CHAPTER TWO

❝ YOU MADE ALL OF THESE TODAY? ❞

THE SUN SHONE UPON OLIVIA'S FACE as Olivia laid in bed, and for the first time in years, she did not dread the day before it began. There was an excitement brewing within her, but unlike her abilities, it was not screaming to be freed, rather it eased her nerves.

She already had organized a plan for the day. First, she would talk to her uncle, telling him that she was going to meet up with Lexi after school. Second, she had to text Lexi and ask where they could meet up to talk. Third, she would get to school, finish her classes for the day and thank Peter for helping her out with lab yesterday. Finally, she would make her way to wherever Lexi wanted to meet and explain her plan.

It was foolproof.

Pulling herself out of bed, Olivia readied herself for the day ahead. She picked out a simple outfit consisting of a forest green shirt, light wash blue jeans, a grey hoodie and her pair of black converse. She hastily finished getting ready, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she ran down the stairs.

"Someone's up early," her uncle called out from the kitchen. He leaned against the kitchen counter, a mug of coffee in his hands. "You have somewhere to be?"

Olivia grabbed a mug from the cabinet, pouring herself a cup of coffee before responding. "I was talking to Lexi last night and she asked if we could meet up after I get out of school today."

Josh took a sip of his coffee, mulling over his niece's words. "Where are you meeting up with her? And is she picking you up from school?"

"Still working out the details, but I think I'm going to her place after school."

"When you figure out the plan, please text me," Josh sighed. "You know I worry."

Olivia hummed, knowing her uncle all too well. Though she had known him before the incident, her memories of then were vague at best. She had to admit, the only positive result of her time in captivity was the fact that she could read people like a book, and no secret was safe from her.

Though that fact helped her in most situations, it was also a curse. She could tell when someone was trying to put up a strong facade, and no matter how hard they tried to hide their true feelings, she always knew if they lied.

After a few minutes of silence and another cup of coffee each, the two put their mugs away. They then went their separate ways to gather their bags before Josh would drop Olivia at school for the day. Not even two minutes later, the two met at the door and locked up, walking to the car together.

Olivia stared out the window as her uncle drove, listening to the monotonous voices of the radio station ramble on about whatever was happening in their neighborhood. They had yet to say anything important, at least, not until her uncle went to turn up the radio.

"Early this morning, a jogger found a man tied to a street pole, a note taped above his head explaining that he had been caught trying to steal a car late last night." Her uncle's gaze shifted ever so slightly, his brows raising in intrigue. "The note was not signed, but CCTV footage from a store across the street caught the man getting apprehended by an unknown enhanced individual."

She turned her gaze to the road in front of them, glancing at her uncle out of the corner of her eye. He clenched his jaw, evidently uneasy at the thought of an enhanced individual in their neighborhood.

"The NYPD is currently investigating leads regarding the enhanced individual, and is asking that anyone who has any information regarding their identity utilize their tip line."

"How did you sleep last night?" Her uncle asked, his voice even as he turned to look at her.

"Fine." She lied through her teeth. "First decent night's sleep in a while."

He looked at her, trying to read the girl. "Did you—"

"No Uncle Josh," she lied again. "I wouldn't be that stupid to use my powers in public."

A silence overtook the car, Josh clearly trying to determine if he believed what Olivia was saying. Neither of them said another word until Olivia's phone went off, a text having come through, causing Thunderstruck to start playing.

"Is that Lexi?" Josh asked.

Olivia nodded, reading the text.

FROM: Lexi

is your uncle working today?

i could swing by if itll make it easier

less cameras at your place

"Would you mind if Lexi comes by and maybe stays for dinner?" Olivia asked, turning to face her uncle.

"Not at all, it's been a while since she's come by."

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OLIVIA DROPPED HER BAG TO THE GROUND as she sank into her seat. History class wasn't hard, and today of all days wouldn't be too bad. Mr. Dell stood at the front of the room, writing the topic of the day on the chalkboard, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

It was nearly midterms, which meant that Mr. Dell was about to start talking about their next major essay, which would focus on the growth of the Roman Empire throughout Europe. He began breaking down the rubric for the essay as the students took out their notebooks to write everything down.

Olivia made note of the instructions, jotting them down in her notebook as Mr. Dell continued his train of thought. His voice was dull and monotonous as he spoke, boring the teenagers in their desks beyond belief. 

The class dragged on until the bell rang, freeing the students from Mr. Dell's class. Olivia rushed to get her books back into her bag and made her way into the hall. She maneuvered through the crowd, pushing past her fellow students to get to her locker and switch out her books.

