a/n I really have nothing to say for myself except that I wrote a whole 17 part fic in between the last chapter and this one. I will post that when I edit it and also the next part of infinity is already being written:)

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Please Let This Be a Normal Field Trip

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Going on college tours was the least of my concerns right now, but the countdown for applications had long since started and, while things seemed to slow down, I figured I'd get it over with.

By 'figured I'd get it over with' I mean finally accepted William's offer once Mark said he'd go and I no longer would be a third wheel. We'd be staying overnight in Rick's, William's not-yet-boyfriend, apartment.

I wasn't even sure if college was for me anymore, but that probably made it all the more worth checking out. Before, I'd thought I wanted to follow in my mother's footsteps and become a doctor. I already saved lives, and I could be getting paid to do it.

But after seeing Minta's vision, true or not, the idea made my stomach churn, just a little. My future was up in the air.

After about an hour's car ride, complete with cheerful chatter between the three of us, we arrived in front of a nice apartment on a large campus. After a quick interaction with Rick, who William was clearly head over heels for, we set our things down inside and let Rick be our tour guide. He and William had chemistry, plain to see, and it made me happy knowing my friend wouldn't be the odd one out of our little trio.

Rick let us sit in on one of his classes, and with the exception of some werido, it went perfectly smooth. I couldn't say for sure yet if I wanted to go to this school, or school at all for that matter, but I loved the feeling of being on a campus. Seeing everyone walk around, being able to choose my classes. It shined much brighter than high school.

As we walked out of the lecture, it was impossible to miss how touchy William and Rick were being. I nudged Mark lightly, pointing to the pair walking just ahead of us.

"Think we should leave them alone?" I asked, a conspiratorial smile passing across my lips. It was my turn to try and play matchmaker.

Mark nodded. The two of us quietly split off, and I sent William a quick text, not wanting to disturb the moment. Just from a quick glance, though, I figured it might be a while before they noticed we were gone.

Mark held my hand as we traversed the campus. Hanging out with him without the threat of imminent danger was just what I needed. We spent a good portion of the afternoon collecting food from different food stands and setting up our own 'picnic' in the middle of the campus. I allowed him to feed me a spoonful of ice cream, which felt straight out of a movie, and we sat and talked and laughed like we were normal people going to normal school.

"What do you think?" I asked as the conversation fell into a lull. The two of us sat underneath a small tree, the sound of the leaves rustling serving as a tranquil background noise.

"I really like it," Mark replied, his eyes scanning the campus. Students walked around excitedly, chattering and laughing away. "I could see myself here. With you, even, if you want to."

"For you?" I stated with a soft smile. "I'll keep it in mind. I don't know if this is what I see myself doing, but it's charming."

Likely, if I had never experienced the worldview that Minta had showed me, I would have been dead set on this school. Having a boyfriend and experiencing college with him was a stupid little idea I'd entertained since I was little, and the fact that it was now possible would have had me over the moon.

It was tempting, even now. Being normal, experiencing college the way normal college students should. Selfishly, seeing what my life could be made it abundantly clear that I was sick of living a double life.

Having someone to share it with my age made it even more obvious. Eve, Mark. I wanted to be like that with everyone, able to share my secrets and not worry about only ever giving people half of me.

Minta made me realize that all of my dreams had me without powers in them. As if at some point, my life would merge into one that was semi normal and my powers would go away and I could just be (Y/N), and not Affinity. Maybe I'd use them to make a couple miracles here and there, but no theatrics. To be honest, the guiltiest part of me was the part that saw my exit from the guardians as a way out.

But Minta also made me realize that my powers would follow me anywhere I went, even if I didn't choose them. Somebody else always would.

Therefore, the easiest solution to not living a double life was to become Affinity. And lose (Y/N).

"You're charming," Mark said with a smile. He placed his hand on top of mine, gently rubbing his finger over the back of my hand. Mark had a particular way of distracting me from my thoughts.

"Oh my God, Mark, I'm being serious," I laughed, shifting my body to face toward him. He radiated a warmth in that moment that I couldn't help but be drawn to.

"So am I." The brightness in Mark's eyes made my heart flutter. Nobody had ever made me feel so safe and so nervous all at once.

Just as the two of us leaned in, his finger grazing my cheek, the unmistakable sound of an explosion crashed behind us. I cringed, my whole body flinching at the sound. Students yelled, and instead of running away, most of them immediately got their phone out. Smart.

Mark and I stood up, my hand immediately reaching for his. My eyes latched on to the source of the sound where a large piece of the brick walkway had seemingly exploded. Out of the wreckage came a... cyborg, half of its body replaced with metal. The other half was skin and bone, bleeding, rotting flesh merging with circuits and wire. It made guttural noises, running and jumping and lunging. It didn't seem to have any sort of agenda besides causing general havoc, and it did a damn good job.

"Oh my God," William muttered, taking in the scene. Rick held him tight in his arms, William's head buried in his chest just enough that he could still see what was going on.

"You can say that again," I replied with a sigh. Trouble loved to follow me.

"Oh my God," someone screamed as they ran past, nearly knocking into Mark and I.

The cyborg started running after anything that made noise, tossing and throwing objects with inhuman strength. It kept grabbing at itself, like it had an impossible itch, and howling. At this rate, there would be no college to even consider going to.

"It moves like a wounded animal," I commented. Whoever made this... thing had no regard for the person it was before. There wasn't much that could be done for it, if anything, but I couldn't help but feel for the failed experiment.

"I'm going to fix this," Mark whispered to me. He squeezed my hand tighter.

I nodded, meeting his eyes. "I'll make sure everyone stays safe."

