"I'm ready to go."

Taylor didn't reply to the message, instead draped one leg over the bag full of folded clothes and returned to her game. Chirpy music emanated from her phone. As she continued playing, the world morphed around her. Her room was swapped with Dominic's and she was now seated on his bed. Her phone froze for a second as if surprised by the change before it moved on.

"I always expect you to make some sort of noise when you show up," Dominic said.

The scent of recently sprayed cologne was strong as he walked over to her. Taylor didn't bother looking at him, focused on making her little bird fly faster.

"It wouldn't be a very good ability if I made noise and warned people." She lifted her foot off the bag and crossed her legs. "Those are your clothes by the way."

Dominic grabbed the plastic handle and tossed it into the closet before coming back to stand by the bed. When Taylor made no sign that she was going to leave her position or stop playing, Dominic nudged her shoulder. She shrugged off his touch.

"We have to go or we'll be late," he said.

"We have plenty of time."

"I want to get coffee."

The edge of Taylor's lips twitched, amused she had gotten him hooked on her tradition. Still, she didn't put down her phone. She knew they would be late. The fact was she didn't care. More than that it was what she wanted.

Waiting for her at school was Clint, no doubt brimming with questions. If it hadn't been for her mother forcing her out of bed, Taylor was positive she would have skipped school altogether. Maybe even dropped out of the year. Clint's shock was all too clear in her mind and she didn't feel like facing it.

"Taylor, let's go."

She ignored him. Growling in annoyance, Dominic blocked her view with his hand and tapped furiously at the screen, killing the life of her bird. Sighing, she pocketed her phone. There was no avoiding this, though she had every intention of doing so as long as she could.

As she scooted to the edge of the bed, a shrill scream cut through the house. She froze, staring at Dominic who went rigid. The scream trailed into a baby's loud wailing.

Unsure what to do, Taylor watched Dominic, looking for guidance. His eyes were wide, every muscle bunched up. After a second, a voice called out to him.

"Dominic, can I get some help?"

The pair were trapped in a tense silence, eyes locked. Taylor blinked and in that heartbeat, Dominic had shifted over a foot and the panic had been wiped away from his face.

"Give me one second," he said, all his calm returned. He crossed to the door, but stopped, holding the handle. "Do you mind hiding in the closet? You don't have to close the door, it's only if anyone comes in they won't see you."

Clamping down on the whirlwind of questions popping up, Taylor nodded. She climbed off the bed and tucked herself in among his good smelling clothes. The door opened and Dominic slipped out. Taylor adjusted her position, bumping the bag with his sweats with her foot.

From her hideout, she viewed Dominic's bed and the bookshelves that hemmed it in on either side. To keep her from speculating, she read the titles. The genres varied more than she expected as well as the authors. Charles Dickens butted up against Louise May Alcott with JK Rowling pinned in between Patrick Rothfuss and Cece Mckenzie.

Taylor was getting to the bottom bookshelf when Dominic returned. The baby's crying had quieted and she hadn't registered it. Dominic stopped in front of her, fists buried in his pockets. Though he appeared calm, there was a tightness to his expression that belied it.

"You ready to go?"

The question held layers beneath it. Asking whether Taylor would press him for information. Ask him who the baby belonged to. Why he was the one called to help quiet it. In answer to it all, Taylor closed the distance between them and placed her hand on his taut arm.

"Yeah, let's go."

A second before they melted away, she felt him relax. The alley was dark and the pungent air hit her harder, the contrast so vast from Dominic's pleasing smelling room. Needing to get out, Taylor quickened her steps and took a long breath at the entrance.

A thin fog hovered over the city, blurring bits of the world. The sloshing of tires was overlapped with the hum of engines. In the dim lighting, the Starbucks sign shined like a beacon.

Armed with coffee, the pair headed for the exit, but Taylor stopped. Her reluctance to leave the sanctuary like a physical force. With Dominic, sharing her secret had been an accident of him seeing her. But with it came the knowledge that she wasn't alone. But with Clint...she didn't know what would happen.

