(Invincible) Invincible Bond: Chapter 6 - My Stand

Chapter 6 - My Stand

Summary: Eve has two arguments. Neither ends well.

Everyone who wasn't named began to leave the room. Few left mumbling between themselves while most were grumbling.

The moment they left the room, Eve stepped forward and called angrily, "Robot!"

Robot turned around, completely missing the anger in Eve's voice as he replied immediately, "There is no need to thank me. Obviously, I needed to stay neutral, but still our team stays together."

Eve, in response to Robot's obliviousness, ignored his comment and instead informed him with the same angry tone, "I'm not going to be on a team with Rex and Kate." With that, she stomped out of the room.

Mark didn't say anything else himself as he ran after her. Just before he left the room, he could hear Robot's voice asking, "Rex, what have you done?"

By the time Mark ran outside, he managed to see Eve just as she used her powers to take off from the ground and into the sky. Without a second thought, Mark used his own powers and flew after her.

It didn't take him long to catch up to her while calling out, "Eve, hey, hey, talk with me."

Eve looked at him with an annoyed frown and she said angrily, "I can't believe it, how can he act so casual as if nothing happened, as if I didn't mean anything to him!"

Mark reached out to catch her arm, pulling her back so they both floated in place. Mark took both of her hands in his and said softly, "Hey, if he doesn't realize what he lost, then he's even stupider than I thought, and the bar was already pretty high there."

Mark hoped to see her smile, but instead the redhead looked down and Mark could hear the sadness in her voice when she spoke, "I just can't be on the same team with them. I just can't."

Mark put a hand on her cheek and said reassuringly, "You don't have to. That team might be the best one on earth, but it doesn't mean you have to give up a part of yourself for it."

Eve looked up again, her green eyes locked with his as she asked quietly, "Then what do I do now?"

Mark smiled at her and shrugged before saying, "Whatever you want."

The light of determination returned to her eyes. "You're right! I can help people without a team; I don't even have to fight supervillains. I can grow crops in an instant, create entire streets in the blink of an eye."

Mark could only float there and marvel at her beauty as her green eyes sparkled with the sunlight and the wind carried her red hair in a way that made her look like an angel.

Mark shook himself from the daze and chuckled, "Not a bad idea. Hey, maybe we should make our own team."

Eve froze for a moment and looked straight at Mark without saying anything. What really worried Mark was the blank stare on her face.

After the silence stretched so much, Mark began to break into a cold sweat. Did he go too far? Did it sound like he was asking her out when she wasn't ready yet? Mark wasn't sure and tried to play his comment as a joke, "Haha, I mean..."

He was cut off by the feeling of soft lips pushing against his own. By the time Mark processed the fact that Eve was kissing him, it was too late and she was pulling back. She smiled at his shocked face, "Let's do it."

Mark shook his head to clear the daze away before asking carefully, "And when you say 'it,' you mean..."

Eve giggled before saying clearly, "All of it. Dating, being heroes together, the entire package."

Mark's eyes flew wide open and his heart skipped a beat; it was too good to be true. He could feel the happiness trying to take over him, but he pushed it down to ask calmly, "Are you sure, Eve? Just a few hours ago you weren't sure and..."

Eve raised her hand to stop him. She kept smiling, though he could see it was a little strained now as she replied, "I guess a part of me kept holding back because I didn't want to hurt Rex's feelings by moving on so fast, and make his accusation true. But if he cares so little about what we had, then I can follow my heart without feeling guilty."

Finally, the dam broke and Mark began to fly around Eve in forms that even to him felt odd, not that he cared as he kept rolling around in the air and shouting with joy.

Eve just kept her eyes on him with a smile, until he was close enough for her to grab hold of and kiss again. This time Mark had no issue kissing her back and did so enthusiastically.

When they broke apart for air, Eve smiled, "So, what do you say about taking the long way home?"

Taking another flight with Eve? There wasn't even a question here. The last time they flew around together was when Mark realized his true feelings for Eve; now that they were officially a couple, he couldn't wait to see what it would feel like.

Mark stretched his arm and mock-bowed, saying as regally as he could, "Ladies first."

Eve smirked at him and took off as fast as she could. Mark decided to give her a minute or so before he would catch up. Her confident smirk was just too captivating.

IB IB IB IB IB

Eve felt giddy as she flew home.

It was a long time since she felt so happy and complete. Making the choice to make things official with Mark was both the hardest and the easiest choice she ever made.

If she could just consider herself and no one else, then she would have been thrilled when Mark confessed last evening on the roof and jumped on him in seconds.

But she had many other things to consider while making that choice. Rex. Her parents. His father. And her future.

She was so glad that her near future seemed to be with Mark.

Eve noticed the lights of the bridge where the base of Teen Team is hidden through the dark sky. That place right now didn't hold a very good place in her heart, and so instead of following those lights like she did so many times before, she chose to close her eyes and allow her senses to enjoy the soft wind caressing her face, the smell of the city below as well as the sound of the traffic on the roads beneath her.

Eve's peaceful moment wasn't meant to last as out of nowhere her ears began to ring with the sound of fireworks.

Which was surprising, because who the hell would be reckless enough to use fireworks in the center of the city? Eve reluctantly opened her eyes and tried to remember where the origin of the sound came from.

To her eternal annoyance, the fireworks seemed to come from the center of the bridge she was so hoping to avoid. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed a figure sitting on the ledge of the bridge. It took her a moment because of the darkness to recognize the man.

Against her better judgment, Eve slowly descended so she landed a few meters away from the man sitting there.

"Took you a while to fly by," Rex said as he flicked his finger, setting off another firework in the sky.

