If you told me two years ago that I was going to join a top secret organization for superhumans and fall in love with someone while I was there, I would have said you were absolutely off your rocker.

But there I was, recruited into that secret organization, in love with a boy I was sharing a bed with. It was crazy what could happen in just a few years.

Though we spent multiple days at Dex's old home, it didn't feel that way. Hours felt like minutes, and every time we went to bed, it almost seemed unreal that the day was actually ending. Dex would wrap his arm around me from behind and we would drift off to sleep, waking up to another morning that didn't feel real.

I didn't know how long we were going to stay for. Honestly, I didn't really want to leave. Dex seemed so happy to have found his mother again, and I didn't want them to have to part. I wished we could have stayed there forever, but I knew that that wasn't possible.

When I woke up on morning, rolling over to see Dex was no longer in bed beside me, I was disappointed. These last few mornings we had woken up next to each other, spending a few hours talking or cuddling or kissing. But now he wasn't there, and I felt cold.

He wasn't one to get up early, so for a moment I was concerned. I quickly pushed this feeling away since there wasn't any proof of foul play.

Pushing myself up out of bed, I made my way out of the bedroom and into the hallway, not caring about the fact that I was still in my pajamas.

I heard cleaning from the kitchen downstairs, and I assumed it was either Dex or his mother. I glanced at the door down the hall that belonged to his mother's room, and even though it was closed, I wasn't so sure that ruled her out for being the one making noise.

I decided I was being paranoid for no reason. It had to have been either Dex or his mother downstairs. It had to have been. But honestly, I wasn't so sure that I kept repeating that to myself because I was worried it wasn't or because it was so obvious that it was one or even both of them.

I decided I was being paranoid for no reason. It had to have been either Dex or his mother downstairs, if not both of them. So swallowing any doubt I had, I padded downstairs and into the kitchen.

I was happy to see Dex more than I was relieved. His back was to me as he faced the stove, the clanking coming from him as he flipped a pancake onto a plate on the counter.

"Well," was all I was able to say, and he looked over his shoulder at me and smirked.

"Morning, sleepyhead," he greeted, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek once I was close enough to him. "Did you sleep well?"

I didn't exactly want to tell him that I'd slept better than I ever had before, and I had been ever since we'd arrived, most likely because he was sleeping with me. His ego didn't need to hear me say that.

"Yes," I answered simply instead. "How about you?"

"I slept amazing," he grinned, placing his hand on the small of my back and tugging me closer so I was no pressed up against him. "It had something to do with you bring in the bed with me, I'm sure."

I had nothing to say to this, since this was exactly how I felt. Was he a mind reader now, too?

There was something about the atmosphere that was just so... calming. It almost felt like Dex and I were newlyweds, sleeping together and waking up to each other and cooking breakfast together. The only difference was...

"You're burning the pancake," a new voice suddenly sang out from behind us, causing me to push away from him. I turned and awkwardly smiled at his mother.

"Morning, Mom," the young Wolff greeted, as uncomfortable as I was that his mother had caught us once again. "Pancakes are ready."

"Looks like you're whipping up a little more than just pancakes in here," she smiled knowingly, picking up an extra plate and shoveling multiple pancakes onto it. Dex and I said nothing to deny her words, and Dex went back to the pancake on the stove.

Dex was so happy. And I was happy he was happy. Even though liked to pretend that his mother was a bother to him, I knew how much he loved that she was back in his life.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and change," I informed them, now realizing I was the only one of the three of us still in there pajamas.

"Can I join you?" Dex called out after me, and I simply stuck my tongue out at him and made my way up the stairs, a little embarrassed by the fact that he'd said that in front of his mother, even though we both knew she didn't care about comments like that and even kind of encouraged it, making comments herself.

Once I was back in Dex's room, I picked out a grey tank top to wear, pulling a jean jacket on over it, the cuffs rolled at my elbows. I then stepped into a pair of black leggings to go with the rest of my outfit.

I made my way back down the stairs to see Dex had finished making the pancakes and was now eating them at the kitchen table, a few leftover for me. I grabbed the plate and headed over to sit with Dex and his mother.

"So, you've got to tell me all about your teammates," Rebecca requested once I had sat down. "I want to know everything about your experience with the DAU."

"Haven't we told you enough already?" Dex asked, his face full of pancake. I rolled my eyes at him, but his mother giggled, not finding it rude in the slightest.

"You've told me about yourselves, but not your teammates or your mentors," Rebecca continued. "How am I supposed to know you're getting the whole experience if you don't tell me everything?"