Dominic turned back when he noticed Taylor wasn't beside him.

"What's up?" he asked, sipping from his cup.

Taylor rubbed her forehead, already exhausted with the weight of waiting, having to wait to deal with the situation, wanting it to be over, and never wanting to deal with it at all. It was like she was stuck on a nightmarish merry-go-round in her head.

"I have no desire to go to school," she said.

Dominic shrugged. "Okay, let's not go then."

Startled, she frowned. "What? You want me to jump us to Paris and we spend the day wandering about."

At this Dominic perked up, curious. "Can you do that?"

"No, I probably couldn't get us to the next city over."

Though he tried to brush it off, Dominic looked disappointed. Someone brushed passed Taylor, hurrying towards the exit and she stepped to the side.

"We don't have to go to school right now," Dominic said.

"What do you have in mind then?"

He nodded his head to the cluster of tables. She followed him, cutting her way around knots of people bent over phones, occasionally exchanging words. In the corner, two padded benches met, forming a makeshift window seat.

The glass they were nestled up against was slick with mist, the droplets creating rivers. Dominic plopped down and Taylor joined him. When he pressed his leg to hers, the world stilled. For a moment, Taylor did as well, the cup hanging halfway to her lips.

Everyone in the coffee shop was suspended in time. A cloud of steam was made solid in the air, the barista under it reaching up to grab a lid. A businessman was a statue, half standing, one arm outstretched, the other gripped a phone to his ear, his words halted in his throat.

A curly-haired woman with glasses grinned at her computer screen, frozen in a moment of happy discovery, the thought she had been searching for found only seconds before. The line of patrons all trapped without drinks, forever in suspense.

And with it all came the blanket silence. The swell of voices muted. The patter of footsteps stalled. The gurgle of coffee, the hiss of hot milk, the clink of change smothered. If not for the cups they held, even the overpowering scent of coffee would be gone.

"This is so weird," Taylor said.

Dominic nodded, scanning all the occupants. "Yeah, it is. I don't usually see this."

Confused, Taylor twisted to him. "What? How do you not see this?"

"Most of the time I use it to do homework, I'm not actually staring at my classmates."

Taylor sank back, resting on the glass. Even the cold that had penetrated it was gone, leaving it neutral. There was neither warmth nor chill.

"When do you use it?" she asked. "I mean the Time Stop."

Thinking, Dominic drained part of his cup's contents. She glanced at him and noticed the world beyond. Cars were petrified on the road, headlights slicing through the fog. A wave of water was motionless, the tire digging into the puddle still frozen there.

"Like I said, in class. With you in the library. At home for...stuff." He lifted one shoulder. "Anywhere I need to."

"Ever use it during a football game?"

Dominic snorted. "Sure, if I wanted everyone to know I could stop time."

Taylor blinked once. "Why do you say that?"

She sipped her coffee, the one thing in the frozen world that was still hot and heated her insides.

"Videos of those games are combed over hundreds of times by our coaches as well as players. They are all looking for what we did wrong and what the other team did. If I suddenly appeared somewhere I wasn't a second ago they would notice."

Taylor bunched her lips to the side, struck by a reality she had never thought about. From the outside, their abilities almost had the same appearance.

"Makes sense," she said, gazing out on the cafe shop again.

Among the half animated patrons, there was one person who looked as if he had always been unmoving. Ankles crossed, he was stretched out in his chair, pondering the world out the window, a newsboy cap perched on his head and scarf hanging loosely around his neck. One the table before him sat a copy of East of Eden. The book brought to mind the collection Dominic himself owned.

"I think your books are cool," she said, figuring this to be safe ground.

When he didn't answer right away, she glanced over. He was working his jaw, carefully picking what words he wanted to use.

"My mom bought me all those books. Each one has an inscription from her." Though his tone was neutral there was a well of emotions hiding in his distant look. Before Taylor could even try to make sense of where the well lead, he spoke. "Football is how I got my ability."

