Union

twenty five

October 5th

0512 EST

"Put her down!" Tristan screamed, all of his emotions released through his cracking voice. His powers were useless against Rune; he stood frozen to his spot, a result of his own rampant emotions.

Rune's dark lips just curled into a deeper, more menacing sneer. "How do you plan on saving her?" He cackled, his grip tightening on Avi's neck. "You are powerless, you did this to yourself! Look around child, you couldn't save your family or friends, how do you expect to save the others?"

Hundreds of bodies lied in a mass next to Tristan. At the top, his parents lied unmoving, clad head to toe in their old super suits. Their faces were pale and tinged blue, their eyes glazed over. Next to them, Aaron laid face down, his shirt tore to pieces and ripped up. His dark ebony hair was sticking in all directions in a way it never was when he was alive.

And finally at the top of the heap, CJ rested completely still. Blood continued to spread from his body, coating the corpses beneath him. This was your plan, Tristan reminded himself. You're the reason CJ is dead.

Bristol and Olive lied unconscious at the feet of Psyche and Phobos. Avi was dangling in Rune's grip, and Tristan was frozen solid because of his own stupidity.

Dangling by her neck from Rune's grasp, Avi frantically looked around, her eyes finally landing on Tristan. Help, she silently begged. Fear was evident in her eyes, but there was also something else. Confidence. She actually believes you can do this.

"Tristan?" She called softly, her mouth not moving.

"Tristan?" Avi called again, pulling Tristan out of his nightmare. "Are you okay?" Avi questioned. Her skin glowed a dull green in the lack of light.

Ice slowly disappeared from Tristan's bed, leaving no trace of the frost as he tried to calm down. "What's wrong?" He asked anxiously, his breath still shaky from the dream.

Avi glanced at him, worry written all over her features. "Your headset would not stop beeping and you were not waking up."

Tristan ran his hands through his dark hair and tried to slow his unsteady breathing. He restlessly tossed in his bed, his sheets sticking to his sweaty body.

"Nightmare?" Avi asked. She pulled back his damp covers and sat down beside him. "It is okay. I'm here." Avi took his shaking hand and placed it in her own stable one.

Tristan wrapped his arms around Avi's solid waist, pulling her closer to him. "Don't leave," he whispered into her shoulder, loud enough so only she could hear.

"It's Priscilla," Avi said, gesturing to Tristan's headset. "Mission details. I'm not sure why it could not wait, but she wants to see you in her office."

Tristan took a shaky breath, forcing away his panic. There wasn't time for that now. "Okay," he sighed, running another hand through his already disheveled hair.

Avi smiled sympathetically. She stood up slowly, and padded back to her charging station. She shot Tristan a careful glance as she closed the glass door.

Tristan pushed himself off of his bed and stalked over to Avi's closet. When he first started sleeping in Avi's room, he brought a few t shirts and pants over in case he ever needed them. Now, he was in sweatpants and nothing else, and he didn't exactly want the lecture from Priscilla about showing up to intel meetings in inappropriate attire, as she called it. He grabbed a white t-shirt from the rack, pulled it over his head, and headed out of the room.