One ring. Two rings. Summer could hear the loud thumping of her heart as she waited. Ashton had always been quick to answer, so when it reached the fourth ring her heart began to sink. WHat if he was in there? What if she had trapped him inside with a villain? A real villain. When the call inevitably went to voicemail, Summer quickly shifted gears.

She did a quick pass through her recent calls and dialed Jared again. This time she had better get answers on what he made her do, if he was still under Queen Heart’s influence or not. For a moment Summer was sure he wasn’t going to answer either as the rings went on, but Jared’s familiar voice greeted her.

“Is this Summer Aster?” he asked.

“It is,” Summer confirmed, confused why he would suddenly be asking.

“Good. I would like to thank you for following my instructions. You saved Gale Research from an embarrassing and potentially dangerous incided. Unfortunately, I cannot give you the details over the phone, but as an involved party in this case, my superiors would like you to come in to get a better idea of everything that happened. In turn, I will explain my part of things to you. How does that sound?”

Since she was desperate for answers, there was only one way Summer could respond. “It sounds perfect. How do I get there?”

“I will come pick you up,” Jared assured, “Normally I would try to send a familiar face, but your boyfriend is quite busy at the moment.”

Summer let out a sigh of relief. Busy. Not injured, or missing or dead. Just busy. That she could handle. “Thank you. Do you need my address or should we meet somewhere in the middle?”

“I have your address,” he told her, “Don’t worry about secret leaks. Ashton gave it to me when I mentioned picking you up.”

That was also reassuring. “When are you coming?” she asked.

“As soon as possible. It should take me less than an hour to arrive,” Jared instructed, “We will speak further then.”

As the call ended Summer hurried to get ready. She ate a granola bar for a quick breakfast and did a quick scan for her parents. It looked like her father had already left for work again, but she should at least explain some of what was happening to her mother, who was enjoying some oatmeal at the table.

“Summer? You look a bit flustered? Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Yes? No? Sort of,” Summer answered, a bit out of breath, “Something happened last night and…” How much was she even allowed to say? Jared hadn’t told her not to say anything, but given her past as a hero for SI he might have assumed she would know not to spill confidential information. Then again, this was personal information and she was only telling her mother, so it should be fine, right?

“What is it?” her mother repeated in a far more serious tone, picking up on Summer’s worries.

“Last night I was blackmailed into meeting a villain in Old Town,” Summer answered honestly, “That villain has been apprehended and someone will be coming soon to get an official statement of my side of the story.”

“Blackmailed?! What could anyone possibly have to blackmail you with?!” Mrs. Aster demanded.

“Golden Reign,” Summer told her, “They were going to make my identity as Golden Reign a viral sensation and ruin your lives.I couldn’t let you pay the price for my bad judgements.”

Mrs. Aster pushed her chair back and trapped Summer in a tight hug. “Summer, you don’t need to put yourself in danger for that. You should have told us before going to meet that villain.”

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“I…” Summer couldn’t think of a good response. Why hadn’t she thought to tell them first? Had she been scared of their response or scared they might get involved? Considering Queen Heart’s power, she might not have been able to get away if she had been with anyone else. “I’m sorry.”

As those words escaped her lips, the well of emotions she had been holding back burst and tears streamed down her face. She had been terrified and stressed and angry, but she let it all out in her mother’s arms. She calmed down after several minutes and managed to explain everything that happened, even confessing to reaching out to MysteriousMaskz first and getting herself into this mess.

Despite all of her mistakes, her mother was more concerned for her safety now. “Be careful when giving your statement. You have to tell the truth, but don’t give them information they don’t ask for,” she warned.

“I will try my best,” Summer promised, and took a moment to freshen up after all that crying. She felt lighter and ready to face whatever news Jared had waiting for her at Gale Industries.

There was a knock on the door shortly after, but her mother stepped in before Summer could and began all but interrogating Jared on what would be happening to Summer. She also demanded some form of identification so he could be held responsible if anything bad should happen after he took Summer away.

As Summer was both pleased and embarrassed, Jared answered all of her concerns with the calmness of a professional and agreed to her requests. “Mrs. Aster, our goal is to protect citizens from these incidents, no matter their position or past. However, the criminal involved in this incident has an extremely dangerous power, and we need your daughter's testimony to have it permanently removed.”

“Summer told me all about it,” her mother muttered, “Psychological powers have always been the hardest to prove as threats. However, my earlier words still stand. You must return my daughter to me perfectly safe.”

“Of course,” Jared assured.

With one more squeeze of a hug, Summer was finally allowed to join Jared in his car. Or rather, a van that appeared to be an official vehicle of Gale Industries. Summer waited until she was buckled in and the car had set into motion before she started an interrogation of her own.

“What exactly did you make me do?” Summer demanded.

“In the case that I am not in the right mind, I like to set up security measures,” Jared replied, “The nullification gas removes all effects of powers, and while it is mostly perceived as a way to disarm attack type supers, it also works well at releasing victims of psychological supers. The lockdown ensures that all of the affected receive a high enough dosage of the gas and protects anyone not in the direct path of harm with thick barricades.”

The explanation was a bit relieving, but she still had a hard time fathoming why he wouldn’t have told her earlier. Then again, she may not have had the courage to make the call if she had known what she was getting into.

“Where is Ashton?” she asked instead.

Jared took in a deep breath. “That is where things get complicated. You may have to brace yourself for this,” he warned, “When you called, you warned me that she would target SI’s show villain, Shadow Phoenix. I had no way of knowing she would come to our facility but I got a feeling so I set up that security measure. I still remember everything I said and did while under her influence and she made some things fairly certain. As a closely affected party, you deserve to know the truth, but you may regret hearing it.”

Summer felt the pressure of his words, and another feeling of suspicion she had been trying to ignore rose up. “I want to know,” she told him.

“I will start by saying, Queen Heart came to Gale Industries looking for one person. Ashton. She referred to him as her beloved and more or less held him hostage once she managed to get inside,” Jared told her, glancing over to gauge Summer’s reaction to the news. “Ashton has since confessed his identity as Shadow Phoenix and has given me his permission to tell you the truth.”

Ashton was Shadow Phoenix? Summer was surprised, but not at the news. She was surprised at the fact that she felt relieved more than anything else. Like the barricade that had been holding her back had been removed. Honestly, as her thoughts turned to all of her interactions with both Ashton and Shadow Phoenix again she felt she might be under the influence of Queen Heart again as she couldn’t help but find all of them precious and lovely.

So that was why she had clung to Ashton. That was why she had been unable to give up on Shadow Phoenix. Not only that, but the reason she could not give her all in her relationship with Ashton, her boyfriend. Just like the drama that was clearly based on them, that day when he declared his retirement from villainy, Summer had fallen in love with her nemesis.

“Oh,” she breathed out, a bit dazed as the realization hit her, “That’s amazing.”