"You don't have to be there. It's okay, Ash." My father is adjusting his horrible, vomit green tie as he watches me shove a cardigan over the slender black dress I've chosen.

    "Yes, I do." I let out a low sigh as my eyes close tight against the tears, "It's at the very least that I can give her." The short nod is all the response I get as he leaves the living room, letting his hand rest on the entry way door as he gives us both time to prepare.

The moment we share an emotionless look he opens the thick, ebony door and the flashes almost blind me. His hand finds my low back as he had already lowered his head to help steer me to the car.

    "Mr. Lux, Mr. Lux!"

Of course, the security force keeps the media at bay a few feet from the door, but it doesn't keep them from flashing cameras and screaming at us.

"Where is the funeral?!"

"Who is going to take over the company?!"

"How are you expecting your daughter to be half of what your wife was?!"

That last one got me to pause, ready to whirl around on that report and teach them just how unlucky they were about to be, but he didn't let me. My father's hand trails to my arm and grabs me by the elbow to continue the path.

"Don't stop." He growls under his breath as we get to the car, "Don't show them that you care."

The words of rebellion die in my throat. Inside, I knew that he was right and that things would only get worse if I react. But on the outside? All I could think about is what it would be like to tear them a new one.

The rest of the drive is in silence, except the driver occasionally looking back to ask where he should be turning. To anyone else - It looks like we've stopped in the middle of nowhere whenever my father orders me out. The driver didn't comment about it as we headed into the woods.

The clearing is filled with family by the time we arrive. My mother's parents, Tia and Pap, both smile at me before they wrap me up in the tightest hug imaginable.

"It wasn't your fault, my dear." Tia whispers in my ear as Pap's bear arms almost break a rib. The tears came before I could stop them as I allow myself to relax in their presence.

We all knew that their words were lies.

I'm the reason my mother is dead.

They broke away from me as my father takes the stage up on where the casket is, looking anywhere but at me as his in laws refuse to leave my side.

Glancing through the crowd one more time, I watch his eyes harden before he takes a deep breath and turns to the casket. A lock of my mother's hair is flowing with the wind. Typically, you say a few words before you move on, but my father has never been one to talk unnecessarily. His actions say everything he wants them to.

Raising the torch beside the box, he throws it into the casket. The orange gets flames come alive as they eat away the wood of the box and seem to avoid my father, but it was probably just the wind.

The last thing that anyone on my father's side of the family expected to see was for the orange to go a violent shade of blue before lunging at me.

~•~•~•~•~•~

Grabbing the blackened bread, I vault out the door of my apartment and almost run into the spinning doors of the lobby before managing to just barely catch myself.

"Go get 'em!" The landlady, Kayzli, calls after before laughing to herself. I roll my eyes as I practically throw my stuff into the passenger seat.

Can't be late, can't be late -

My brilliant truck roars to life like it were still in its prime as I cheer and pat the steering wheel. In a matter of moments, I'm going down the highway to get to the downtown office building.

    "In a twist of events, it seems a new face is starting to hold the hopes of Kermean City."

I raise an eyebrow as I turn the radio up and glide past some poor idiot who just went through the pot hole.

    "With the resemblance, it's not surprising the name Griffin has appeared for him. And his looks aren't half bad either, ladies. Yesterday he was seen in Rigley's Mall stopping the infamously annoying Jasper from completely destroying it again. This is the first time we've seen the criminal so easily apprehended since Angelfire. And speaking of the Phoenix of Kermean, there has still been no sign of her since the last camera angle of her saving the beloved company leader, As-."

The radio is off before I could hear the end of that. They always bring her up, and I should've been more prepared for it, but at least I got some sort of distraction.

A new hero?

I've heard the rumors, but it's nothing whenever the news actually admits it. A mythical beast one moment, and a hooded figure the next, Griffin has become the vigilante that the town missed after Angelfire was gone. The vigilante that we need. Crime has been going on a rampage since the "disappearance" of Angelfire, even I could barely walk out the door without having to kick some ass.

But I'm just lucky to have been taught karate, otherwise I might be one of the Ten O'Clock news reports of a missing girl - or worse, of a dead one.

Not like dying would really be the end of me, but I imagine it would still hurt.

Taking a right hand turn off of the highway, I almost go on autopilot as I slide into my parking garage, swipe my card, and go park up in my spot. The truck purrs as I kill the engine and smile.

    "You did good, Hun. You did good." I pat the hood of the car as I grab my things and finish the last of the charred sadness I called breakfast. It didn't take long before I could catch the signs of the reporters out of the corner of my eye. A glint of a camera, the bushes move, and the birds won't get out of the trees.

You won't be getting anything good today, you psycho.

I walk into the building to be welcomed by the air conditioning as I pause for a moment, but the new receptionist clears his throat before I can bask for long.

"Good morning, Ms. Lux." He greets and I focus on him as I try to remember his name. "Your new assistant is here."

"Thank you... Zack, right?" I try as I wave a finger at him.

"Jack." He corrects with a smile, "But thank you for attempting, Ms. Lux."