As soon as she closed her locker, Olivia made her way to her favorite room, knowing that the solitude of the library would envelop her in a small semblance of comfort. There was something about the library that put her at ease, perhaps it was the thought of sitting in the same room her brother had sat in years prior.

Her brother, Ryan, had adored Midtown when he was alive. Apparently he had spent hours in the library here, reading through every book he could before they sent him home at the end of each school day. At least that's what her uncle told her. He was practically a genius and had wanted to be an aerospace engineer.

"I want to see what's out there." Ryan had told her. "I want to see it myself. I want to find what's missing from my life."

They had laid together on the beach one night, Olivia couldn't remember exactly when, and Ryan had pointed out every constellation in the sky, their gazes fixated on the worlds beyond their own.

"And that constellation right there is Leo." Ryan explained, pointing to the stars above them. "It's mom's favorite since it was named after dad."

"Dad's not older than the stars." Olivia had corrected, her small voice filled with determination. "The stars are really old, and mom always says that dad wasn't old."

Ryan laughed, a carefree smile overtaking his face. "Come on, I'll race you to the Cyclone. Last one there has to share their ice cream."

"You're on!"

It was the clearest memory she had of Ryan, and she clung to it like a child to their favorite stuffed animal. Nothing could tear that memory from her mind, she had clung to it through every night of the past three years.

It was her solace in the hardest nights of her capture. This one moment in time stuck with her, and it remained her most precious memory.

She wondered if he would be proud of her after everything she had done. Would he still want to call her his sister after it all? Would he even recognize her at this moment?

A voice calling out her name snapped her from her thoughts.

"Earth to Olivia?" Peter repeated, placing his textbook down on the table.

"Oh, hey Peter," she quickly replied. "Sorry, I was a little distracted."

"I saw you come in here after Mr. Dell's class," he said with a smile. "I wanted to see how it went since I have history after lunch."

For a split second, her cheeks felt hot as Peter sat down across from her, dropping his bag to the floor beside his chair. Why would he be asking her about Mr. Dell's class, he definitely didn't have to worry about passing his history midterm.

"Uh, it was okay?" Olivia shrugged. "But didn't you have geometry last period on the other side of the school?"

Peter's cheeks flushed as he attempted to stammer out an answer, only to be saved by a voice calling out from the doorway.

"Peter!" The familiar figure of Ned Leeds waved from the entrance of the library, catching his breath before making his way to the duo's table. "Why did you run so fast? I hadn't even grabbed my notebook before you were gone from class!"

His gaze then fell to Olivia, eyes widening in realization before sitting down.

"Oh, hey Olivia."

"Hi Ned," she greeted. "You ran here from geometry?"

"I was exaggerating, I'm just a slow walker, unlike Peter, he's a really fast walker," Ned explained nervously, dropping his backpack to the floor from his seat beside his best friend.

"Okay?" Olivia turned her attention back to her notebook, just missing the look of panic on Peter's face and the apologetic look on Ned's. "I'm going to try and work on my essay for history, do you guys have homework for geometry or something?"

"Yeah, that's why I followed Peter here," Ned blurted out. "We were coming to do geometry."

"Yeah, geometry," Peter confirmed. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

"You already are," Olivia quickly replied. "But I guess you're good to sit here."

"That's, uh, a good point," Peter sighed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, I guess?" Olivia returned her attention to her notebook, finally starting to work on her history paper, blissfully unaware of Peter's lingering gaze.

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OLIVIA WALKED UP TO THE FRONT DOOR of her house, the now familiar front door a pleasant sight to see. In the six months since she was rescued, this place had slowly become a place of warmth, somewhere she felt unafraid of the dark.

No, she wasn't afraid of the literal dark, rather, she feared what could lurk within it, what it represented at its core. The people who dragged her into the dark, who will never leave her nightmares, they are the ones she truly feared.

A gust of wind blew past her, and in the once empty space beside her stood Lexi, the sound of electricity crackling around her figure, a few lingering bolts scattering into the air. Her blonde and pink hair was pulled into a tight ponytail at the crown of her head, sunglasses shielding her eyes from the sun. She pushed the sunglasses to the top of her head as she looked down at something on the ground, and Olivia watched them transform into a headband when the smell of burning rubber hit her nose.

Olivia's gaze fell to Lexi's sneakers, which were smoking, the rubber of the soles having partially melted thanks to the super speed used by the Stark girl. "Damn," Lexi sighed. "That's the fifth pair this month. Don't know why I can't stop that from happening."

Olivia watched as Lexi's eyebrows knit together, a pensive look overtaking her face but not making any move to take off the smoking sneakers.

