Ivy studied the girl, Claire, as she introduced herself.

"Do you have powers too, then?" Claire asked.

Ivy nodded. "I can... I can create fire, I guess." It was weird saying it out loud. She never imagined the first person she'd tell about her powers would be a complete stranger.

"I have telekinesis and mind-reading," Claire said.

Mind reading? Ivy hesitated a moment, her gaze flickering to her hands. Less than an hour ago they'd been in flames. "Sounds better than what I've got," she finally said.

Claire shrugged, the ends of her blonde hair brushing against her shoulders. "I'm not exactly great at telekinesis," she said. "And I hate reading minds. It gives me a huge headache. I can't even control it most of the time."

"Fire's not much better," Ivy told her. Claire looked like she wanted to know more, but thankfully didn't ask Ivy to elaborate. Ivy leaned back in her seat and looked at the cockpit door.

"Who's the girl you came in with?" Ivy asked. "Is she like us?"

"Wren," Claire said. "I don't know what her powers are, she didn't really explain anything." Claire's gaze darted to the door and she lowered her voice. "She threatened me with a gun. I didn't want to come."

Claire's voice trembled as she spoke. Ivy glanced at the soldiers, wondering if they were listening. "I didn't have a choice either. The guy who picked me up didn't tell me anything." Ivy turned her head to look at Claire. "How old are you?" she asked.

"Sixteen," Claire answered as the cockpit door flew open. Wren walked out, followed by Ash, who looked annoyed. Ivy caught a glimpse of the pilot through the open door. He appeared to be wearing the same red armor as the soldiers.

The door slammed shut. Wren grinned as she faced Ivy and Claire. "We've got a mission, guys."

Ivy didn't like the sound of that. She just couldn't catch a break today, could she?

"It's been so long since I've been in the field," Wren continued.

Ash rolled his eyes. "It's been a week."

Wren glared at him. "And I get to lead this mission."

"I don't see how we're going to do this with only two soldiers," Ash said. "You know, since you wasted three on the police."

"I know what I'm doing," Wren replied. "Besides, we've got these guys." She gestured to Ivy and Claire.

"What's going on?" Ivy asked, fed up with the unanswered questions. "What do you mean 'mission?'"

"Scorpion has a job for us," Wren said. "We need to swing by a weapons facility and pick up some materials." While Wren said something to Ash, Claire turned to Ivy.

"Steal," Claire said quietly. "We're going to steal the materials."

"Steal?" Ivy asked incredulously, watching Wren out of the corner of her eye.

Claire nodded. "I'm trying to figure out what, exactly," she whispered. "It's hard, I usually don't read minds on purpose. And I'm pretty tired."

Ivy clenched her fists. She and Claire had already been through a lot today, and now these kids were going to make them do more?

Calm down, she told herself. You don't want to hurt anyone.

"The facility's north of here, close to the Oregon border," Wren said. "We just have to hop into jet mode and we'll be there in a minute or so."

"Wait, Wren," Ash spoke up.

"What?" Wren asked, halfway into the cockpit.

"Do we have a location on the Fortuna?" Ash asked.

Wren rolled her eyes. "You're worried about them?"

"We have a much smaller team than usual. If they know where we are—"

Wren cut Ash off. "I'd like to see them try to get their pathetic little boat up here in time."

"It's not a boat, it's a battleship," Ash replied. "And if they're in the area, they could catch up. The weapons facility isn't far from shore."

Ivy sighed while the two continued to argue. "I'm not sure I want to be working for these people," Ivy muttered to Claire. Claire nodded in agreement.

"Do you have any idea what they're talking about?" Ivy asked.

"Not really. Scorpion is the organization they work for. I have no idea what they need the materials for." Claire rubbed her forehead and winced. "There's something else that's strange, too."

"What?" Ivy asked.

Claire pointed to the soldiers. "I can read Wren and Ash's minds, but I can't read the soldiers. I don't know why."

About a minute later they were slowing down again. Wren walked over to the door and grunted as she pulled it open.

"Should we run?" Claire asked, her voice barely audible over the sound of the helicopter blades.

"I don't know. They'd probably chase us," Ivy replied. She honestly had no idea what to do.

"Let's go," Wren shouted over the sound of the chopper blades. Ivy shakily stood up, heart pounding. Next to her, Claire sat frozen. Ivy nodded at her reassuringly, even though she wasn't at all confident herself. Claire took a deep breath and pushed herself up.

"Ash, I'm gonna use your water, okay?" Wren asked loudly.

Ash's hand tightened around the water bottle he was holding. "You will not," he replied.

"I'm sorry, who's the team leader? Me." She took a step closer to the open door as the chopper descended. "Unless..." Wren's gaze drifted to Ivy, making her shift uncomfortably. Wren smiled.

