Theo looked nervous, walking Hera to a private room, deep in the lower levels of the community. 

 "I'll stay with you for this session," was all he said.

The Evolved she was training with, Fern, was a dream walker. She helped her tap into the nightmares that plagued Hera for weeks. Fern linked all of her out-of-control abilities with her emotions. The young woman couldn't help but think to herself, no shit!

At first, Hera was worried about things she might say or do in front of Theo, but after a gentle explanation from Fern, she realised she would be asleep through the session. No talking involved. Hera scoffed and shook her head. Theo had, unfortunately, seen a lot of that already. He used his ability to make her sleep, and she was immediately thrown into the nightmare she had seen night after night.

In her dream, she was six, reading a bedtime story to her mother. A loud knocking sounded at the door, and her father went to answer. The door splintered and exploded inward, knocking him down. "Joseph!" her mother screamed.

"Run, Lily, run!" her father shouted back. 

Hera could never see their faces; it was too dark and blurry. Fern said it would be from Jackie's memory wipes. Hera had never felt so disappointed in her aunt at that revelation. She couldn't even remember their faces.

In the dream, Lily would scoop Hera into her arms and stash her under the bed. "Don't look, baby."

All Hera could do was listen to the screams of her father and mother, and then nothing. She fell through a black hole with the angel of death and woke on Aunt Jackie's tiled floor.

Theo stayed close during the session to keep Hera calm. He only needed to hold her hand at this point, and her abilities remained subdued.

After she woke and had her emotions under control, Theo took her to get dinner. He left Hera to eat alone, and she tried to eat as fast as possible. It was still uncomfortable having strangers openly stare at her. After returning her used dishes to the kitchen, she spotted Theo sitting with Jean. They both looked pretty sheepish and soon started laughing and talking animatedly. Hera felt ashamed by the heat that burned in her chest. A flaring of jealousy appeared as she watched Jean lean in and touch Theo's arm with such a beautiful smile. 

They must have history, she thought, her face burning up. All the time she had spent with Theo made her believe there could be something between them. The soothing embrace of Theo felt so kind, but she realised watching them together that it was just a job to him. She could never make him smile and laugh that way. 

 She couldn't have a normal relationship with him. 

Perhaps not anyone. 

Hera was just a task for him to figure out, control, and use. She could feel her abilities rising to the surface. This time she wasn't afraid, though. She was pissed. No, she wasn't mad at Theo or even Jean, but she was so over the mess of a life she was living. 

Familiar energy flowed into Hera's palms as she slowly walked out of the mess hall. She felt a thousand eyes on her back, but she didn't care. Once out of sight, Hera ran towards the Chamber, finally learning its location after visiting every other day during training. She climbed inside and closed the heavy tungsten door. Power surged in her hands again, demanding release. Excitement filled her while her eyes trailed around the refurbished Chamber.

 After Hera destroyed everything during training, they would make the room look new again. Not for long, she thought, smirking. She directed her hands at the bed first. The molecules making it up vibrated, aching to be pulled apart. Turn to dust. In a blink, the power surged out of her, and the bed was gone. 

Ashes and smoke. 

Turning to the desk next, Hera readied herself for destruction when she felt a warmth spread through her. It felt like she was being hugged.

'Create'. She heard the words ring out in her head but it didn't sound like Theo this time. The voice was a faint whisper. It was impossible to know the gender of its owner. Create? She mused. "What does that mean?" Hera was confused. Did it want her to create something? Because at this point, all she did was destroy.

'Easy to destroy. Try to heal.' 

"Woah". Hera stumbled back. It felt like the voice spoke right in her ear. "Who are you?" She got nothing back. "Okay... Heal?" Her body ached, and palms twitched. Hera's face scrunched as she tried to recreate the bed from the ashes. The molecules of dust particles vibrated faster and faster, but when she tried knitting them back together, they turned into a vortex, spraying dust all over Hera. 

"Ah, fucking hell." A coughing fit gripped her as she pushed the dust to the opposite side of the room.

'Try again'. 

Hera groaned. "I don't know what I'm doing! I just want to be angry. Why can't you let me fuck shit up?" She almost thought she heard a faint chuckle as her energy faded away back into her body to rest. 

She didn't even feel angry anymore. 

Just determined. 

 The voice seemed to believe she could be more than just a destructive force, and Hera was starting to realise it too. She stepped out of the CChamberfeeling lighter. She walked back to her room, vowing to return and practice healing things instead of destroying them. Despite feeling control growing every day, Hera knew she wouldn't fully have a grasp on her power until she knew what happened the night she lost her parents. 

She needed Aunt Jackie.

...

Each night as Hera's nightmares became clearer, Jacqueline got stronger.

Mere minutes after Hera left with Michael, two Panacea agents came to her home. Jackie lay in wait under the bed on the second floor, knowing they would look for Hera first. As the first heavy boots thumped past the end of the bed, Jackie reached out her tired arms and waited. As the agent went onto all fours to peer underneath her hiding spot, she latched onto their wrist. She felt so much stronger as their memories drew into her. 

All the euphoria, happiness, and love this person had ever experienced absorbed through her fingers—their essence. 

Their soul. 

The agent gasped, and tears immediately ran down their face. After that, nothing was left but misery and hopelessness. Jackie tried to stop before she took everything from them, but it felt too good. She had made this side of her abilities dormant for too long. 

She couldn't stop. 

Jackie sighed when the agent fell to the floor with a smoking bullet hole through their face. This was the cost. She did it again to the second agent despite the ache she felt from causing this person's death. 

She did it for Hera. 

 The backup that Panacea sent later was the same. She knew hiding wouldn't work again, so she sat in the front room and waited. Four agents came in, guns pointed at Jackie, lights blinding her in the darkened room. She still looked sick enough to get some scoffs from the agents. 

 "Where are they?" One demanded, shaking the gun in her face. Jackie lowered her head and shook it slightly.

"What the fuck did you do bitch?" The agent fumed. "Get the fuck up and turn around." Another one ground out.

Jackie's joints popped and groaned as she stood. She turned and put her hands behind her back for the handcuffs waiting for her. As the agent's hand grabbed her wrist, she drew out all his essence in less than a second. 

 The agent fell to his knees. Hard. 

The three remaining agents shouted and crowded around him in surprise. Just close enough for Jackie to use her strengthening abilities. She placed her palms on the floor and searched for the essence of the three intruders. It sang to her in whispers. 

'Come to me, her soul called. 

The essence answered, running down the agents' bodies through the tightly woven carpet and into Jackie's waiting palms. 

Days later, when the smell began to bother the neighbours, the news would report a suspected mass suicide in the residence. 

 But Jackie was long gone.