"What do you mean?" I asked April, not understanding how me deciding to not hide my powers anymore could have possibly benefitted April.

"People like Ben and I. When you stopped hiding your powers, it made us realise that there were other people like us out there. I felt safe enough to stop hiding my powers too, and so did Ben. We don't hide anymore, and that's because of you. You could start a movement." April explained. 

"But look at where that's gotten you. Look at where it got me. If that man in there wins, we'll suffer." I argued, and I felt Mike grip my hand tighter. 

"Yeah, but if I'm gonna suffer, then I'm glad I'm going to do it as myself, with other people who are just like me. There are so many of us out there, and I really don't think they could stop all of us." 

"But they can. They overpowered me, despite all I can do, and we're just kids."

"Kids who can do more than most adults could even dream of doing."

"I don't know if we could do it April. Even with my powers, I couldn't stop them. They hurt me, and they hurt my friends, and now they've dragged my other friends into this." I looked at Mike, and squeezed his hand tightly. 

"Which is why we have to do something. They can't win this."

"I did what I could to make sure that they don't, but there's nothing that can be done about it anymore."

"I know."

It was nearly an hour before everyone was called back into the room for the people at the long table to tell us the decision they had reached, and tensions were high. I was bouncing my knee quickly, extremely anxious to find out what my fate was. Time seemed to go far too slow for my liking as I waited to find out if I was going to be taken and experimented on again, or if I would get to go home. 

The man who had made the opening announcements at the beginning of the meeting stood once again, and began to read off a paper, where I guessed he had the closing statement and results that everyone had decided on. 

"Both sides of this discussion have made good points in terms of whether or not Gillian, and others like him are a danger to society." The man spoke, sounding tired, yet serious. "Reasonable arguments have been mate stating that Gillian should be taken back into captivity until we can know more about him to protect anyone else from dying in and accident by Gillian's hands. However, given the other statements that were made regarding who Gillian is as a person, and how he and the others were treated when they were taken into custody, we have elected to let Gillian, and any other mutants who reveal themselves in the future to live the normal, free lives that they have lived their whole lives. If one of them is to become a serious danger, they will be taken into custody, and receive a punishment to fit their crime, just like any normal person.  

"Gillian, you need to learn how to better control your powers. If people keep getting killed, we will have no choice but to take you back into captivity, where you will be kept until it is believed that you are no longer a threat to society, if that day ever comes. From here on out, as long as you keep your powers under control, you are free." 

With that, the meeting was over. Steven, Warren, Jess, and I were all taken back to Steven's house in a car. We all insisted on being in one car, which had me sitting next to Steven, who was sandwiched between me and Warren, while Jess sat in the seat in front of me. I figured Steven would have been uncomfortable being so squished, but he was actually the one who requested that he sit in between Warren and I, and neither one of us wanted to argue with that. I was happy to be back with Warren and Jess again, and very, very relieved to get to finally go home. 

I felt like I could finally relax after far too long of being wound up, anxious, and unable to sleep very much. I felt tired, and light headed with the relief that I felt over the prospect of going home where I would be safe, warm, and cared for by Steven, Warren, and Jess. I decided that I didn't feel like staying awake anymore, and unashamedly laid my head on Steven's shoulder, pushing myself just a little closer against him, and fell asleep. 

***

When I woke up, I was in my room in Steven's house, under the covers, breathing in the familiar scent, and feeling safe and well rested. I climbed out of bed, changed into some clean clothes, and made my way downstairs in a search for at least one other person. I wasn't particularly surprised when I didn't find anyone, which meant that everyone was down in the lab, so I went down there too.

When I stepped out of the elevator, I found that the entire lab was trashed. There were papers, tools, and parts of machines all over the place. It looked like everything in the room was destroyed instead of taken. In fact, the only thing that I was able to say for sure that was taken, was Steven and Jess's notebooks, and the samples that Steven had taken from me when I first got my powers. 

I looked around, taking note of all of the new soot stains that littered the floor, parts of the walls, and some of Steven's counters and tables. I couldn't help but feel bad, and despite the fact that Steven, Warren, and Jess were all just sitting on one of the metal tables, I began to pick up some of the papers. Bending over hurt  my stomach like hell, and eventually, I had to stop. 

"I'm sorry." I told Steven softly, handing him all of the papers. I let one of my hands hover over my stomach, instinctually wanting to rub it to relieve the pain, but I knew that that would only make it hurt worse. 

"Don't worry about it Gill. You need to take it easy until we can take the stitches out." Steven told me, setting the papers down on the table behind him. "I still have some stuff I can give you to numb the pain, and I'll take the stitches out. If it starts to hurt you too bad, you can let me know, and I'll give you another shot to numb you again. You'll be ok."

"Thank you Steven." I said honestly, sitting on a table across from the others. 

"How are you feeling?" Jess asked me after a moment. 

"A bit better. What do you think is going to happen now?" I asked. I had been thinking about it a lot, when I wasn't sleeping of course, and I had no idea what was going to happen. Now that the world knew that I was out there, knew all the things I've done, and probably thought that I was going to kill everyone, almost anything could happen. 

"We don't know Gill. Whatever happens, we'll take care of it though. We're all gonna be ok." Warren told me, reaching across to me to place a comforting hand on my shoulder in an effort to reassure me that no matter what came my way, I was going to be alright. I think he just didn't want me start freaking out about what might happen, and make some bad decisions. 

"Ok." I said, not knowing what else I was supposed to say, though that seemed like more than enough to Warren.

***

I wasn't done being Sunshine, even though I probably should have been. As soon as my stitches were out, and Steven did make sure that I stayed numb the whole time, I went back to running around in the dead of night beating people up when I see them. Luckily, crime rates had been dropping ever since Ty became Shadow-Man, and dropped a whole lot more after I revealed myself to have superpowers. I suppose no one wanted to risk getting beat severely by someone with super strength, or fried by someone who couldn't control their powers. Of course, there were still people who thought that they could get away with it, and there were still people who thought that, as long as they had enough buddies with them, they could stop me from stopping them. This usually didn't work out well for them. 

Steven, Warren, and Jess all worried about me being Sunshine though, which kind of sucked. There was always at least one of them still awake by time I finally got back home, and I always felt bad, because I knew that they were only awake because they were worried about me, and that they could go to sleep if they really wanted to, but I still felt bad that I was making them worry. 

"You don't have to stay up for me. I'm ok, I promise." I told Steven softly while I walked with him back to his own room one night. Steven didn't sleep very well at night, and never really had, but he looked tired, and I could tell that he was probably going to go to sleep pretty quickly once I got him to his room.

"I know. We all worry about you though." Steven told me. 

Getting abducted changed Steven. He was still closed off, and still wasn't very empathetic, but he began to show more emotions towards Warren, Jess, and I. I think getting separated orm Warren and Jess, and knowing if they were ok, and not knowing if I was ever going to come back after I was taken out of the cell changed Steven. He got more panicked that something was going to happen to all of us, and that panic showed through in how he was towards the rest of us.

"You guys don't have to worry. I'm free now, and they can't come after us again." I told Steven, both of us stopping to talk to each other when we reached Steven's closed bedroom door. 

"We're still worried about you Gill." 

"I know you guys are, and I know that you're all worried about each other too. We're all going to be ok." I walked Steven to his bed, and pulled the blankets over him. He really was exhausted. I was about to walk back out of the door, when Steven stopped me. 

"Gill?" He called out, causing me to turn around and find him still under the covers, but looking at me a bit tentatively. 

"Yeah Steven?" I asked, trying to sound comforting. I didn't know what he was so nervous about, but I wanted to make sure that he knew that I wasn't going to judge him, and that everything was going to be ok.

"Can you stay here with me?" Steven asked. He didn't want to be alone. 

"Of course. Just let me go change into some pajamas and I'll be right back." With that, I left Steven's room, changed out of my Sunshine suit, and into some comfortable pajamas. 

I then padded my way back to Steven's room where he was still looking tentative and unsure of himself. I didn't say anything though as I closed Steven's bedroom door, knowing that he felt safer that way, and walked over to Steven's bed. 

Steven shifted and moved around until I was laying beside him, and he was closest to the door. Steven originally had a really organized and asymmetrical bedroom, with his large bed in the the center. The first night that we got back from being held captive, Steven walked into his room, decided that he couldn't sleep in there, and had me help him push his bed into the corner of his room, and lock all of his bedroom windows. 

Steven help me close to him, making sure that I was comfortable and safe. I, in turn, tried to make myself as small as possible, tucking myself into Steven's arms, burying my face into his chest, and making myself seem as scared and in need of comfort as I could, just so Steven felt like he was actually protecting me and keeping me safe. I figured it would help him relax more, and help him see that I was completely ok.