For most of Aleks' life, coming home was a welcome respite from her busy life. There was something otherworldly in returning to the small terraced house cramped with old memorabilia and faded family photos. When she and Toni crossed the front door, their senses were assaulted by delicious scents of traditional Polish food ─ different kinds of dumplings, sauerkraut, potato pancakes and sour rye soup. But today, Aleks' mind was so occupied with other matters that even her favourite dishes did nothing to disperse her anxiety.

While Toni nagged their mother for cooking such a feast for what was supposed to be a regular Saturday dinner, Aleks stood in a hallway staring at a photo of her smiling father. He wore his police uniform and puffed out his chest, presenting a shiny Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. She gently stroked the glass behind the frame. Her memory of that day was still clear as the whole family gathered to celebrate the occasion.

But not even two weeks had passed, and her brave father was gone, stabbed to death during an intervention in what was supposed to be a regular bar fight.

"What would you do in my place?" she whispered wistfully. It was moments like this when she was struggling and could use advice from a person she trusted the most that she felt how huge a gaping hole his death left in her life.

"Ola! Dinner is ready. Come before all the food gets cold!" her mother called from the kitchen.

Aleks gave a photograph one last, longing gaze, then brushed the hair off her face and walked into the kitchen, but she stopped short when she saw the table laden with many different dishes.

She raised her brows and sat on the chair, glaring at her mother. "Seriously, Mum. Why are you making so much food every time we come? We can't possibly eat even a fraction of that."

"Because you so rarely visit me nowadays, and I want to make sure at least at home you eat properly. I have no idea what they feed you in that workplace, but you look skinny, Oluś. Here, I made lazy dumplings. I know they are your favourites." She pushed a heavy plate almost in Aleks' face.

Aleks only sighed in surrender and accepted the plate. There was no arguing with her mother when it came to food. Grażyna Leszczyńska was a stout woman with a shock of brown-grey hair and a round face marked with wrinkles of happiness and worry. As she put a couple of steaming dumplings on her plate, she looked and Aleks and said, "So... Antoś said you had some private talk with your supervisor yesterday."

Aleks gave her twin a death stare, but he was too busy stuffing his face with food even to notice that. She pushed her dumplings around her plate. "I did, yes."

"What was that about? Come on, don't keep us in suspense, sugar. You got assigned to that big project, no?"

Aleks swallowed her food through the lump in her throat and put down her fork. Even the best food was tasteless when she was upset. "Regan wants to move me into back office support."

Her announcement was met with a brief silence. Toni's eyes widened, and she knew he knew all her thoughts without asking.

Grażyna blinked several times, slowly chewing on the last bite as she considered the news. "I'm glad."

Aleks narrowed her eyes. "You're glad?"

"Yes. At least I won't have to worry about both of you. Working in the office is much safer for you."

"I didn't choose this job to sit behind the desk and do paperwork, Mum," Aleks replied, and the words sounded sharper than she intended.

But the older woman was not phased by her tone. "There are many ways to help people, Oluś. You don't have to risk your life daily to do that. Look at me. I've never been in danger, yet I saved countless lives."

"That's because you're a nurse." Aleks rolled her eyes. "You work in a hospital. That's different from working for special forces. I have a gift, and it's my duty to protect those who can't fight for themselves."

"And how is that gift of yours helping with that? I thought you still stop criminals using your fists and guns and not that mystical power."

Red-hot fury raised in Aleks, but Toni quipped in before she could respond to the offhanded comment. "Drop it, Mum. Aleks is one of the best agents in GSO, and you can't blame her for being angry that they want to pull her out of the field."

She looked surprised at her brother. "Well, thank you. Finally, someone talking sense here."

"But it doesn't mean Regan is wrong."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Aleks scoffed. "Et tu, Brute?"

Toni hunched his shoulders more but did not back down. "Can you please stop being such a diva and think about it logically? I know you've already read all the case files, so you must have seen the profiles of deviants we are up against."

"I did," she admitted reluctantly.

"Then you know those are merciless brutes with power levels way over your average gifted. What exactly did you expect? You can't hope to stand your ground against any of them. Hell, I would shit myself if I was to face them on my own."

"Antoś! Language!" Grażyna hissed.

"Sorry, Mum. The point is, it's no longer playground, Aleks. They are experimenting on innocent people, so killing a GSO agent would be like squashing a fly for them, and I..." he trailed off, looking for words, his chest heaving from all pent-up emotions, his aura changing to anxious orange. "I don't know if I can protect you if things go south."

Even though Aleks should have been furious with her twin for not taking her side, seeing an apprehension in his usually calm and collected aura, she felt all her emotions subside. She put her hand on his arm.

"I'll be alright. You don't have to worry about me." She sighed and crossed her arms. "It's just so unfair. I'm gifted, and yet I can't protect others. Dad never let his weaknesses hold him back. He had no superpowers, yet he was not afraid to face criminals."

"There weren't any gifted when he was alive," Grażyna noticed. "If he was still with us, do you think he would run heedlessly into those dangerous deviants?"

"He surely wouldn't hide in the office!"

Grażyna shook her head. "Your father was many things, but he was no fool. He would not endanger himself because he was too proud to admit he might not be strong enough."

"But I─"

"Aleksandra," Grażyna didn't let her finish. "Your power is a gift from God. Instead of complaining about everything you are not, you would do well if you focused on what you are good at."

Aleks scoffed. "As if God had anything to do with it. He didn't explode that factory sending tons of experimental toxins into the air. People did that."

"God works in mysterious ways. Maybe you were never meant to work in a field, but helping others better understand themselves. If you need someone impartial to talk to, Father Zachary is─"

"I'm not going to talk to your priest, Mum," Aleks replied curtly. "You know I don't share your faith."

"You don't have to go to church. He's a good and wise man with a lot of experience. Talking to him always helps me put my mind at ease."

"If I ever need to talk to someone, it would be a therapist with a medical diploma, not a priest." Aleks stood up and picked up her empty plate. She completely lost her appetite now. When the discussion turned to faith, it never ended well, as Aleks and her mother never saw eye to eye on that topic.

"Can we change the subject, please?" Antoni groaned. "I'd like to finish my dinner without you two arguing again."

"I'm not arguing. I'm just─" Aleks' words cut off as a searing pain exploded in her temples. She screamed as the plate smashed on the tiled kitchen floor and shattered into thousand little pieces.

"Ola!"

Like in a haze, Aleks felt hands on her shoulders as someone pushed her back to the chair. The world was spinning around her, and she couldn't breathe. But when the dark sploshes appeared in her vision, and she was sure she'll faint any second now, the pain stopped as suddenly as it appeared. She took in a sharp breath.

"Are you alright?" Toni kneeled in front of her, his eyes searching her face for any clue about what had happened. Grażyna handed her a tall glass full of cold water.

"I'm alright now," Aleks replied, her voice shaking.

"What was that?"

"I felt someone. Gifted. Their aura just... exploded. The same as that deviant in the Underground."

Toni paled visibly. "Can you pinpoint the location?"

"I think so."

"We need to call Regan." Toni got back to his feet and turned to Grażyna. "Sorry, Mum. We have to go."