Nothing Less than Extraordinary

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The aura of bad news surrounded the house for the next three days and for some reason Jane wanted us to get out and eat dinner at an actual restaurant to shake us of the funk. When a squad of Specials wanted to dine out, it tended to draw a crowd so unpredictable that Colonel Craig managed to reserve the fancy restaurant for just us. We had a lot to say about the Agency and its soon-to-be recreation, but if Carlisle put as much effort into the rebuild as he did to care about us misfits, maybe Maxwell was right to trust him. Even after clearing the restaurant, he stood on guard outside with the other Agents that had been vetted to still work. But no matter how much he insisted on protecting us from the outside, we hadn't even healed what was inside.

No dinner had ever been quieter. Warren and Cariba kept sneaking secretive looks at each other. Skye wasn't at Andres' side for once because the twins sat on the opposite side of Indica. Wib and Jane were signing back and forth and I couldn't keep up with them because I didn't want to make the mistake of eye contact with my brother. Sumer sat with a sad expression on her face because she already knew what happened with Chance without anyone needing to say it. Cheshire wasn't even here—apparently, I was the last one to see him and that was Monday during his break up with Alice. The only comfort I personally had in the room was Zaine sitting to my side despite us not really speaking in the last few days. Zaine didn't say anything tonight either. He just kept his eyes lowered as he did all day and after we were twenty minutes into our entrees, he looked up when we were alerted with the appearance of newcomers.

It was Carlisle and the blonde FBI agent from the bombing who I remembered as Michael Fiske. Only, he wasn't dressed in his nice FBI suit. He wore navy dress clothes. He even put his hat in his hands out of respect.

"Are you here to arrest us again? Because Cheshire isn't here," Warren said. Fiske narrowed his eyes.

"He's here as a friend," Carlisle stated.

"To who?"

"To us," Carlisle hissed and wondered if he was insinuating Fiske was Special...or just special to him.

"I'm here to share my condolences," Fiske spoke. "Maxwell Noble was a great man. He helped me and a bunch of us who were in the service and didn't want to get detected," he put a hand on Carlisle's shoulder briefly. He looked to Warren. "And the arrest was just business. We can't always give everyone the benefit of the doubt."

"If you were Special then you should've known—"

"Wilbur," Zaine simply said to silence him before I could've. His eyes rose to Fiske's. "Thank you for your condolences."

Fiske tightened his jaw and nodded.

"I just want to say I'm also sorry and we're already making arrangements so that the Agency and the Academy will work together in the future to make sure nothing like this ever happens again," Carlisle said. "And with the help of all of you, we're gonna make sure there's a way to detect the compensatory reactions that some powers have on people and counteract them before they happen—"

"You think this is all because, what, Maxwell overextended himself?" Anthony questioned. I gulped because of the guilt I carried knowing that I should've just fought Maxwell in order to heal him. He knew what he was doing by letting himself perish. But I didn't think it had much to do with his powers rather than a mixture of that with whatever else happened to him during the raid and at the government building. But still, he knew what he was doing.

"Not all powers are without sacrifice," Sumer muttered and I had no doubt she was alluding to the fact that Chance suffered nose bleeds and seizures at the extended use of his powers.

"There seems to be a lot of suffering going on," Indica muttered in the memory of her brother.

"And we're gonna make sure less of that happens," Jane finally said while standing up. Wib grabbed her wrist.