Infinity

•••

I was thrilled. That night, I went home and excitedly called William, disregarding any worries I might have had about him. It didn't matter what anyone else said anymore - not only had the Mark situation proved Minta wrong, but tonight was my night.

If anything bad was to come of it, I could deal with it in the morning.

"You two will make a perfect couple," William gushed. "I just better not become the third wheel! You guys wouldn't have met without me."

"That's literally impossible, William. You're too sexy and cool and awesome."

William laughed, and everything felt right in the world. Or, as right as it could be.

I was still grappling with everything else going on, but dealing with that would come later. For now, I'd just pretend everything was right.

I hardly noticed myself subtly distancing from my father, or talking less to Eve and Amber. I guess I felt a little guilty - I still had it in my head that Mark could've been going out with them.

And it's hard to wrap my head around my mom being a killer. Not to mention my dad never telling me.

I hardly noticed it, until I was forced to face it.

"Are you mad at me?" my dad asked one night as I rushed out of family dinner. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," I said curtly. My dishes clanked against each other as I hurried to get them in the sink.

"Are you sure? You've been awfully quiet lately," my dad asked again, shoveling a spoonful of mac and cheese into his mouth. "I know that doesn't necessarily mean you're mad at me, but do you want to talk about it?"

I turned the water on high spray. I really didn't want to talk about it, but his asking made it incredibly tempting. The little part of me that wanted to know, wanted to prove Minta wrong, was fighting a war inside my head. The gunshots were the water hitting the plates.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I finally asked, shutting off the water. I was still staring at my plates, afraid to turn and see his expression.

He sat his fork down as subtly as he could, paused. I could hear fabric rustling, probably him smoothing out his napkin.

"What?" he asked.

"About mom," I elaborated. "She killed people, did you know that?"

"You've killed people," my dad mentioned. Not accusatory, but a statement.

"I know that. But... she killed innocents. People in the hospital. On purpose," I said, mirroring his tone. Not an accusation. A statement. "How could you not tell me?"

I was desperate to hear him say he didn't know. Even if it was a lie. I needed to hear that. I would have gotten on my knees and begged.

But I didn't.

Instead, he said, "She took the lives of those willing to give them to save the lives of others."

The air conditioning in our house was suddenly decibels louder.

"What does that even mean?" I asked, my voice quiet. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"It was something I wanted her to be able to tell you," my dad explained. "But she hasn't came back. She did some morally questionable things for morally correct reasons, (Y/N)."

"And you didn't stop her?" I asked, swiveling around. I fought to meet his eyes, needing the confrontation but fearing it even more.

"How could I? Your mom was just like you - determined and strong-willed."

"I like to think I try my best not to kill anyone I don't need to."

"She never took anyone who minded," my father elaborated. "Only those who were ready to go."

"Like a mercy killing?" I asked, somewhat in disbelief.

My dad met my eyes, resting his hands flat on the table. "Yes. Just like that."

Too many thoughts ran through my mind for me to catch. I didn't know what to think or if I should even believe him.

It wasn't that Minta had proven to be a credible source - quite the opposite - but that didn't mean my dad was, either. As much as I want to, it would be hard to hate him for trying to keep an untainted image of her in my mind. For all I know, it be what my dad thinks is true, but not the whole story at all.

The only person who would really know was my mom. And she was lightyears away.

I tried to brush that conversation out of my mind by thinking of an equally distressful topic. Mark and I had our first date that night, and I was shitting bricks.

It was a different type of fear from any of my heroic endeavors. Nerves were something that not even the most brilliant person would ever be free of, and tonight they had me in a chokehold.

I had William on FaceTime, actively choosing to believe he was a trustworthy friend. It was an act of faith, and praying Minta was just a liar, but I was glad I did it. William hyped me up all the way and even helped me pick out a cute outfit.

When I walked up to his door that day, I was arguably more nervous than I had been when I initially confessed my feelings. As scary as that was, there was something even more terrifying about the prospect of things going wrong. When Mark opened the door with his award-winning smile, though, my worries began to wash away.

"Hey," Mark greeted. "Come on in."

Mark led me up to his bedroom, shutting the door behind us. The room itself was spacious and undeniably a boy's. It smelled faintly of cologne, stronger than the last time, and had the same scattered trinkets everywhere.

"You must live like a king," I commented, picking up a War Woman action figure on his dresser. "I know I have no room to talk but you've met them, haven't you? The Guardians? Some people only ever get to touch the action figures."

"I met her a couple times a while back, yeah. Being the son of Omniman has its perks," Mark replied, sitting down on his bed. It squeaked lightly, the padded material bouncing.

I set the figure down and joined him on the bed, pulling my legs up applesauce-style. "I'm curious what other secrets you have going on. First I learn you're Invincible. Next, I'll learn you've been to space."

