Mia stumbled out of the old car, a blindfold on her face. She felt a hand gently grab her by the elbow and guide her to her mystery destination. She held her arms out in front of her, worried that she would fall. That would be embarrassing.

"How much farther?" she asked, steadying herself again. She took a wrong step and stumbled on a rock. Or, at least she assumed it was a rock. Charlie reached for her and grabbed her waist before she fell.

"Not much," he finally responded, his husky voice echoing throughout wherever their destination was.

The two continued walking for a few more minutes, Mia tripping occasionally and Charlie helping her. Eventually, though, Charlie's voice reached her ears again. "We're here," he told her before removing her blindfold.

She opened her eyes and found herself in a cavern of some sorts. It was beautiful. In one corner, there was a beautiful waterfall. Not only that, but the entire cavern was completely covered in candles. The mouth of the cave let in the light from the stars and a view of the shimmering, reflective lake outside. Next to the waterfalls pool, she saw a blanket set out with a picnic basket. Mia sucked in a breath, wondering how anything could be so gorgeous.

Before she even said anything, she rushed over to Charlie and kissed him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close. For some reason, though, she was thinking of Blake. Even with all of the love filling her heart, she could only think of Blake.

She pushed the thoughts of Blake out of her mind as she pulled out of the kiss, leaving her arms dangling around his neck. "Thank you," she breathed, a huge smile on her face.

"It's pretty awesome, isn't it?" he teased, grinning down at her.

"It's perfect," she assured him, although she was sure he didn't need much assurance.

They walked over to the picnic area, their hands interlocked. Mia sat down with her legs tucked to the side, leaning against Charlie.

Charlie opened the picnic basket and took out the food just when Mia's phone rang. "Sorry, can I get this?" she asked hesitantly before she'd even looked at the name.

"Okay," he agreed with a sigh as he continued to get the food out.

Mia kissed his cheek before standing up and making her way to a corner of the cavern.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mia," Blake responded, his voice ragged and sounding tired.

"Oh, hey, Blake."

"We have a situation," he told her. Mia scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion.

"What situation?" she asked.

"Another elemental monster has been spotted on 24th," he told her. His voice was completely serious, which was weird to hear. Especially from Blake.

"I'll be there," Mia agreed quickly. Charlie would surely be mad but this was more important. "I just need, like, twenty minutes. Will everyone be safe until then?"

"There are police and firemen here but they're having trouble. Get here as soon as possible."

"Wait, what kind of monster is this?"

"It's an air eagle, possibly the same one you fought."

"But I thought I defeated that?"

"Apparently not. You need to get there. Do you have your suit?"

"No, it's at your house," she admitted. Hopefully, that wouldn't be too much of a deal.

"I'll bring it to the Walmart near 24th. You can get there, right?"

"Yeah, I'll see you soon."

Mia walked back over to Charlie who was smiling. Mia breathed out. "I... I have to go."

Charlie frowned a bit before his expression turned sour. "I have to fight that air eagle from earlier," she admitted.

"You promised me," he told her, his voice sharp. "You don't get to decide."

"Charlie, I need to save these people. I don't have a choice."

"Yes, you do! You can choose to stay!" he yelled. "But you're too good for that, aren't you?" he asked.

Mia was about to respond but before she could, Charlie's hand was rushing towards her face. She was shocked as soon as she felt the sting. She thought he loved her. She shouldn't have listened to that. She wasn't good enough for him. She never would be. She was awful. She couldn't do anything to help anyone. She should just stay with Charlie. Where she was safe.

I have to save them. It was a struggle just to think that and she didn't know why. It was like all of her emotions were fighting against her.

"I'm sorry, Charlie. I love you, but I have to go," she told him. It was the first time she'd said the words but before he could respond, she was already gone. Tears were streaming down her face and she could feel her cheek swelling as the sting increased.

She didn't have a car or a way out but, luckily, she'd brought some money, so she at least had a way to get there.

Mia ran out of the cavern before she realized that she had no idea where she was going. She followed the tree-lined gravel path, trying her best not to trip on the bigger rocks.

***

The sky was beginning to get dark when she found the bus station. She'd been running (more like sprinting) for approximately five minutes when she arrived, leaving fifteen more to get there. She'd found out that she was around ten minutes away. She knew that she would have found a way there no matter how long it took but this made it way easier.

She couldn't stop fidgeting as she sat on the dirty bus. It stank of sweat and, for some reason, tacos. She tapped her fingers on her leg, trying to distract herself. If she thought about it, she knew it would only make things worse.

Mia looked over to see that she was at the walmart near 24th. She took a deep breath and walked over to the front of the bus. She walked down the built-in stairs and hopped to the ground.

Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from her right. The bus swerved away from the bus stop, leaving Mia behind.