Dex rolled his eyes. "Our teammates have nothing to do with our experience."

His mother gave him a look. "Actually, they have everything to do with it."

And Dex and I both knew she was speaking from personal experience, and she was right.

"So, tell me," Rebecca began with a grin once she saw she had won us over, "about Vince's son."

Dex and I shared a look. In the few days we'd spent with her, we'd only hint about how much of a jerk Aiden was. She had been best friends with his father, and neither of us wanted to possibly offend her by hating on her best friend's son.

"How about this then?" Rebecca smirked when she saw our hesitant looks. "Both of you can use one word you'd use to describe him."

"Ass," Dex blurted without hesitation.

"Selfish," I jumped in immediately after.

"Delusional."

"Jerk."

"Annoying."

"Rude."

"Needs to shut up—"

"That's more than one word," I reprimanded, cutting him off.

Dex stuck his tongue out at me. "I think we both went over the one word limit."

We then remembered that Dex's mother was there, and we had done exactly what we were trying not to do. But once we had gotten into it, the insults toward Aiden just kept on flowing and we got carried away.

"Well," Rebecca laughed, and I was relieved to see she wasn't offended. "I think it's pretty obvious who your favorite teammate is."

Before I could laugh with her, a sudden knock at the front door caused us all to freeze. We stared at each other for only a moment before I slowly moved to answer it.

Dex followed right after me, clutching onto my arm, stopping me from going anywhere. I turned to glare at him, and he was giving me a look as if to tell me not to go any closer.

"No one knows we're here," he whispered, not letting go of me. "And no one knows that my mom's here."

There was another knock on the door.

None of us moved. Both Dex and Rebecca could turn invisible, but that wasn't something I was capable of doing. Even though Enders could apparently take powers from people, I didn't know how to do that and I wasn't about to take their ability to hide away just so I could.

"I don't think they're going to go away," I frowned as another knock followed. "What are we supposed to do?"

Dex wasn't able to answer me, though, because a burst of electricity suddenly burst through the door, causing it to fly off the hinges and right toward us. Dex made the move to grab me and jump out off the way, but I lifted my hands and quickly pushed the door away. It went flying into the opposite direction into the wall.

We turned to the doorway to see Carmine, who I had been expecting, but she wasn't the one who had broke the door open. I expected Striker to be there, as he was her partner and he was the one with the electricity powers. But instead, his nephew stood front and center.

"Hey, babe," Tom grinned when our eyes met. "Did you miss me?"

Taking a protective step in front of me, Dex stared Tom down. "I don't know what you're planning, but you need to get the hell out of here," he spat.

"I'm afraid we can't do that," Carmine smiled, a sickening smile I hated to see. "Especially now that we know that Rebecca Wolff is still alive."

She looked over at Rebecca, who was only a few feet away from us, looking horrified. I couldn't blame her, since we had just been found by the organization that she had been hiding from for years. Clearly, she had never come up with a plan if this were to ever happen.

"If you want us to leave, you're gonna have to make us," Tom shrugged, that same laissez-fair attitude that I had found so charming beforehand now coming off as creepy and unsettling. He then smirked, beckoning me over with a wave of his hand. "Come on, kitten. Come to daddy."

"Oh, hell no," Dex growled, rushing forward to start the fight himself. As if that had been his plan all along, Tom laughed as he easily jumped out of the way of Dex's blow, karate chopping down at the back of Dex's neck.

I screamed out his name, moving toward him until I was knocked backwards and onto the ground. I looked up from my spot on the ground to see Carmine grinning down at me, just like I had been expecting.

"Sorry, honey," she smiled as I pushed myself up off the ground. "I know you'd rather fight your boyfriend, but you've got the pleasure of wasting your energy on me."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Dex and Tom and already made their way outside into the snow. Rebecca was nowhere to be found, invisible like I expected her to be.

Carmine grabbed for me, but I quickly rolled away, jumping up onto my feet and sprinting outside where I knew Dex and Tom would be. Carmine was right behind me, kicking me square in the back and sending me rolling down the hill Dex's childhood home stood on top of.

I only stopped once my back hit one of the trees sitting at the bottom of the hill. Covered in snow, I pushed myself up off the ground. Scanning my surroundings for anything I could use, I could see individual chunks of snow, hard as rocks. Without even using my hands to help guide it, I picked one up and sent it flying right at Carmine's head. She dodged it easily.

"Look at you, learning how to use your powers!" Carmine cackled. "You're even hands-free now and everything!"

I sent another chunk of snow flying her way, and she was too busy making fun of me to realize it was coming at her. It hit her right in the throat, affectively shutting her up as she took a few steps back to steady herself.

"Are we gonna have a snowball fight now?" she laughed as she picked up her own chunk of hardened snow, setting it on fire. "I thought you'd know by now that I don't prefer balls."

All I could do was gape, shocked that it was even possible for a block of snow to be set on fire, but I was quickly snapped out of my shocked state as the fiery ice hit me in the shoulder. Surprisingly, the mass of the snow hurt much more than the fire did.

Carmine bound forward to strike me again, but I wasn't about to let her speed get the better of me. I jumped up, latching onto a branch of the three we were under and swinging forward and up so that I was now perched on top of it. Carmine blinked up at me, looking impressed for only a second before she bolted up to follow me.

I jumped higher and higher from branch to branch, Carmine following right behind me. I didn't exactly know what I was doing, but then again, I never did when it came to these fights we had with Redrum.

I was getting closer and closer to the top of the tree, no plan in sight for when I finally did reach the top. I could just fly away, but I knew in the end that would do nothing to help me in the long run. I needed to fight her or else she was never going to flee.

Just as I got to the top, without even thinking, I kicked Carmine and she went flying backward. Without hesitation, I shook the tree with all my might, using both my powers and all the physical strength I had. This caused all the snow to fall right behind her.

Carmine smashed into the ground, the snow following suit to form a nice, neat pile on top of her. I slowly levitated down to the ground, waiting for her to jump out at any second. But there was no reaction from her.

I paused for a moment, waiting for her to make a move. This gave me the opportunity to finally listen to what was happening up the hill, where I heard a shrill, panicked voice suddenly shout, "No!"

I turned, screaming myself when I saw how much of an upper hand Tom had on Dex, swinging his electric hand right toward his head as Dex huddled down in front of him, out of breath. He was really trying to kill him, no remorse.

Rebecca suddenly appeared right beside the two boys fighting, kicking Tom's fist away and sending him back just a few steps, as she had caught him off guard. He laughed, shaking his hand out.

"I actually forgot that you were here for a sec." He chuckled, but soon after his eyes turned dark as he stared her down. "And you're going to regret that it didn't stay that way."

Dex pushed himself up; he wasn't about to let his mother fight for him. He stumbled, clearly still a little off from all the electrified blows that Tom had laid on him. None had been strong enough to do any real damage, none except for the last one. That had been meant as a final blow from a hunter who was done toying with his prey.

It was scary, how powerful Tom really was. He had the power to give us a little jolt or a deathly shock. It all depended on how he felt in the moment.

But Rebecca didn't back down. She wasn't about to let anyone hurt her son. She'd disappear and reappear, confusing Tom as he looked around for any sign of her. She'd lay a blow whenever he left himself open, and I stared in amazement. Dex had always used his strength as his weapon, rarely ever using his invisibility unless it was for a quick strategic move. It was obvious which power he favored of the two he was given. He'd never used the power he inherited from his mother to its full potential, and even he was watching with wide eyes as she kicked Tom's ass.

My old flame was growing angrier and angrier with every blow he took. He clearly was not happy with the fact that he was getting his ass kicked by what seemed like a random third party. He'd come here to fight Dex and me, not Dex's mother.

The electricity surging from his palm grew, enveloping his entire arm. This wasn't a strike meant to daze your opponent, like the ones he had given Dex. It was meant to kill. And as Rebecca reappeared in front of him for the umpteenth time, both Dex and I saw where this blow was directed.

I stepped forward. Dex reached out. But it was too late. An electrified fist connected, the flesh of Rebecca's stomach tearing away as Tom's arm buried deep inside her, taking a mere second to pass through and impale her through her back.

"No!" I found myself screaming, my legs failing me as I fell into the snow like a newborn doe.

Rebecca's eyes were wide, her face pale and clammy as she gasped for life. Blood began to trickle down her chin. Tom merely smiled back at her.

It was as if time stood still. Tom was grinning, the most sick and twisted grin I had ever seen in my entire life. Rebecca gaped back at him, in shock. In pain as the electricity shot through her. It was only a matter of seconds before the life disappeared from her eyes.

The scream I heard from Dex was something I'd never heard before, and a sound I never wanted to hear again. He charged at Tom, who was one step ahead of him. Shaking Rebecca off his arm as if she was a piece of trash, he jumped out of the way of Dex's incoming fist, his victim slumping to the ground, her blood staining the snow beneath her.