"About that..." Mark replied, a sheepish smile forming on his face.

Immediately, I jumped to attention. "Don't tell me you've actually been to space. Holy shit. How was it?"

"Really weird. I met this guy, Allen. He was planning a test attack on Earth, basically, but it was actually Urath he was supposed to test," Mark explained. "It was like, the biggest thing I've ever done with my powers."

"I think if I could fly, all my problems would be solved," I replied with a sigh. I laid back on the bed, allowing myself to get comfortable.

"On the topic of powers," Mark began, laying back to match me, "I never told you I was Invincible, but you also never told me you were Affinity."

"And yet you seem to know," I shot back smartly. I hadn't even outright admitted it, and yet here he was. I really thought I was slick.

Mark shrugged as best as he could laying down, a boyish smile painting his face. "I had a little bit of a hunch. You two were never seen in one place together."

"I'm sure you didn't pay that kind of attention to me."

"Okay, maybe not at first. But it did stand out to me that we had to leave for mysterious reasons at the same time on multiple occasions," Mark explained. "I wasn't sure enough to call you on it, but I suspected you. Once you admitted you liked both me and Invincible, though, I knew it was you. As Invincible, I think I talked to you once ever."

Thinking back on it, he had a point. Both about me not necessarily knowing both versions of him as both versions of myself, as well as all of our strange coincidences.

When I really sat down and thought about it, I should've suspected that a long time ago. I'd just never considered they'd be the same guy, since in my head I had a little crush on both of them. The odds it would work out so perfectly seemed astronomically low.

Not to mention I was all caught up in my own problems. Who Invincible was was the least of my worries.

"I'm impressed," I admitted. "Although, considering I'm the cooler hero it doesn't surprise me you'd want to learn all about me."

"I think the 'cooler hero' would be the more observant one. Always one step ahead," Mark debated, pushing himself onto his side. "Everything you've said is a lie."

"Really? What're you gonna do about it?" I pressed, a playful smirk on my lips.

Mark hesitated for a moment, reading the situation. His cheeks were slightly red as he once again rotated 90 degrees, this time placing himself right above me.

"You know, if you really want me to kiss you, you could just ask."

Immediately, my cheeks turned bright red. From above me, he beamed confidently. It was uncharacteristically smooth for Mark, but I wasn't complaining.

"That's not what I-" I remarked, flustered. My voice shook as I spoke, giving away the fact that that was exactly what I was going for.

"Right," Mark said, leaning down to close the distance.

I met him half way, pushing myself onto my elbows. Our lips connected, moving just slightly out of sync. I reached up to cup Mark's head in my hand, holding him in place. His skin was as smooth as his lips.

"I didn't expect that from you," I commented as we pulled away for air. Mark's face was flushed and I was sure mine was, too.

"To be honest, I didn't expect it from me, either," Mark replied. "I just saw the chance and ran with it."

"I think I'd like it if you kept running," I remarked, pulling him back in for another round of kissing.

This time was much more in tandem, our rhythm beginning to find itself. I allowed myself to run my hands through his dark hair, messing it up a little.

I felt a little guilty for heading straight into kissing on our first date, but it was one of the most intimate things I'd never had from Mark, and I craved it. Apparently, he did, too.

We kissed for a little while longer, at times veering closer to making out territory, but never going too far. His lips stayed locked on mine and I felt content with playing with his hair and occasionally running my hands along the back of his shirt, exploring his toned muscles. 'Incredible' was the only word I could think of to describe it.

I was glad I didn't let Minta hold me back. Everything was beginning to look up.

When Mark and I pulled away for the final time, he rolled off of me and went a little silent. I watched him intently, waiting for his next move.

Finally, he said, "You know, considering I'm Invincible and you're Affinity, together we'd make Infinity."

"That sounds badass," I said with a nod. "Infinity has a nice ring to it."

"The whole world isn't gonna know what hit them. We'll be the greatest duo anyone's ever seen."

"Your dad will be so proud of you."

"I hope so," Mark shyly admitted. "He's got high expectations for me, especially now. I think he had given up on me ever getting powers."

"But you did," I pointed out. "Maybe you've got a bit of learning to go, but you're strong. You can handle anything thrown at you, I'm sure."

I think by saying that, I might have jinxed some things. Maybe I should've kept my encouragement to myself. In another universe, it could've stopped the brutal future yet to come.

The rest of the date went by without a hitch, discovering more about each other's lives and enjoying each other's company. Mark really was everything I dreamed of, and more. Getting to just be teenagers was an intoxicating feeling for both Mark and I.

It was a great distraction from the stresses of hero life and the even worse anxieties of school. Unfortunately, we were only sitting in the eye of the storm.

Shit was about to get a whole lot worse.