace and warmth.

Her cheeks grew red as the time she had spent with him in the past began to flow in her mind.

There was no mistaking it now.

She had fallen in love.

— Chapter End —

Beta Reader: Basilisk Dragonboy1