The change in topic was as smooth as a car swerving across four lanes to make an exit. But Taylor was curious enough that she decided not to make note of his complete lack of subtlety. Instead, she sipped her coffee.

"Oh?" she said.

Dominic relaxed with the acceptance of the subject change.

"Yeah. It was about a year ago. During the final game of the season, I got hit by linebacker twice my size." He pivoted towards her, all distant memories packed away. "Have you ever had your spine realigned?"

Confused by the random question, she shook her head but assumed there was logic behind the inquiry.

"Well, before you have your spine realigned, you might feel fine, like nothing is off. But once everything is back in order you realized how strange the previous feeling was. That's what it was like when he hit me. Like everything inside me was reset." He put his head back against the window. "After that, I walked away with a concussion and an ability when I shouldn't have been able to walk away at all. Or so the doctors told me."

Frowning in thought, Taylor finished off her drink.

"What do you think the connection between getting my heart restarted and you getting hit by a linebacker has in common? I mean if anyone got hit that hard would they develop abilities?"

Dominic shrugged as baffled as her.

"I don't know. Like you, I researched what I could but I didn't find a whole lot of anything." He scratched his head. "Maybe it was the way we were hit? Maybe you didn't actually get your powers from the electric shock but from the way the car ran into you and your body reacted?"

Taylor had no response to that. They sat there in an unbreakable silence, neither having the answers to the impossible things they could do.

When Dominic blinked a few times, Taylor stirred, knowing what came next. The world crashed back into life. She reached out and held onto Dominic's arm the force of reality stronger than it ever was in the library.

It was if all her senses had been heightened a hundred times. The smell of coffee was overwhelming. The racket of footsteps, car horns, voices pounded against her ears. The sudden rush of motion was dizzying. Dominic put his hand on her shoulder, helping ground her.

"You alright?" he asked.

She nodded, pinching her eyes shut. When she felt like she wasn't going to be sick, she blinked. The world was back to how it had always been and the disorientation was fading. Dominic stared at her in worry. She nodded again to reassure him.

"I'm good," she said.

They stood and tossed away their cups. As they pushed through the door, Taylor glanced back at the Thinker. He was still staring out at the busy street as if he was the only one who hadn't left the Time Stop.

They jogged up the school steps and slipped into the noisy hallways. Though it felt like they had wasted away half of their first class, they still had ten minutes to spare. The fog had nudged everyone inside and the walls rang with the stampede of feet. As Taylor approached her locker, Dominic bumped his elbow with hers.

"Library?" he asked.

"See you there."

They split ways, Taylor stopping at her locker as Dominic was swept into a group of his teammates. One of them shoved his shoulder in welcome. As Taylor spun the combination in, she heard one of his friends over the buzz of voices.

"Dude, I saw you walk in with that girl?" he said. "You two hooking up or something?"

"Nah, man," Dominic said, his tone careless. "That just happened."

It was only after Taylor heard Dominic's reply that she registered she must be the girl in question. She snapped the locker door open and dropped her backpack to the ground, slipping off her jacket, leaving her in a simple black t-shirt.

"Dude, she's hot. I wouldn't mind getting a piece of that action."

Taylor shoved her jacket into the cramped space wondering what action he could be talking about. Was it the muggings, carjackings, or brawls she stopped that he wanted to get in on? Cause that was the only action she had in her life. Or possibly it was the quick naps and the rushed homework sessions he wanted to be a part of?

Slamming the door closed, she hooked her backpack on to her shoulders and strode off. As she passed the collection of jocks, Dominic answered.

"You could try," he said. "But I get the feeling she's not the type."

Taylor didn't hear what followed, her feet taking her away from whatever the guy had to say about his odds. Despite still facing the problem of Clint, the freedom in the coffee shop had helped calm her a bit. It would eventually come, but she no longer dreaded it.

As she rounded a corner, she found the corridor packed with students all in tight knots, their attention directed further down. She cut her way through the clusters, unconcerned with what was holding their focus. As she skirted a semi-circle of girls, she caught a glimpse of a shock of white-blonde hair at the center.

