Haven wasn't sure why she'd asked Louise to talk to her. Really, she should have followed James like the perfect girlfriend, refusing to acknowledge that anything he'd said was wrong. Beautiful stupid people like her only existed to make the smart ones around them look better. She'd never done anything like this before. The only thing she'd ever managed to do was dump someone who no longer met her needs.
James was different. He was nice to her. He cared about her. She was a partner to him. Not just arm candy - a partner.
Everything in her screamed that she'd never had it so good, that she shouldn't do anything to screw this up.
Everything except one small voice that said something was rotten. Rotten beyond saving.
"So?" Louise asked, looking at Haven with a raised eyebrow. "Sick of him yet?"
"What?" Haven asked, feigning shock when she was merely surprised.
"James. He's drifting farther and farther away from reality. I thought Dustin was beyond saving, that he'd gotten too lost in this nonsense, but James is just as bad. No, maybe James is worse. At least Dustin knows he's the bad guy."
"James isn't a bad person," Haven said softly, trying to defend him even though her heart screamed in agreement with Louise. This was all getting too out of control. Were things better when Hot Rod was here? She wanted to say no - she'd despised him - but at least they hadn't declared open hostility towards Lightning and the military. Now...all their bridges were disappearing.
"I'm not saying he is," Louise said coldly. "I don't think he necessarily is. I knew him a long time ago, and when he dropped back into my life without a word of warning he was the same lovable doofus he was back then. Despite what you might think, I don't hate him. I think he's insufferable at times and our personalities are incompatible, but I don't actually dislike him. If I did, I'd have kicked him out the door ages ago. Same goes for Dustin. I just think they've both gotten too lost in this 'superpowers' thing."
"James is the chosen hero," Haven said softly, though not even she believed it.
"You're deluding yourself," Louise replied quietly. "Or are you lying to yourself to justify joining the Legion? Just do what Jumper and Lightning did - cut your losses and go."
"I have nowhere to go!" Haven snapped. She hadn't even realized she was about to mouth off. Fear sank into her stomach.
No. She was here because she wanted to be. People had to believe that. Otherwise...
She'd be abandoned next.
"That's the crux of it, huh?" Louise replied with a wry grin. "Do you really think you can't disappear?"
"I'm stupid," Haven interrupted, now babbling without any regard as to what she was saying. "I can't manage anything without someone better to help me. When I got a Miracle, I thought maybe I was finally worth something - me, just me, without being someone's girlfriend. I was wrong. I'm just the same useless girl I've always been. I'm stupid. I've always been stupid. Thinking anything else was the delusion."
Louise pinched her cheek hard for that. Haven yelped slightly and stared at Louise, who looked at her intensely.
"You are who you decide to be. Don't let someone else define you. Hell, your Miracle is arguably one of the best ones here. You can capture people without hurting them or anyone else. Take pride in that. And if you're stupid, so what? Just find the one thing you're good at. You don't need James or anyone else to be worth something."
Haven stared at her a while longer, forgetting the pain in her cheek. Was that...okay?
The voices in the back of her mind tried to drown it out, but Louise's voice seemed to echo in her mind.
"You don't need anyone else to be worth something."
Could she hold on to that? While she sat, lost in thought, Louise let go of her and left. She didn't realize she was gone until the party was almost over. James came over to her to check on her, and Haven snapped out of her stupor.
"Sorry," she said with a giggle. "I just got lost in thought."
"What were you thinking about?" James asked.
See? He cared about what she thought!
Or did he? The doubts swirled in her heart.
"I was just thinking about...the Legion." At the last minute, Haven switched to a lie.
"Oh? What about?"
"Just...how far we've come. And how far we have to go." Haven looked away, her heart pounding from the nerves.
"We do have a long way to go, don't we?" James asked, with a chuckle. "A military to take down, Team Chaos to finish off, and false Miracles to contend with."
Haven ignored the heavy ball that fell into her stomach at his words. A military to take down. False Miracles to contend with.
Maybe Louise was right. Maybe...someone had to...
"Is...the military really that bad?" she asked tentatively. In response, James looked at her in disbelief.
"Of course it is! They're trying to destroy us, Haven. They won't rest until we're all killed. Just like Hot Rod."
"Just like Hot Rod."
Haven looked down and nodded.
"Sorry. I...forgot."
The look in his eyes had scared her. And she hadn't found the courage to say anything more.
"Jumper really cut ties," Fiore said quietly to Jo. She was sitting next to him as everyone else headed home, still in her frizzy white mad scientist wig.
"Of course he did. I'm surprised you haven't. They've treated you quite poorly," Jo replied matter-of-factly, swirling some mystery liquid in her cup. It had been soda and alcohol, but with her Miracle, who knew what it was now?
"You sound like this doesn't affect you," Fiore replied softly.
"I don't think it does. I only came here to have funds to run my own lab. As long as I'm free to experiment and make what I want, I don't care that much. You, on the other hand, have a lot more to live for."
"Not really," Fiore chuckled. "I'm just an idiot who can grow flowers."
"Hey, you've proved that flowers can be scary. What about that giant corpse flower you used on Shell? You like flowers, and plants, and you're using that information to do what you can to protect people. Or, y'know, you could always go back to the life you wanted before this nonsense went down."
Fiore stared at the ground for a while.
"I don't think that would be okay. It's my responsibility...as someone chosen by the Miracle Giver...I have to use my Miracle to help people."
"Nobody said you had to fight. Besides, who says you have to use your Miracle for the good of others? I'm just using mine for my own self-satisfaction." Jo splashed the liquid out of her cup and it landed on the floor in a puff of sugar-scented smoke.
"You're still helping people."
"Not as many as I could be. This gift is for me, and I decide what I want to do with it. Did their precious Miracle Giver ever say otherwise?"
Fiore stared at the ground for a while longer.
"Then...maybe I'll leave too. I'll still...help I guess. Like Jumper. But I really want to be a farmer."
"Then go be a farmer. Quit wasting your time in this useless dead end." Jo gave him a shove on the back and Fiore stumbled to his feet. With one last glance back at her, he nodded.
"You'll still be my...um...can I still talk to you?" he asked, stumbling over his words. Was she his friend? She didn't seem like the sort to have friends.
"Sure thing, kid. Come by anytime. You know the entry code. And if they change it, I'll just tell you the new one. Not like anybody except me lives here anymore." Jo grinned at him and Fiore smiled back.
"Thanks, Jo." With a breath, he went over to Achilles to talk about leaving.
Part of it terrified him, but as long as Jo was on his side, he thought he'd be okay. After all, Jumper had already paved the way.