She ran through the ginormous, full parking lot. She was surprised by how easy it was for her. Surely, only a few weeks ago, it would have been a ginormous struggle to run all that way but now, she didn't even break a sweat.

Mia reached the Walmart and walked inside. She spotted Blake sitting on a bench right near the doors. She ran over to him. "You got it, right?" she asked.

"Yeah," he told her, handing her the suit. "Wait, what happened to your face?" he wondered.

"I... fell?" Before he could respond, she ran over to the bathroom to put her suit on.

***

Mia rushed out of the Walmart, slipping through cars to get to 24th. She could hear screams and crashes and ran faster. She needed to get there. She needed to help them.

When she reached the street, she could see the destruction. It was bad. Pavement was torn up and buildings were on fire. She could see people trapped under fallen street lights but the biggest issue was the eagle itself.

It was somehow using air to cut apart the pavement and tear down buildings. It seemed to have grown bigger. Mia took a deep breath and threw her emotions away. She concentrated on the energy coursing through her veins.

She shut her eyes, shutting out the world too and soon enough, she could feel the lightning shooting out of her hands but it was contained. It was controlled. She made a ball, something she'd done only once before, against the same monster.

She opened her eyes quickly, catching sight of the bird. It was hard to find, but after the fight, she'd remembered every single thing she would need to defeat the bird.

Mia got in the stance she had practiced, making sure to keep an eye on the lightning in her hands. It was a strange sensation. It felt like the tingle somebody would get when their foot was asleep but multiplied by ten. Only, it didn't hurt. It felt... energizing.

She aimed at the eagle but it was moving quickly and, due to the fact that it was literally air, it was hard to see.

Eventually, she was able to aim it and, just like that, she let it go. It shot out of her hands like a cannon but the backfire threw her onto the pavement. She knew that would leave a nasty bruise.

It hit the eagle straight in its wing, taking it down. But the eagle wasn't dead. Just temporarily wounded. It fell on the pavement with a crash and Mia ran over to it quickly.

When Mia spotted it, she exhaled. The only way she was even able to see it was the dust that was coating it.

She was about to blow it to ashes when it got up again. This thing is one heck of a fighter, she thought. Even as she thought it, she was forming more lightning. Deciding to use a different tactic, she kept the lightning stored inside of her hand. It felt weird and really, really, tingly but she kept it there until she was sure she had enough.

And then, with one huge scream, she let it all out of her fingers. It blasted the monster out of the air. It fell to the ground, smoke flowing out of it in heaps.

Mia created another lightning ball, moving towards the eagle. She studied it to make sure it was dead. She almost blasted it again when someone called out. "Don't destroy it! We could study it!"

Mia looked over her shoulder to see Mr. Payson running towards her. Mia took back her lightning, deciding to obey him. She grabbed some dust and sprinkled it on so that Mr. Payson could deal with it.

"You deal with that! I'm gonna go check on the victims!" she yelled before running off towards some of the people who'd gotten injured.

She ran towards a lady who was stuck under a light post. She'd never been very strong so she didn't know if she could do it but she would try. "I'm going to get you out of there. Do you think that you can help me?" she asked.

"I'll try," the lady said.

Mia hunched over and grabbed the light post. "I'm gonna count to three. On three, push it off of you." The lady nodded. "One, two, three." Mia grabbed it and started pulling it at the same time that the lady pushed. It was hard but they got it off. She grabbed the lady's hand and pulled, helping her stand up.

Mia wrapped the girls arm around her shoulder as they hobbled towards the sidewalk where she saw a makeshift medical station. "I'm gonna go help some other people," Mia informed the lady before setting her down on a mat and heading over to the battlefield.

***

For the next two hours, Mia helped people get to the medical station. By the end, she was exhausted. She was already tired just after she'd used her powers and then she had to help all those people? She could pass out right then and there.

And then the reporters came. All wanting to talk to her about her heroics and all that she'd done but she just wanted to sleep.

When they finally finished, Mia made her way over to Blake who was waiting by the Walmart. "I am so exhausted. I'm just gonna change and then go home," she muttered, walking past him to get to the bathrooms.

Blake stopped her. "Okay, two things. One, you can't use this bathroom or everyone will know your identity. And two, where did you get that?" he asked, pointing to her swollen cheek.

Mia grimaced. She'd been hoping he would have forgotten. "It doesn't matter. I was on a date with Charlie and then I fell when I was walking out of there," she lied. Even she noticed how high her voice was.

"Mia, you need to tell me," he argued. "The truth."

"That is the truth," she lied again. She wanted to tell him. More than anything. But she knew that she couldn't. She loved Charlie too much.

Too freaking much.

A/N I have many questions.

1)What did you think? 

2) Did you fume as much as I did? 

3) How much do you hate me right now?

4) How much do you hate Charlie?

5) What do you think is going to happen with Charlie?

6) Do you have any ideas that you think might be right? 

That's it. Bye Apples