"I've been experimenting with different coatings for the soles. Figured that'd be the best option to still be able to wear whatever shoes I want, but they all keep burning up whenever I get up to speed." Lexi paused, glancing down at her sneakers. "I think I'm going to have to start making my own sneakers. Which isn't the worst thing in the world but it does mean another project I have to do instead of one I want to do."

In the six months since she had met the Stark family, Olivia had yet to be anything but in awe of the way they were able to come up with new ideas for inventions, which was exactly why she texted Lexi in the first place.

"But you didn't call me here to talk about my sneakers," Lexi said with a smile. "I know just what you need after your little escapade last night, and I am more than happy to deliver."

Olivia watched as Lexi shrugged off the straps of her backpack, pulling it to the front so she could grab something from within it. Within seconds, she pulled out a bundle of papers, pausing momentarily before guiding them onto the front porch of the house.

"Dad's cameras won't see the specifics if we stand here," Lexi explained, handing Olivia the stack of papers from her bag.

When he helped with renovations for the house, Tony had installed a state of the art security system in order to ensure that the Bowman family would hopefully feel a sense of safety in their house. No one would be able to come near the house without being caught on camera, whether they came in on foot or in the air. Josh was certainly thankful for these cameras as they would be able to help protect his family.

Olivia carefully unrolled the papers, her eyes widening at the sheer amount of detail.

"You made all of these today?" She flipped through the papers. "How did you—"

"I've had some of them for a while, but the ones on top are from today." Lexi explained, pointing to the first few. "I think I started the first one while you were still recovering in the Tower."

Lexi had thought about this months ago? Did she really think I was worthy of this months ago?

Her heart swelled, did Lexi truly care that much?

"You were given superpowers and yeah, unfortunately it was by a bunch of evil Nazis, but then you were rescued by the Avengers," Lexi explained. "To me, it seemed more like a matter of when you were feeling ready to use your powers."

"So you weren't certain I'd ever ask?"

"I was pretty sure you would, and I was right. But I knew that if you ever needed them, I would have them ready to go." Lexi explained with a smile. "Plus they were a fun project for me to work on, and if you never asked for them, I could always find another purpose for them. And I was right that you would ask, even if you didn't explicitly ask about them, so this should be a lesson to never doubt me about anything ever."

Olivia rolled her eyes as she began to flip through the papers in her hands, eyes scanning each and every suit that Lexi had sketched out. Each one was slightly different from the others, the unique aspects of each suit making Olivia smile.

"This one's interesting." Olivia said, flipping to the leotard with tights. It was one of the more revealing suits, but Lexi's notes on the papers explained that the tights would be thicker and more like leggings in order to keep her warm and covered up as 'this isn't a comic book made by a middle aged man.'

"Yeah, I was at Finn's place and one of the comics had a superhero in a suit like that, except it was lower cut and had fishnets, but I would never do that to you, thus the opaque tights." Lexi explained.

Olivia glanced back at the paper, noting the second note below it, scrawled in a different handwriting that said 'I didn't make it!'

"I think this might be the one," Olivia said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I also have a jacket in mind for when it gets colder," Lexi promised with a cheeky smile. She then reached into her bag, grabbing what appeared to be a small computer chip. "I also have this for you. You can't use it yet, not until I'm done with your suit and I figure out all the details, but I can and will be updating it frequently."

"What is it?" Olivia asked, eyes fixated on the small green chip.

"I call it the Learning Entity Operator, but the name's a work in progress. LEO, for short." Olivia's breath hitched in her throat, she had never told Lexi about that name. Hell, she didn't remember it until she found her baby book in one of the boxes her uncle had stored in the attic recently. "That was your dad's name, right? Your brother mentioned it years ago, said it was his middle name, too. I figured it would be nice for you to have both of them watching out for you while you're off being a hero."

Without even thinking, Olivia wrapped her arms around Lexi, pulling the older girl into a tight embrace. She could feel Lexi stiffen for a second before melting into it, her arms wrapping around the younger girl.

"Don't think this makes me a softie, kiddo," Lexi joked. "I'm proud of you, and they would be too. Same for your mom."

Olivia couldn't stop the tears from welling in her eyes as she stepped out of the embrace, but forced them away as she quickly shook her head.

"Thank you, Lexi," Olivia said, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Lexi smiled at the younger girl. "Just promise me you'll tell Rosie before she figures it out on her own, she'll definitely be annoyed that she didn't get to help but will be less annoyed if she hears it from you."

Olivia nodded in response, not trusting her voice to remain steady if she were to speak.

"Now, what're we having for dinner?"