Bailey was pressing her body against the wall, eyes wide and her hands clenched. Only upon seeing her, did Taylor take notice of who was in front of her. Elena stood with her arms crossed in triumph, bolstered by the minions beside her.

"Did you get that outfit out of the trash or you just inclined to look like it?" Elena said, basking in the mortification of another person.

Taylor didn't feel The Pull but found herself course-correcting anyway until she was leaning against the lockers beside Bailey. At her appearance, Elena started. Whispers picked up as anticipation built. Elena smirked as if already winning whatever battle she thought she was in.

"Come to rescue your table mate?" she said.

Taylor buried her hands in her pockets and shook her head.

"No."

This sent a rush of murmurs around the crowd. Elena faltered, confused.

"I'm here like everyone else to see what insult you have coming next," Taylor said.

When Elena opened her mouth and nothing came out, Taylor nodded as if waiting for the final cutting remark.

"Well, if it helps, it sounded like you were finished making fun of the fact that she wears second-hand clothes. I don't know if you already insulted how much her parents make but that's always a good avenue to go down."

She raised her eyebrows, prompting Elena. When the girl remained frozen, Taylor went on.

"Maybe you did already do that. The only thing left is to insult her on is her skin color or maybe even her eye color. Cause you know she has as much power to change that as she does with how much her parents make and the fact she can only afford second-hand clothes."

Taylor waved a hand towards Bailey, inviting Elena to do as she said. Elena glared at Taylor, her control snatched away. After a beat, Taylor nodded again.

"Cool," she said. "This was...something."

She tugged on Bailey's arm and the pair walked off. Behind them, Elena spun toward them, face flaming with fury.

"You know you are such b-"

"Yeah, I know," Taylor shouted back.

Beside her, Bailey grabbed the edges of her jacket and cocooned herself.

"You alright?" Taylor asked.

Bailey nodded. "She just startled me."

"Maybe you should sit somewhere else. Apparently, I'm not the best company to keep."

The bell rang cutting off any response Bailey might have. Groups broke away, shouting out final comments to each other, the words clashing in the air. Bailey took a step towards the right, looking at Taylor.

"I'll see you at lunch," she said, then slipped into the mass of students.

When Taylor swiveled to the left, she found Clint watching her. In a tide of students, he was solitary, one shoulder pressed into the wall. Though the fight had taken place further back, she got the distinct impression he watched the entire time.

Letting out a breath, Taylor crossed over to him, wanting to get it all out of the way. His eyes were intense as if they could dissect all her secrets. The problem was he already knew her biggest one.

When she stopped in front of him, she said nothing waiting for the tornado of questions. What he said shocked her.

"Ready to get back to training?"

**********************************************************************

"I can do this all day."

Heehee which is kind of me with my cliff hangers. And I know, I know you hate me because you didn't get to see Clint's full reaction. Well guess what tough tater tots! You'll have to still love me 'cause I'm Sunshine Girl and I get give you happy thoughts, which you now want to share with me! 🦹🏽🦸🏿‍♀️🦸🏻‍♂️

Also because I'm not a super villain you should know I gave you that smash up of characters I talked about in the last chapter! So cheer up, you have something more to read! Now you can only mildly hate me for the cliff hanger.

Oh so many good things to discuss, what do you think is with the baby?

How do you think Clint will handle Taylor and knowing her secret?

(Please tell me your caught the Cece McKenzie reference?)

On a side note, the Thinker in the Starbucks was my brother Joel. Not sure I've met a more cool and dorky person ever. Well, maybe my brother Kevin, he's pretty cool and dorky as well.

Ankakatawa dito (Tagalog): When Tony Stark looks through his father Howard's suitcase in Iron Man 2, you can see a Captain America comic book... as well as a map of the Arctic Circle where Captain America's plane went down.

Vote, comment, follow but only if you stand for answers and cliff hangers!

Also this is me as Sunshine Girl provided by @navi_364