"Maybe I should try fire," she said.

"You know what Claudia said about using powers you haven't trained with—oh never mind," Ash said, exasperated. "Do what you want. Just go!"

With one last glare at Ash, Wren hopped out of the helicopter. Ivy gasped and moved closer to the door, where she realized they were only a few feet above the ground. Or roof, she guessed, as she realized the concrete below was the top of a building.

"Go," Ash ordered. Ivy swallowed hard and forced herself to jump. Her breath caught in her throat as she fell, and she landed awkwardly on the ground. She looked up, half expecting Wren to help her, but Wren just watched her with a smirk. Ivy gave her a dirty look and forced herself to her feet.

Claire landed next to her, followed by Ash and the two soldiers. While Ivy brushed herself off, the helicopter lifted back up into the air. Nearby, a door leading inside burst open and several guards, guns up, flooded the roof. Ivy and the others were surrounded in seconds. Ivy's hands trembled as she eyed the weapons pointed at her.

Wren laughed.

"Is that all you've got?" she asked.

There was an odd tugging sensation in Ivy's stomach. A powerful blast of fire exploded from Wren's hand, striking one of the guards in the chest and sending him to the ground.

The facility guards responded with a shower of gunfire.

Ivy wasn't sure if she screamed or gasped or just opened her mouth in shock. She threw her arms up in a desperate attempt to shield herself from the attack and a fireball appeared in the air. It flew at one of the guards. More fire jumped from Ivy's hands, colliding with the bullets moving in her direction.

It only took a few seconds for the shooting to stop. Ivy slowly lowered her arms and looked around. The two soldiers that had come with them were holding up guns. Ash's water bottle was lying on the ground, empty. The liquid that had been inside circled his hands.

Wren was grinning, flames still flickering between her fingers. Melted bullets were scattered beneath her. Ivy looked down and realized there were some by her feet, too. She glanced at Claire.

Claire's eyes were wide with shock. Bullets were lying on the ground in a circle around her, none of them closer than five feet.

All of the guards were down, and none of them were moving. Ivy clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized how burned some of them were.

Wren wasn't fazed at all by what she'd just done. What they'd just done. "See?" she said. "Getting newbies out in the field is the best training."

Ash didn't reply. He gestured toward the door. "Shall we?"

It took Ivy a moment to realize alarms were blaring. She was shaking like crazy and thought she might collapse. Or throw up. Or both.

She hadn't just created fire, she had controlled it.

Well, sort of.

The next thing Ivy knew, her feet were carrying her inside the facility. Claire moved silently next to her. In front of them, Ash and Wren were arguing.

"They could've gotten killed, you idiot. Claudia did tell you she wants them alive, right?"

"I'm in charge, Ash. Now where did Claudia say the materials were?"

"Locked up in the basement. This is powerful stuff, Wren, don't take it lightly. We need it to—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Stage One, Black Knight, gotta build those—"

Wren and Ash stopped as they rounded the corner, and Ivy almost crashed into them. They were face to face with another group of guards down the hallway. More guns. More fighting.

Ivy braced herself for what was going to happen next, fire starting to flicker in her palms, but the guns never fired. Instead, the ceiling above them collapsed, and something fell through. Shadowy figures appeared in the explosion of debris, in between their group and the guards.

Before the dust had a chance to settle, something hit Wren in the side, and she collapsed with a shriek at Ivy's feet. Ivy stepped backwards, trying to escape the chaos, but collided with one of the soldiers behind her.

Someone swung at Ash, but he ducked and lunged forward, attacking the figure.

"Duck," Claire shrieked, grabbing Ivy's arm and pulling her to the ground. Ivy grunted as she landed hard on her stomach. Electricity crackled in the air above her. She rolled onto her back and gasped when she saw both soldiers on the ground, not moving.

"What's going on?" Ivy asked.

"Three kids," Claire said. "They're not Scorpion."

The cloud of debris was gone. A girl was circling Wren, who had started to get back up. Electricity danced up her arms, illuminating her black hair and tan skin. Ash was in a fist fight with a blonde boy. There was no sign of his water.

Ivy's eyes drifted further down the hall. In between them and the guards was a wall of ice, although it didn't look like it would last long. A large crack appeared down the middle as a guard pounded against it with his gun.

Something moved next to Ivy. She turned to see a third kid, a boy with dark brown skin and short curly hair, walking toward her and Claire. In one of his hands he was holding a huge icicle.

"Come with me," the boy said, urgency in his tone. Ivy turned to Claire who, like her, was still on the ground. Claire nodded.

"They're good, I think. Better than Ash and Wren," Claire whispered. "They want to help."

The boy held out a hand and pulled Claire to her feet. Hesitantly, Ivy stood up. Claire trusted this kid, but could Ivy even trust her?