Eve had no patience for this game right now, so she just asked, "What do you want, Rex?"

Rex stood up and turned to look at her. "I made a mistake, Eve. It was just one thing leading to another and then..." He sighed as he trailed off.

Eve raised an eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest, flatly stating, "This isn't an apology."

Rex seemed to be taken aback by the comment, and after a moment she saw him nod before saying, "I'm sorry, Eve."

Eve had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes. Did he really think it would be enough after everything he did? Still... she gave him a nod and said in the same flat tone, "Okay, Rex. I need to get home now."

She was about to turn and take off when Rex called out, "Hey, wait a moment, babe, I wanted to take you on a date; your dad will let me..."

Now was time for her to snap, and snap at him she did, "We are not dating anymore, Rex! I dumped you, and I don't regret it."

Rex seemed to be shocked for a moment, though he was quick to recover and retort, "I apologized to you; you have no reason..." He trailed off as if realization hit him and he finished in an angry tone, "It's that asshole Invincible again, isn't it?!"

Eve's fists clenched and instead of backing off, she met Rex's accusations head on, "You know what, yes, it is!" Rex was about to open his mouth and shout again, but Eve didn't give him a chance before drowning his voice with her own, "If he wasn't there to support me when I needed someone, then maybe I would have been pathetic enough to run back into your arms, but Invincible showed me I don't need anyone to be who I want to be."

Rex sneered at her and spoke smugly, "Go ahead, tell me now that you aren't fucking him. I knew I was right."

Eve could feel her blood starting to boil, and she was tempted to use her powers to knock a few more teeth out of his mouth. Instead, she settled on screaming at him, "Oh God, will you let it go! I didn't cheat on you, Rex, which is more than you can say. Did I have feelings for Invincible? Maybe. But I let him know from the start I had a boyfriend that I was happy with, and he accepted it. He was there for me when you broke my heart, so don't go blaming me for moving on."

With that said, she turned sharply in place and took off toward the sky again. As she flew away, she could hear Rex screaming out, "Fuck!"

As Eve kept nearing her house, she kept taking deep breaths to calm herself down after her little meeting with Rex.

She took a moment in front of the entrance door of her home to use her powers and transform her hero costume to her usual casual clothes. A pink energy wave later, she was wearing a green t-shirt and skinny jeans. Her dad always hated seeing her in the costume, so to keep peace at home, she stopped walking around with the suit, only using her powers to change to it outside of his sight.

With a deep breath, Eve opened the door and yelled, "I'm home."

She barely managed to step into the living room before her dad was in her face demanding, "And where have you been, young lady?"

Eve hid the wince the question caused. Most parents, when asking something like that, are asking out of concern; her dad, on the other hand, asked it because he didn't trust her, which hurt. And as usual, her mom kept sitting on the couch, not saying a word, just giving Eve a pleading look.

Eve kept herself calm and responded, "I was out with someone after the tests."

Her dad seemed to calm down and side-eyed her while asking, "So you were with Rex; that's fine, I suppose."

Eve braced herself for the reaction that she was sure would follow her next words, "I broke up with Rex."

Her dad's face went from shock into anger almost faster than Eve could see before he demanded again, "Why would you do something so stupid?"

Eve was really trying to be reasonable here, which was becoming harder; still, she replied calmly, "I caught him cheating on me yesterday."

Her dad somehow managed to get even more into her face and ordered her, "Forgive him." The shock must have shown plenty on her face because her dad pressed on, "He made a mistake all boys make; forgive him."

Eve could only stare at her father, stunned. She always thought that her dad might be overprotective of her. Refusing to allow her to be a hero because she could be hurt or worse, criticizing her love life because he didn't want any boy to hurt her. But right now was proof she was wrong.

She just told him she was cheated on, and his response was to order her to forgive the guy and go back to dating him, because of what? Rex was a known quantity to him; he already had their life planned for them?

All Eve could do in that moment was ask in a hurt, weak voice, "How can you say that? Don't you care about how I feel?"

Her father scoffed at her and retorted angrily, "And who will take care of you while you're dealing with those precious feelings? Will they buy you a house? Will they give you children? No, and no one else will either if you keep yourself like that."

Eve felt the anger pushing away the hurt and shock she felt a moment ago. For the second time that day, she felt her blood boiling and had a certain urge to punch someone's face.

Eve used that anger to shout back at her father, "Did you ever consider I can take care of myself?! A house? Shit, I can build one for myself in a snap of my fingers. Money? I can literally take a shit and turn it into pure gold. Assholes? I can punch through the air without breaking a sweat. So stop treating me like I am this useless little doll!"

Her father's face became red with fury, and he looked like he wanted to slap her as he screamed his lungs out, "You will not use this curse you are calling powers to bypass the rightful path you should take in life. I will have no more talk like that under my roof."

Eve looked at her father and mother in that moment as if for the first time. She felt numb. She might not hate or even resent them too much even now, but she could no longer justify tolerating them in any form either.

Taking a deep breath to ease the remains of her anger, she took a moment before replying calmly, "Fine then, have it your way."

Her father looked smug for a moment before she began to turn around toward the door, and his smugness turned into shock.

Her mother finally decided to sound her voice when she called out, "Samantha, wait..."

Eve turned her head to look at her mother over her shoulder and cut the older woman off with a sad voice, "I'm sorry, Mom, but I can't do it anymore." She opened the door and stepped out; before leaving, she called over her shoulder, "If either of you rethink this attitude, you know my number. Until then... just stay away from me, and I'll do the same."

With that, Eve used her powers to fly away, right in front of her dad, a last act of spite to show him she was no longer going to let him hold her down.