Ivan Santana loves Clay Franklin. That fact is indisputable. But Clay killed a man recently and Ivan is worried that the power they share will corrupt Clay beyond recognition. And if it is corrupting Clay, what effect is it having on Ivan?
Maybe Clay isn’t being corrupted, maybe he is doing what the powers dictate and Ivan is imposing the wrong moral code.
Whatever the truth, Ivan has struggled to look Clay in the eyes, and when he does, he wants to weep. Ivan can’t help but wonder how peaceful Clay’s life could have been if he’d never shown up in his hospital room all those years ago.
But then, Ivan doesn’t want that reality. He doesn’t want to imagine his own life without Clay. When the two of them were alone, it was like nothing else mattered and that feeling justied all of the chaos that they endured as apparent protectors of their neighborhood.
Ivan is conflicted. He has felt alone for about a week now, avoiding his love in the house they share because he does not want Clay to see him as the emotional wreck that he is. He enjoys work, it is a welcome distraction, and he finds reasons to stay late. Today, when he finally makes it home after seven in the evening, Clay is sitting outside. He stands to greet him and Ivan notices tears in his eyes.
“You can’t love me anymore, can you?” Clay’s voice breaks and he struggles to hold back tears. “I wish I could take it back Ivan. I do. I just want you to look at me again.”
The two embrace and sob in each other’s arms.
“I love you, just don’t kill people. Please.” Ivan holds Clay tight and he feels the strong muscles in his back relax. Then he holds Clay’s face in his hands and he looks him in the eyes. “I will always love you, but we have to have a code.”
“No killing people,” Clay says.
“Is this power too much?” Ivan asks.
“We can put it down for a while. Jamar is gone. Anes is gone. We should be able to take a break.”
They decide to live a truly quiet life together. Ivan still meditates, but when he feels himself levitating, he tumbles to the ground. He exercises with Clay regularly and the two find happiness in the sameness of their routine; up in the morning and breakfast, off to work, and then dinner together afterwards in front of the tv until it is time for bed.
Clay is relieved after a week goes by and Ivan seems to have forgiven him. He worries, though. A quiet part of himself had been awakened when he killed Jamar. He’d felt genuinely relief knowing that Jamar couldn’t hurt anyone else and that quiet part of himself was activated by the feelings. Clay’s life had been traumatic and he always found himself at the whim of fate that always seemed to sack him with tragedies. Killing Jamar had given him real control and it is hard for him to ignore that feeling.
But he can’t kill anyone else. He can’t feel that feeling again, because Ivan would leave him for sure and the thought of that before had made him weep like a baby.
They forget the superheroics and, for now at least, it seems that their time as saviours has come to an end.
Meanwhile, at Bernadette’s house…
“This isn’t how this was supposed to end,” Kyrie says to Bernadette as they sit in rocking chairs on her back porch, spectating the lightning bugs. “They were supposed to take our place.”
“What, are we dying or something?” Bernadette says dismissively.
“Lorne say Anes wasn’t supposed to lose, she had her powers and Koyu’s too, but then her sister intervened. Who knew she had a sister?”
“So you let them suffer so they would lose their power and then you were gonna train them in the repulsive force?”
Kyrie nods. “Anes wasn’t gonna kill them or nothing, once she had what she wanted. And they work well together, don’t they?”
Bernadette nods. “I still don’t understand why you do this. Why you let Lorne and that weird colorful view of the world dictate so many of your choices?”
Kyrie shrugs. “We all got a purpose. Mine is strange, but it’s a privilege. I can fly, Bernie.”
She laughs. “I hate when people call me that, but I hate it even more that you make me smile when you call me that.”
“You love it.”
“They beat Anes,” Bernadette says proudly. She knows that her nephew is the greatest man her family has ever produced and she had marveled at the way he wielded his energies with Ivan. “Lorne,” Bernadette says addressing the near giant Rhino-type Quinspace being who also occupied the porch but could not be seen by those unable to view the Quinspace. Bernadette had never acknowledged this ability, she had never acknowledged the presence of Lorne who was often in the presence of Kyrie.
“Lorne,” she says to him and he startles to look at her. “My nephew is more than you imagined for him. You will want him as an ally, and he is ready to train with you and Kyrie. Your instruction with the repulsive force will only make him more powerful.”
Lorne practically bows at Bernadette’s feet. “I agree. We will start at once.”
Kyrie smiles at Bernadette. It seems that she is coming into her own strength.
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