"Run," the boy said, giving Ivy and Claire a push in the direction they came in. Seeing no other way out, Ivy moved as fast as she could. She didn't look back, even when she heard the sound of something shattering and dozens of footsteps. She was only aware of the hallway in front of her and Claire next to her.

It didn't take long for them to reach the stairs to the roof. Ivy's legs burned as she forced herself up the steps. She was out of breath when she reached the door and pushed it open.

Ivy stepped into the afternoon sun and looked around. There was a massive hole in the middle of the roof. The guards they had fought earlier were still on the ground, sending another wave of nausea through Ivy. She could hear the sound of the jetchopper waiting nearby.

Ivy stood by the door, unsure what to do next. Claire emerged from the stairway behind her, followed by the boy. He jogged past them to the edge of the roof.

He threw a glance at the fallen guards, his face somber. "Come here," he called to Ivy and Claire. Claire approached him without a second's hesitation. Ivy threw another glance at the stairwell before walking over.

"Whoa," she said when she reached the edge. A huge piece of ice, curved like a slide, reached from the roof to the ground below. Parked in the trees nearby was a silver pickup truck.

The boy knelt down and touched the ice. "It's starting to melt. And I didn't have much to work with, so it was already thin." He stood back up and turned to Ivy and Claire. "I'll have to refreeze it, but we don't have long. As soon as the others get here, we need to get to the ground and run over to the truck, okay?"

"Where are you going to take us?" Ivy asked.

"Back to our ship, if you want," the boy said. "If you prefer, we can drop you off somewhere else, but I wouldn't recommend it. Scorpion will have no problem finding you again."

"But we don't have to go with you?" Claire asked.

The boy shook his head. "If I were you, I'd at least come to the Fortuna, though. Hear us out. You can always go home later. Plus, we have good pizza. Like, really good pizza."

Claire turned to Ivy. "What do you think?" she asked.

Ivy shrugged, weighing her options. "I don't really have anywhere else to go," she said. Even if going with them was completely stupid, it didn't matter. She had no home. She didn't belong in a home. She didn't belong anywhere she could hurt people.

Claire looked back at the boy and nodded. "I'll stay with you guys," she said. "For now."

The boy grinned. "Cool. I'm Spencer, by the way." He glanced over the side of the building. "Would you be mad if I said it was 'ice to meet you?'"

For the first time in what must have been weeks, Ivy smiled. "Please don't," she said.

Claire was smiling, too. It looked like there was something else she wanted to say, but she didn't get the chance. There was a commotion behind them. Ivy turned and watched the other boy and girl run onto the roof. The girl threw an arm behind her and sent a bolt of electricity at the door as it swung shut.

"Go, go, go," the girl shouted at them as she and the boy approached. Spencer waved his hand over ice slide and jumped on.

Ivy took a deep breath and hopped onto the slide. The wind stung her face and she closed her eyes as the ground flew at her. The ice beneath her leveled out and she stumbled onto solid dirt, heart hammering in her chest.

Claire came down next, followed by the girl. A few seconds passed without any sign of the other boy.

"Where's Terrence?" Spencer asked the girl.

She looked up at the roof, her black ponytail swinging behind her. "Ash and Wren came onto the roof just as I was going down," she said. "I should go back up."

The boy, Terrence, appeared at the top of the slide. He jumped on and sped toward them. As he reached the ground, Ash and Wren appeared at the top of the slide. They didn't hesitate to get on. Ivy groaned and forced her tired legs to carry her away from the building and toward the waiting truck.

The ground shook beneath them. A huge chunk of dirt ripped itself away from the earth and flew past Ivy. Nearby, Terrence flung his arms out and the dirt crashed into Wren and Ash, throwing them to the ground.

Ivy picked up the pace and reached the truck, Terrence right behind her. He opened the driver's side door and climbed in.

"Summer," Spencer said to the girl as she started to walk around to the passenger side. "The cab can only hold three people."

Summer looked over at Ivy and Claire. "Shoot," she muttered, her eyes flickering to the left. Ivy followed her gaze. Ash and Wren were up and running again.

"The truck bed," Ivy said. "We can get back there."

"Hurry," Summer told them. Ivy nodded and grabbed the side of the truck. She was shaky, but she managed to pull herself up and into the back.

Claire hung on to the side, but couldn't seem to get herself over the edge. The passenger door slammed shut and the truck roared to life. Ivy braced herself against the inside of the bed and reached out for Claire's hand.

"Come on," she shouted. She fought the urge to look up and see how close Ash and Wren were. Claire grabbed her hand and Ivy pulled with all her remaining strength.

The truck moved beneath them and Claire tumbled into the bed. Ivy breathed a sigh of relief when Claire sat up unharmed. They flew into the trees at full speed, leaving Ash and Wren behind.