A Sitdown Meet & Greet

Christopher sighed. "Not this."

"And I could care less," you snap. "What do you want?"

"J-Just a sitdown meeting with you," the woman answered.

"And you are?" yoiu ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Ashlynn, Ashlynn Davenport," the newly named 'Ashlynn' replied. "We originally met at the Big Town Track Invintational."

"She's my connection to the Justice ****," Christopher admitted. "I remember back when we were dating that she had an aunt that was a member so when my powers awakened, I call her up and she got me in contact with them."

You can barely contain your sneer. "Of course she did."

Ashlynn and Christopher exchange an uneasy glance. Later, you would admit, and only to yourself in the sanctity of your own mind, that you were being uncharitable towards them, but in the heat of the moment you could care less. Christopher's uncanny ability to land in shit and come out smelling like roses while winning the lottery pissed you off something fierce.

"How long have you had your powers?" you ask him.

"Longer than you," he evades.

"How long?" you ask again.

"About a month longer than you," he reluctantly admits.

"Just when I thought I couldn't hate you more," you state. Literal weeks where you'd been alone, struggling with your powers, dealing with **** isolation... And he'd sat back and watched it all happen. You sigh and turn towards Ashlynn. "Look, I'm sure you and your aunt are good people, but if this is to talk about possible recruitment, I wasn't exactly keen on getting involved with The Jay Eff before and it'll be a cold day in hell before I ever do now."

"But..." Ashlynn started.

"If it helps, I have no plans for mass destruction or world domination," you state. "I take it the rest of your pals know about me?"

"Since you awakened," Christopher admits.

"Ah, so now that I have a handle on my powers, the powers that be deem me to be worthy of sitting at the big kids' table," you say disgustedly.

"You were unstable," Christopher argued. "No one was sure what you were gonna do. You dislocated Lance's shoulder- almost costing him his football scholarship, Zach had several hairline fractures, Mrs. Avery ended up in a coma and you put your dad through a table."

"Unstable my ass!" you hiss in reply. "More like my public awakening almost interfered with your public debut as a fucking superhero! Those situations were me reacting to the shit show that was my life. Lance's shoulder was his own damn fault, he was the one who triggered my awakening. Zack shouldn't have been pestering Shiela like he was. She looked genuinely scared of him until I intervened and she promptly forgot that she's been trying to get the asshole to leave her alone. As for Dad, Mother was the one who put us in that situation and he was the one who got physical first."

"And Mrs. Avery?" he asked accusingly.

"Was an accident. I'd just come into powers I could barely control and everyone I knew or had ever met started treating me like a leper," you counter angrily. "SHE was the only one trying to help me, but neither one of us even knew where to even begin! And where was the Justice **** in all of this? They were meeting behind closed doors, debating whether or not should be destroyed before I became a threat while watching me flail about in the dark."

"They wouldn't do that!" Ashlynn insisted.

"Except for the fact that, that was EXACTLY what they did," you point out. "And when I didn't end up going on a rampage or destroy myself they sent a pretty girl and a familiar face in order to manipulate me into putting myself under their thumb. Only they didn't account for our past history or the fact that I'm roughly as powerful as their new golden boy."

"Paranoid, much?" Christopher asks with a frown.

"I'm a living, breathing, weapon of mass destruction," you point out. "I could easily kill hundreds, if not thousands, tens of thousands, of people in a few short minutes. There are people out there who are going to want to use me: The Justice ****, The Legion, the governments of the world, and who knows who else? And those who can't use me, can't control me, are going to want me dead. I think a lotta bit of paranoia is justified in this case."

"And when that day comes, don't you think it might come in handy to have a few allies at your back?" Christopher asks piercingly.

"I have no doubt," you concede, "But when that day comes, unless the Devil owns a parka and a set of snow shoes, those allies will NOT be the Justice ****."

Grabbing your Americano, you stand up to leave. This time neither stops you as you turn your back to them. You don't say good-bye, nor do you look back. After all, you had little doubt you'd be seeing them again. No matter how much you didn't want to.