I needed to help. I needed to do something. I couldn't just sit there. But as I tried to stand, I was being knocked onto my side again by a sudden force.

"Poor little Dexy, losing his mommy all over again," Carmine cackled from above me as I clutched onto my side, the wind knocked out of me from her blow. "But this time it's for real!"

No. I couldn't let that happen. Dex had finally, finally reunited with his mother. I wasn't going to let anyone take that from him.

I could hear Tom taunting Dex as they fought higher on the hill. I wanted to run to him, to protect him, but there was nothing I could do with Carmine in the way.

"Poor little momma's boy!" Tom laughed, dodging another one of Dex's advances. "What's wrong, Dex? Are you sad because now your mom is really dead?"

Carmine kicked me in the side. "Come on, Vi! Get on up and help your man!"

I pushed myself up, shaking as I tried to make my way up the hill. But Carmine wasn't going to make it easy for me.

I was being knocked over again, sliding back down the hill in the cold snow that I was growing so tired of. I grit my teeth and tried to get up again. Carmine knocked me down, all of this just a funny game to her.

My patience was wearing thin. "Get out of my way!"

With just a wave of my hand, she flew back, smashing against the tree we had just been climbing minutes ago full force. She didn't get back up to attack me, so I knew that this was my chance.

I ignored the blood smeared against the trunk where her head had connected and bolted up the hill, just in time to see Dex finally nabbing Tom by his shirt and taking him down onto the snowy pavement.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Dex snarled, straddling him as his hands curled into fists, clutching the fabric at the front of Tom's shirt as he smashed him against the ground again and again. "I'm going to snap your fucking neck and rip you to fucking shreds!"

When he punched him, I knew he had no intention of snapping his neck and ending his life so quickly. He wasn't going to let Tom get away with what he'd just done. He was going to make him suffer.

Tom, horrifically, was smiling. He couldn't keep the grin off his face, even as it was getting significantly less pretty with every blow Dex laid.

I just stood there, only a few feet away, watching in terror as Dex beat the living hell out of Tom, his face becoming bloody and bruised and disfigured. Dex was using his full strength, something I didn't think I'd ever actually seen before that moment. He was really going to kill him.

That was when it struck me. I couldn't let him do this, even if the bastard deserved every hit he received. I couldn't let Dex do something he was going to regret later. Once he calmed down, he would realize what he'd done and regret it.

Not because he'd killed Tom, but because he'd killed somebody. That wasn't something that a sane person could do without feeling any sort of guilt. Even if it was someone as despicable as Tom.

I knew what it was like to kill someone, even if you hadn't meant to. I didn't want Dex to go through the same thing.

Tom was laughing now, still taking every single punch Dex gave him. He truly was a maniac, completely different from how I used to think he was. He was unredeemable.

Dex was still punching him, but I knew Tom wasn't going to be able to take much more. A normal human could die from just one of Dex's blows, but Tom was taking a good eight or nine, laughing about the whole thing.

I couldn't watch this anymore. I took a step forward, grabbing onto Dex's bloody hand mid-swing. He looked back at me, a wild look in his eye I had never seen before. It scared me. Was this how he felt when he had stopped me?

"Dex, stop!" I cried, tears filling my eyes at the look of him. "He isn't worth it!"

"That's not—" Tom started, but it seemed to be difficult for him to speak with all the blood in his mouth. "What you said... a few months ago..."

Dex moved to hit him again, but I wouldn't let go. I held onto his wrist tight with both hands, knowing that if he really tried, he could tear away from me. But I had to try my hardest not to let that happen.

"Dex, I know he deserves it and I know you have every right to murder him right here, but you can't do this." I was pleading, begging with him to listen. He needed to understand that he couldn't stoop to Tom's level. He wasn't like him. "If you do, you have no idea how much trouble you'll get into. I killed Malicius just by accident but I was treated like a criminal on lockdown all those months you guys were away!"

Dex looked from me down to his mother's killer, thinking hard about what to do. His shoulders heaved with his deep breaths, and I knew how badly he wanted to just break down.

"If you do this, you're going to regret it. I know you will," I whispered, slowly removing my hands from his wrist and bringing them up to rest on his shoulder. "Please, don't stoop to his level and let him go!"

Tom grinned up at me. "Is that... a hint of your lingering feelings for me I see?"

