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have a tight knit crew and then two of them get involved, it gets real passionate, then  *bang* it explodes like a fire at a chemical plant."  I found myself uncharacteristically giggling at the passionate part.  I really had drank a bit too much, but it had helped with the pain that night.  It was only a month distant from Washington, from the Whiteout, and Eric's betrayal ran deep.  The physical pain, well, it was a daily recurrence.  No matter how efficient or fast-healing my body had become, I was still shockingly mortal compared to my Pushed friends, but the demands I placed on myself were no less than theirs.
    "C'mon, look, we're friends, right?"  I leaned on him, settling my head on his shoulder.  I always enjoyed the cooling tingle of his skin, even if it was so unnatural.  "Siblings-in-arms!  There's no way that would happen.  Even if we, you know, didn't click or whatever, we're mature adults.  We could break it off and no one's the wiser."  I could feel his body relax as I leaned against him.  A strong, icy arm wrapped around my shoulder.
    "You know, you're right."  He chuckled.  "I mean, come on, we've saved the world together.   What's some dinners out and some romance compared to that?"  He paused, then added, "You know, though, we should probably keep it all hush-hush."  He leaned his head against mine.  "Tank has those puppy-dog eyes on you, after all."  I couldn't help but laugh again.
    "You know he's completely devoted to Eye; I'm just the cool big sis," I joked.  "But you're probably right.  I mean, no need to rock the boat until, you know, we've got things going, yeah?"
    "Yeah, exactly."
    We were sitting there, closely huddled, enjoying that closeness.  The fireworks burst and lit up the night sky and, at that moment, everything seemed good.  Better than they had since the Whiteout.  We had our first kiss then, outlined in red, white, and blue star bursts.
     
    "Are you crazy?" I asked, annoyance dripping from every syllable, as I tried to sit up in my bed.
    With Eric out of the equation and every moment of my life now subsumed by Indomitable and the Foundation, I had moved from the spacious apartment I had shared with him into a rather Spartan set of rooms in the Foundation building itself.  Choi and Brooks were kind enough not to charge any kind of room and board, which was fortunate, as I had only my rather limited severance package from Georgia Tech to live on.  I had to daily refuse one veiled suggestion after another by Duane to be officially employed by the Foundation.  As kind and appropriate an offer as it was, I just couldn't do it.  It was one last stubborn stand of mine, as if taking the job of official superhero would be giving in that last step to the Whiteout's new reality.
    "What do you mean, Indy?" Ex replied, one hand on my chest gently keeping me down.  He was in the middle of putting stitches into a particularly nasty cut in my side which made me extra annoyed that he brought this topic up now, with me in such a position.  I was also annoyed at the fact that he never ever called me by my actual name.  Hell, I still couldn't get him to tell me his.  Still, I relented to his gentle pressure and laid back once more.
    "It's only been a month," I argued.  "I mean, we've had some great times together, don't get me wrong but ..."
    " ... you still aren't sure you want to make this a real relationship, right?"  Damn him, he was already doing that.
    "Did you just find out a month ago that the person you were in love with had betrayed you and was also suddenly the most powerful superhuman on the planet?  And you had to stand against him to save the world?"  I let that hang for just a moment.  "Oh wait, no, no you didn't.  You've got no right to judge me on this."  I was also increasingly annoyed at how I always seemed to be the villain in these disagreements.  Was there something evil about wanting to pursue a casual but intimate relationship at this point