Nothing Less than Extraordinary

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I entered into the bedroom off to the side of the balcony, where we had found Tyler earlier. Tyler sat on the edge of the bed, flipping channels to the television and only acknowledged me by a glance.

"Sorry," I said. "I was talking with Alice and then Chess."

"I thought I heard you out there," he sighed before clicking off the TV. "What, did he finally profess his love for you and then flee?"

"No," I said with disgust on my face and in my tone.

"Ah, so it was you who fled," he assumed. I didn't want to talk about it. Not with Cheshire and definitely not with Tyler. So I sat down on the bed, opposite from Tyler. I came in here to talk to him about whatever he needed to, not Cheshire trying to start drama. And when I told him that, he only smiled to himself after knowing that it hit a nerve, and then turned it onto how he hated getting accused by people and especially Alice.

"Well you know what you did," I had first replied to his complaints and when he opened his mouth to defend himself, I silenced him. "I know, I know that you claim to have been brainwashed and it was mostly Jase, but come on, Tyler. All of those agents who answered to you as Chevy only know that you were the prime observer, regardless of how much Jase was involved. Anything else will be settled in court and if you're innocent of some crimes then there isn't much Alice or anyone else can pin you with. It's just something you have to live with."

He nodded understandingly and the rest of the night, we had talked and stayed off topic about the trial or mutants or anything in between. We and pushed it so far aside that I was getting my best friend back, not a redeeming Chevy in his place. When I figured it was a good time to leave the room and return to the main part of the suite, Tyler pulled me back by the hand.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," I had immediately replied, but wished that nothing like this would ever happen again because I wouldn't be so welcoming to Tyler and his position any longer.

"No really," he said and by now had pulled me to sit next to him on the bed. For the first time in the night, I felt uncomfortable when he reached his hand up to cup my face. "You've done so much for your friends—and for me. You've saved my life and—"

"Don't thank me just yet," I interrupted, partially for him to remove his hand, but also I figured I'd warn him about Zaine. "Tyler," I addressed, still with his eyebrows pressed together. "I can't guarantee your life is gonna be so safe once we get to D.C."

"And why not?" he asked, not in pure concern, but as if I was somehow trying to say anything not to address our position. His thumb even stroked my face instead of dropping his hand down to his lap. Hopefully what I told him would make him get the picture to stop.

"Zaine's going to kill you," I told him. His thumb stopped making small circles and his hand snapped down to his side. He winced at me.

"Did I...Did I do something? Did you talk to him and say I—"

"I haven't talked to him," I said. "That's probably why he wants to kill you so badly to be honest..."

"Aspen!" he scolded as he stood.

"What!" I replied. "When I left with you and Cheshire, I thought Zaine was gone, well he isn't and he's pissed."

"Well yeah, I bet a lot of people are—but if Cheshire hasn't found it in himself to kill me after all I've said and done within the last month then I don't know why Zaine would..." he trailed off and then suddenly stopped pacing. Then I saw a light bulb go off in his head. "He's afraid of competition."