At this point, I couldn't tell if Tom wanted to be hit or not. Before Dex could even try to hit him again, I was the one swinging my foot and connected to his temple, affectively shutting him up for the moment.

I used this as the opportunity to pull Dex off of him, both of us crumbling into the snow together, his head against my chest as I wrapped my arms around him.

Tom was still chuckling, though he stopped saying any witty or stupid remarks. We just sat there for a moment in silence, Dex in my arms in a state of shock. He didn't make a sound; he was frozen in place. The only move he made was the shaking of his hands as they gripped against my jacket.

The sudden crunching of snow caught my attention, and I whipped my head in the direction of the sound to see Carmine making her way toward us, though she was slow as she trudged through the snow.

Her impact with the tree had slowed her down, and I was relieved because this fight just couldn't continue. I had thrown her as hard as I could against that tree, and even I didn't know how powerful I actually was, so I had no idea how bad her injury could have been.

Though Carmine didn't look injured, I knew something had happened when she'd hit the tree. I couldn't see the back of her head from this angle, but I'd seen the blood. I could see the look of pain on her face that she was desperately trying to hide. I could see that she was giving up.

"Get out of here!" I ordered, still ready for a fight if I needed to be. Neither of our enemies, however, were in any shape to continue our battle, so I knew that meant that it was their time to flee.

"We will meet again soon enough," Carmine growled, yanking Tom up off the ground and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, steadying him. "Let's go, you reckless imbecile."

Even in his broken and beaten state, Tom saluted us before Carmine dashed away with him, disappearing in less than a second. Dex and I only sat there, the adrenaline wearing off as what happened finally began to sink in.

Higher on the hill, Dex's mother's body lay. I couldn't bear to look at it as I held her son in my arms. He continued to shake against me, his breathing shallow.

Finally, he was pushing away from me, quick and sudden, though I wasn't offended or upset by his actions. He sprung up, nearly tripping over this own two feet as he bounded up the hill toward his childhood home. Toward his mother.

Wobbling, I followed after him, knowing that even though the last thing I wanted to see was his mother's lifeless form up close, he was going to need me. And that came above all else.

Dex fell to his knees at his mother's side, her dead eyes wide as she stared up into the sky. I stood behind him in silence, having no idea what I was supposed to say. I knew there was nothing I could do to help him.

His shoulders began to shake. I reached out to touch him, but thought better of it and took a step back. I had never seen Dex cry before, and I knew that he was the type of guy that wanted it to stay that way.

My own tears fell as I whispered, "Dex..."

"I really want to be alone right now, Violet." His voice was firm, strong while at the same time weak, and he didn't turn to face me. "I just... want to be alone."

I couldn't argue with him. I didn't want him to lash out, or grow angrier than he already was. This was a pain that I could not understand. Not fully. So I was willing to do whatever he asked.

"... Okay," I croaked out, not knowing what else to say. I turned, about to head back toward the house until I thought of something that I wanted him to know. "I'll leave you alone for now. But when you need someone... Whenever or if ever... I'll be here."

Dex said nothing, and I knew it was my time to leave. With one last look at his mother's white face, I slowly trudged into the house, my whole body feeling numb. With the door still off the hinges, I knew Dex wouldn't get the privacy he craved if I stayed downstairs like I wanted, so I went all the way upstairs and into his bedroom, closing the door behind me.

The silence was deafening. I leaned up against the door, air refusing to enter my lungs as everything began to hit me. The boy I loved was downstairs, grieving over his dead mother that he had just reconnected with. My jacket covered in Tom's blood from the savage beating Dex had rightfully given him. I'd been useless, and let an innocent person die.

My chest felt tight and I could hardly breathe. I wanted to cry and scream and punch everything in sight. This pain I felt was unbearable, which only meant it was a thousand times worse for Dex. This wasn't my mother I was losing, but someone I had grown acquainted with after only a few days. This was the woman who had given birth to him, the woman he hadn't seen in years until now, and by chance. I felt like I had no right to hurt as much as I did.

But when I heard Dex scream from downstairs, that was when I really broke, the pain and agony overflowing through me like a broken dam. Covering my mouth as I let out a choked cry, I slid down to the floor, letting my sobs ring out like a broken record.

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Hahahahaha... this was so difficult to write.

And it's pretty long... So yeah. I know it took a while, but I was trying really hard to get it out and it was just really hard because it's such an emotional chapter for both Dex and Violet.

But I'm glad I've finally gotten through it so I can continue on, because I really love this story so much and just everything about it is just so good to me and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing and coming up with it.

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3