Two
weeks after the attack on the Eagle, the debris was being cleaned up, the
bodies of the fallen laid to rest in the grassy fields, and the reconstruction plans
drawn up. The citizens were shaken but their faith in the Eagle and what it
represented could not be broken so easily. The Electric Eagle had defeated the
giant and saved the city. Although it was a concern that the other villains
escaped, most people were content knowing they were still continuing to fly.
In
these past two weeks, Alex had managed to keep the secret of how the Eagle was
flying, despite his daily trek to the little room. After a few days John
suspected Volt had done something, but after being reassured that everything
was fine by Alex, John let it go. He trusted Alex would confide in him when he
was ready.
In
truth, Alex was not sure he would ever tell John what had happened. Almost
every day Alex ran a test to detect any brain activity, no matter how minor, in
Valerie, yet every day the results came back the same. Since that tiny spike
when Alex was unconscious in the room, there had been nothing. Was it just a
fluke? A malfunction in the monitor caused by Mind Queen’s psychic presence?
Alex feared he would never discover the truth.
One
day, after having lunch with Damien in the courtyard, Alex found himself lost
in thought as he watched his son run off to go play with some friends. Damien
had no memories of his mother, Valerie, outside of what Alex had told him. The
incident with her powers happened when he was just a baby. Alex had raised him
as best as he could, and was grateful for not only John’s help, but also the
nannies and caretakers who performed above and beyond their respected duties.
Still, they would never be an acceptable replacement for the mother Damien
lost. Alex sighed, wondering if he was ready to devote time and resources into
trying to bring her back. He wasn’t sure how far down that rabbit hole he was
ready to plunge. Pushing the thought out of his head for now, he noticed John
in his study and went to talk with his friend.
John
hadn’t pushed for information yet, but Alex knew he deserved at least an
explanation. “Take a seat, John.” Alex pulled a folder out of his drawer and
opened it on the desk, revealing multiple medical tests. “Let’s see what you
think of all this.”
“Oh,
that can’t be good.” The scientist quickly jotted down some notes and checked
to make sure the recorder was on. “Dr. Muahitl!” he called as he ran over
towards the lead scientist. “You’re going to want to take a look at these
readings!”
John
placed the pages of tests on the desk and sat in silence for a while. Alex gave
him all the details concerning Valerie’s spike, and was waiting patiently for
his friend to draw a conclusion on his own.
Finally John spoke. “You’ve been
torturing yourself mentally for two weeks over a tiny spike, Alex. If you want
my advice, it’s this: relax. There are multiple reasons this could have
happened. Just the presence of the psychic in the room could have interfered.
Or it really could have been Valerie. Either way, there’s nothing happening
now. You already monitor her brain activity. Just leave it at that. Check it
once a day if that will soothe your conscious, but I honestly don’t believe
anything is going to happen. Now if it was at a constant elevated rate, then
this would be a totally different conversation. But for now, let her rest.
Going off of what evidence you have before me, she’s not coming back any time
soon.”
Alex nodded, taking in every word
and considering it. “Thank you, my friend. What you have said I’ve been trying
to convince myself of, and it is good to hear it from you. I just had a glimmer
of hope…”
“I know you want her back, Alex.
Not only for you, but also for Damien. And perhaps one day she will come back
to you. But for now, you must focus on other things. Rebuilding the Eagle, for
one.”
“Yes,” Alex glared out his
window at the half-destroyed city, “and finding Volt to deliver a just
punishment. I still have no idea how he discovered her existence.”
John nodded. “I don’t believe
anyone will deny you that request. Plus I think if you manage to bring him back
up here, the council will have no qualms about throwing him overboard this
time.”
The two friends chuckled at the
dark humor before John continued. “As for how he found out, I don’t think
that’s something we’ll ever know. We are the only two people who know of her,
and unless that psychic was probing our heads from miles away, she couldn’t
have found out through us. But look at the positives, Alex. At least he didn’t
destroy your world like he threatened to.”
Alex lowered his eyes to the
desk with the scattered test pages. “He almost did, John. This was too close
for comfort.”
“I agree. That’s why I’m glad
the enrollment for joining the Eagle Men has more than doubled. Of course
you’ll have to start calling it something else given the increase in women
joining. Something like the Eagle Squad?”
Alex laughed, but the two were
interrupted by a phone call. Alex’s eyes
went wide after he answered it.
“What’s wrong?” John asked
concernedly.
“I need to get to the research
facility immediately.” Alex stood up to leave and grabbed his communicator.
“Something has happened with the shadow energy project.”
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