The bistro's glass door opened, reflecting the sun from outside. It glinted off the bell above the door and made Jake squint. That wasn't enough to make him look away from the door. But when he realized that yet again it wasn't Hannah who'd walked in, he rubbed at his eyes to clear the spots.

He'd shown up early hoping she would think to do the same. Every minute that passed not only lowered that hope, but increased the worry she wouldn't show up at all. In three minutes she would officially be late.

Three minutes.

The waitress stopped at his table and filled his nearly full water. "Waiting for someone?" she asked.

"Always," he answered.

"Girlfriend?" A blush crept over her cheeks. Instead of looking at him, she adjusted her notepad in her apron pocket.

"It's complicated." Jake shot a hand out and caught her pen as it went flying out of her hand.

"Thanks," she stuttered. Her grey eyes finally met his, and her blush deepened. "There's not a chance she maybe won't show up, is there?"

"Not a chance," Hannah said from behind her. She smiled kindly and slid into the booth across from Jake.

"Darn," the waitress snapped her fingers and pulled out her notepad. "I know you've already got a tall drink of water, but can I get you anything else to drink?"

A blush spread over Jake's face and Hannah snorted. "A root beer would be great." Once the woman had walked away, Hannah started laughing.

Jake rolled his eyes. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd been on time." That silenced her immediately. "You weren't going to show, were you?"

"The thought crossed my mind," she admitted. "I was sort of hoping there'd be a crisis and I'd have an easy out."

Two frosty glasses slid onto the table and they gave their food orders. They fell into a strained silence again when she left. Hannah's napkin disappeared bit by bit as she tore it into confetti.

"I know you have questions, so just ask. Open book," Hannah finally prompted.

"When are you going back to work?"

Hannah furrowed her brows, her fingers abandoning their shredding. "That's what you want to know? I thought you'd be asking about super stuff or whatever. Maybe about that night," she trailed off.

A breath caught in Jake's throat. She knew him too well. "I know... I know you tried to save her on your own, but why didn't you call for backup or something? Someone could have come in to help."

"I wasn't on the team yet," she answered. "Apparently I was on their radar because they contacted me pretty fast after it all happened, but until then I didn't want any part of any of it. Even after I was hesitant. Why would they want me if I couldn't save one person? How could I be trusted to help an entire city when I failed?" Her hands tightened around her glass but only for a second before she pushed it away. "Heroes aren't supposed to have kill counts."

"One person isn't a kill count, and you didn't kill her," Jake assured her. He tried to take her hand but she pulled them both out of reach.

Hannah laced her fingers together and squeezed until she could feel her bones groan in protest. They may have been stronger than steel, but she could bend steel. Under the right pressure and the right circumstances, anyone could make steel bend. Even still it was better that she squeezed her hands than the table.

"I was responsible for them. Their lives ended because I wasn't enough."

"Their?" Jake questioned.

"Lorelai, Charles Kepler, and Silvia Harris," Hannah listed. The names tumbled from her mouth as easily as her own. They'd replayed every day since their individual deaths. No tattoo would ever be as permanent as the memories of them.

"Did you say Harris?" Jake leaned forward, his eyes wide. After seeing her force a deep breath, he leaned back into his seat again. The ice in his glass rattled as he took a sip. "Coincidence?"

"Ever the reporter, Jake." Her voice was steady but her hands stayed clasped tight to each other. The sun filtering in through the window washed over her red curls. There was a faraway look to her eyes until Jake's fingers brushed over her hands.

Hannah didn't flinch away. The only noise between them was their breathing.

"Was it a long time ago?" he asked.

She nodded, barely a bob of her head. "I was sixteen, we went on a road trip and took a shortcut through the desert. Silvia liked to explore," A laugh caught in her throat and a smile worked its way across her face. "She had just turned nineteen and she was getting ready to head out to her second year of college."

"Did she know about..." Jake trailed off and held his index and thumbs together to form circles that he held over his eyes. "You know, all that?"

This time, she did laugh, reaching across the table to push his hands down. "Dork, no. I didn't do that then."

"So you just lifted cars for fun instead?" Seeing her smile and laugh brightened something in him. He was determined to see it again. "What does a superpowered teen do for fun anyway?"

Her laugh was bitter. "I wasn't born like this. It happened on the road trip." The sunlight pulled her attention back to the window again. It was almost as if she could see the endless sand again. A chill ran up her spine. "I remember a flash of light, men with guns, a smell like an outlet sparking and Silvia telling me to run."

Jake slid his hand across the table again. Even in the middle of getting answers he'd always dreamed of, he still held his breath in fear she'd ignore his gesture. The exhale puffed his cheeks when she slid her fingers over his palm.

"I only had my learner's permit and I'd barely practiced on the road, but I hit that gas pedal like I'd been racing professionally all my life," Hannah continued. "Then I hit the cactus, went through the windshield and down a hill."

"Sounds like quite the bumpy ride."

"That's putting it lightly." Hannah rolled her eyes.

"How'd you get back?"

"I walked until someone in a van spotted me and gave me a ride to town. Found a payphone and called home and that's when I learned Silvia had been found in the car, crashed in a ditch," Hannah answered. "Whoever did all that shooting made sure to cover up their trail. I spent years in counseling because I wouldn't stop insisting Silvia had been murdered."

Jake scoffed and dug through his bag with his free hand. "No one believed you? Did they just get away with everything? This is ridiculous. Tell me everything about where you were."

"You're not going after them," she said sternly. "Do you think if I could have gotten away with taking them out and not revealing my secret I wouldn't have already done that?" She grabbed his second hand, forcing the pen out of his fingers. It rolled across the old diner table and hit the wall.The shiny blue case reflected the light streaming in across the checkered tablecloth. "Leave it be."

"Han, you know I can't. It is literally my major character flaw."

Hannah snorted, pulling a hand back to cover her face as she started to laugh. "Aren't you meant to work on not doing that if it's your flaw?"

"You're not wrong," he agreed.

The waitress slid their food onto the table from her tray and refilled their drinks. Her presence put a pause to any more super talk. Their full mouths pushed it even further away. It wasn't until the last fry that Hannah was able to muster enough courage to ask the question that had been slowly eating her alive.