"Jack." I mummer as I snap, "Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack." With a nod I depart from the normal pathway to go to the private elevator off to the side. Of course, I allow anyone to use it if they have to go all the way up, but hardly anyone does unless I've specifically told them to use it.

As the doors close and separate me from the lobby I find myself staring at my reflection. The long ash-brown hair, even though it's in a high ponytail, goes down to my waist. It's the only thing I have with me to remind me of my mother, and I haven't cut it since. It goes nicely with the button up dark violet shirt I've chosen, with the white jacket that then slide into my black khakis and my black flats, I think I look presentable.

The purple hues of my eyes are the only real sign that I have anything outside of the normal. The Phoenix spirit in me has been dormant, but it's still enough to make some physical changes happen. Such as my immunity to hot food and drink, or my metabolism being higher, or even my physical appearance. I'm fast, but not strong.

The elevator doors' beeping snaps me out of my transfixed mindset as it slides open to reveal a work floor.

"Good morning, Ms. Lux!" A cheery call from the janitor.

"Good morning, Mr. York." I greet him with a smile as I glance across the open area. I had the cubicles taken out my first real year in office, leaving a nice open feeling across the top floor. People actually spoke with each other. Of course, the few who wanted to keep I didn't stop them from moving into the back rooms.

"G- Good morning, Ms. Lux." A timid redhead stands from a desk just to the left of my corner one, I could see the remains of his breakfast on his desk. "I- I wasn't aware you would be c- coming in early? I should have been more prepared."

"You must be the new guy." I muse as I set my bag down at my desk and glance around. "It's alright, you're still adjusting... Did you happen to get me coffee?"

"No ma'am, I'll get right to it!" He promises and vanishes before I could get another word out. I watch him and blink before I laugh and shake my head.

He's certainly new to this line of work.

I grab my Yeti and turn around the corner to almost run into the springy ginger before laughing lightly and raising an eyebrow as I hold the cup out. He takes it with a blush and races back.

"Goodness." One of the older workers, Julie, stands beside me with her walker full of paperwork. "He certainly has the energy to keep up with you."

"He'll get used to it." I chuckle, "I say give him a week and he'll have gotten used to my routine enough to be able to do things calmly."

"A week?" She scoffs as her bony elbow nudges my side, "You're on."

"Usual terms?" I give her a look and try to avoid the smile coming over my face at her solemn nod... But neither of us manage to keep from giggling as she hobbles away and I return to my chair.

Once I finally manage to get situated at my desk, I open my triple monitors and narrow my eyes as it all boots up. Emails were nothing new considering we're a large company, but there was a news feed that it seems someone sent me. It's automatically opening as I sit there for a moment.

"Early this morning, Kermean City was faced with the first signs of a supervillain since our Sapphire went missing two years ago. A group of men were apprehended by the new hero calling himself Griffin-"

The obvious outline of a well built male pops up on the screen, dressed in what seems to be just enough to get along. Black turtle neck, black jeans, combat boots, and a black mask. However, a small clip of the male running towards a smoke filled area comes on. One moment, we're looking at the human male, and next there's a large Griffin that jumps and soars into the chaos with a caw.

"Clearly this is another hero with the same skills once used by Sapphire, but does this mean our hero really is gone? We'll find out. But the group of men claimed to have been paid to rob the bank, paid to make a scene. Witnesses said later that it seems they were simply a distraction. Distraction to what? We'll have to find that out too. Until 10:00 tonight, this is Janet Flied signing off."

The video freezes as I've reached the end of it, stuck on her face and microphone. I pause as I back it up and pause it on the close up of the male. Selecting a portion of the face, I zoom in and narrow my eyes.

Any distinguishing features? Most of the time first time heroes will make some sort of mistake to reveal their identities. Just because they weren't prepared...

But as I look at the jaw, scan along the chin, even go up to the ears, I could find anything. And with the amount of redheads in the office alone, using that wouldn't be any help.

Interesting...

"Oh! Isn't that the superhero everyone's talking about?" The new guy sets down the coffee on the edge of my desk as he peers at the screen, "Looks pretty cool."

"Mm..." I tilt my head as I study the outfit more, "He could have used more fashion advice, but if this is an 'spur of the moment' type of thing it's actually pretty good. There doesn't seem to be major flaws with concealing his identity."

"Yes ma'am." He agrees as he straightens up, starting to walk back to his desk before he pauses and slowly turns. "Uh, Ms. Lux?" He looks down bashfully before clearing his throat, "Did- Did I introduce myself?" A light chuckle rises out of me as I slide some papers over to reveal his application on my desk.

"Tyler, or would you prefer Mr. Woods?" I grab my coffee and start to sip on it as I await his reaction.

Someone down there must have shared how to make my coffee, he did well.

     "Either is fine." He assures me as he smiles and slides into his desk. It didn't take long for us to fall into a surprisingly comfortable silence as we both began to go through motions. Occasionally, I would bother him to ask for some sort of favor, but he happily did everything.

It's almost like we've been a team for months...

I haven't worked with him before, have I?