A lot was happening at once. People were scattering, and the cyborg was moving unpredictably. People were screaming, and as I rushed around trying to help get people out of the area, it felt like twice as much was going on every time I looked up. The situation felt more and more like an Affinity situation by the second, but I had a small problem on that front.

I didn't have anything connecting me to my suit. Not my watch, not my actual suit, nothing.

I tried my best to microdose anyone who had been hurt, leaving them with slightly less pain and me with slightly more. A few people with smaller injuries seemed to perk up immediately. Anyone who was worse for the wear - I saw a few twisted ankles and potentially broken bones - was provided solace, but that was about all I could do without giving myself away.

From somewhere behind me, I heard familiar yelling. I glanced in that direction with a worried look, my eyes locking onto the robot that was currently latching onto Rick. My heart dropped as it dawned on me that none of my friends had taken the easy way out and ran while they had the chance - everyone wanted to be a hero. He struggled, trying to fight an impossibly strong being with human strength, and in response it made a disgusting gargling noise and spit at him.

To make matters worse, William had no hesitation picking up rocks and cans to throw at it, and shouting various profanities. He made me want to shout profanities myself, but deep down I couldn't blame him. If it had been Mark in that position, I wouldn't have hesitated for even a second.

Unfortunately, the difference between us is that I can take a much larger punch than William can.

"William!" I yelled from across the lawn, trying to warn him of the immanent attack. There was no way he could hear me.

The cyborg immediately dropped Rick for a more exciting plaything. I cursed under my breath and stopped what I was doing to run to William's aid. The thing had him by the neck, and Affinity or not, I wasn't going to just sit there and watch it happen. Invincible was still off the scene, and my options were slim.

I'd deal with the consequences later.

Half way through my mad dash, though, I slowed with a relieved smile on my face. Mark was there, suit and all. He threw a punch and it released William, dropping him to the floor. William crumbled to the ground, rubbing his likely bruised neck and watching the fight above him with wide eyes.

Once Invincible took the creature's attention, I kneeled down beside William. In my peripheral, I could see Invincible was fighting a well matched opponent. I tried not to think about it while I focused on William - that was my priority right now. Mark could handle himself.

"Are you alright?" I asked, grazing my hand across anywhere I thought he might have been hurt. I could feel a little bit of soreness from him, but nothing that would last.

William was still in a daze, his attention completely focused on Invincible. "Did you see that?"

"What, Invincible?" I asked, a cautious laugh slipping from my lips. "I'm glad he was here to save you."

"You seem very underwhelmed," William commented. The next words out of his mouth were ones I wish he had kept to himself. "Did you know?"

I couldn't bring myself to play dumb with William. If he knew, I knew he knew. He wasn't going to let me convince him otherwise and he knew me well enough to see through my lies.

"For a little while, yeah," I explained, grabbing his arm once he looked well enough to stand. I looked around for Rick, but it appeared he had made himself scarce. "Let's get somewhere safe."

"You knew!" William exclaimed incredulously. He grabbed his head, as if wrapping his mind around it was too mindboggling to comprehend. After a moment, he looked at me, eyes wide, and exclaimed, "You knew Mark was Invincible and you didn't tell me?"

I didn't know what to say. That wasn't the only secret I was keeping from him. "It wasn't my place to tell," I replied, which was true.

"But you knew! Oh, my god."

"You cannot tell anyone else," I pleaded, lowering my voice to a whisper. "It's a secret for a reason."

"Dude, I know! I've read enough comics to know how this works," William assured, rolling his eyes, though his attention shifted toward Invincible as he worked. To his credit, mine did, too.

I'd been keeping an eye on him from the sidelines, and he seemed to be doing alright. He was throwing punches with it in the air, swinging it around as it tried to regain control. Compared to what we'd faced recently, this was nothing, but that didn't mean that it wasn't a challenge. As I shuffled William to a slightly safer area - somewhere that wasn't the middle of the open quad - I felt myself filling up with... whatever I felt with Minta. That fear I had.

"You're really hot," William commented offhandedly, his eyes glancing down at the spot on his back I was touching as I guided him. "Not in a straight way, but I mean you're really warm."

"It's a nice day outside," I stated, expertly dodging whatever double meaning was in that statement. I bit my lip, trying to control whatever was going on. I did not mean to be activating my powers, and I didn't need William finding out about both of us in one day. I was going to tell him eventually but... now probably was not the time.

The cyborg slammed Invincible to the ground and both William and I cried out in shock.

"Shouldn't we do something?" William exclaimed, grabbing me tightly.

I shook my head. "Not yet. Just... just wait five more minutes."

If the fight wasn't over in five minutes I was going to intervene.

Invincible managed to rip the metal helmet off of it, revealing a disfigured human head. Whatever it was, it really had been human before it turned into the monstrosity it was today. It sent chills down my spine, imagining how that must have felt. To be in your own body, and be turned into something else.

In retaliation, it threw Invincible and he skidded along the ground, ending up right next to the fountain in the middle of the quad. He pushed himself up onto shaky feet and braced himself for another hit. To everyone's surprise, though, the monster stopped.

It stood still, just writhing and groaning, for a moment, before leaping through the air with inhuman strength and agility. I thought it was going straight for Invincible, and I really thought I might have to make five minutes three, but all of the sudden, it went silent.

The monster had impaled itself. I inhaled sharply, looking at it's deformed body and how close it was to Invincible. I could never guess why it did what it did, but it had to be intentional. A human might make that error, but this thing was better than we were in some way. Faster, more agile, athletic.

Really, I didn't care. Mark was alright.

Immediately, he flew in our direction, and I grabbed his hand, channeling all of the power that had been building inside me into him. