For the first time in weeks, Hera found herself in the garage again and felt fresh air on her face through the open door. 

The muffled voice of the Director travelled from the corridor that Jean had taken the Birdman all those weeks ago. Hera briefly questioned Theo about the strange man's fate and grimaced slightly at his pointed silence. "Oh..." she whispered to no one in particular. She couldn't picture any of the Evolved as killers. Not really. 

The duo walked down the corridor in silence. The voices appeared to be getting louder as they approached the fourth door, its upper quadrant containing a frosted glass panel.  

Theo stopped before it and paused while Hera pressed her nose against the glass to identify the inhabitants. The light inside was bright, and she could just make out three silhouettes. The talking ceased, and Hera jumped back behind Theo as the door opened. They probably saw her snooping. With an embarrassed niggle in her chest, Hera peaked out behind Theo's broad back and saw the Director's face. He looked like he had seen a ghost. Hera screamed unexpectedly and sprinted inside the room as she spotted Jackie and another very tall man behind her. "Oh my god, you're here! And you look so good! What the fuck happened to you?"

"Fucking hell Hera, language!" Jackie laughed, pulling her in for a tight hug. She looked so healthy. Younger even. Hera was more than baffled at the change in Jackie's appearance.

"Let's sit." The Director's voice interrupted the moment, and a look passed between the two, but Hera was too happy to see her aunt even to bother analyzing it. Instead, she quickly sat around the cold metal table opposite Jackie and the Director. Theo and the tall man, Monroe, opted to stand by the door instead.

"Tell me everything!" Hera breathed, still holding Jackie's hands. They were warm and tan, not a blemish in sight.

Jackie shared the story of her attempted capture and the events following. "For the last few weeks, I've kept moving around with Monroe, taking much smaller pieces of people's essence." 

"But how? How does your Evolution even work?"

Jackie smiled sadly. "You only remember me as sick and weak. I had to touch you to take your memories and your sadness. Your memories were painful, and they would weaken me. But people's joy, love, and goodness. I-it makes me stronger. And the stronger I am, the easier I can see people's memories. When I'm at my strongest, I can see inside people's minds in different rooms. Then I can just take a bit of their goodness. Their essence, if you will. Not enough to hurt them exactly. Just to make them feel bad." 

Jackie looked apologetic. "Sorry, my Evolution isn't very noble. "

Ditto, Hera almost remarked, instead opting for, "You made yourself sick to protect me, Jackie. For years. I'm sorry you had to do that..."

Hera's eyes welled up a bit, and the Director cleared his throat next to her. "Are you planning on staying here, Jacqueline?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I came to get my niece and disappear for a while. Panacea is sending everyone they have to find her. Michael got caught and told them everything before they killed him."

Hera's head spun, and sudden grief overwhelmed her. Mr Anders was dead? He had spent years helping Jackie protect her. She started to feel lighter, and the pain ebbed as she realized Jackie was still holding her hand. Hera ripped her hands out of Jackie's grasp with a disgusted sound. "Stop! I am allowed to feel this. Stop taking my memories from me." 

Hera was seething at her aunt and overflowing with sadness at the news. All the trauma and missing memories were because of Jackie, and now she was trying to do it again. Power ripped through her body, into her palms, and screamed for release. She heard Jackie apologizing and pleading for her forgiveness, but it was too late. 

The table shook beneath her hands, and she felt more than saw Theo step towards her. This wasn't the reunion Jackie was imagining, Hera thought briefly. She was trying to control her emotions, but the hangover from the night before was doing a number on her. 

The metal beneath her fingers started disintegrating until two handprint dents appeared on the table. She wasn't even trying to do it. Panic on top of fury made her even more out of control. Hera wanted to scream for help, but she couldn't bear to be touched by Jackie right then. 

The concrete floor shook. Dust rained all around them from cracking fissures appearing above.

 "Joseph, stop her." Jackie grabbed the Director's arm. 

"Joseph..." Hera repeated. She paused, and nothing but silence reached her ears anymore. "Joseph was my father's name..." 

Her eyes locked with the Directors, and she knew from the shame on his face she was right. She felt a scream bubbling from her lips when Theo pulled her into an embrace and dragged her from the room.

"I've got you." He called to her as he ran, his hand holding hers tightly. 

"Get me out of here, Theo!" Hera screamed. The concrete walls of the hallway were cracking around her. She was going to bury them alive. 

"Hold on," He picked her up in his arms and ran faster. Even he knew he couldn't stop this. They burst out of the garage into the sunlight, and Hera directed her grief outward at the empty field across from them. The earth heaved and groaned, grass molecules moving so fast fires started across the plain. 

"Did you know?" Hera turned on Theo, eyes blazing.

Theo immediately and honestly said, "No." she felt guilty for even questioning him.

"He knew all this time, and he said nothing. So I grew up thinking he was dead, and it turns out he was playing happy families with hundreds of other kids." Hera's voice was raw. 

"Why didn't he want me?" 

Hera started to implode; she felt the molecules within herself vibrating, and she wanted to pull them apart. She wanted destruction, but Theo grabbed her face between his hands.

"Please don't do this, Hera. Please stay." 

He begged her as she screamed at him to let go. She couldn't hurt him. She wouldn't. 

But he held on tightly, wrapping his arms around her as they sank to the ground. She didn't want to hurt anyone. 

She sobbed into Theo's shoulder, and when he tried to calm her this time, she let him.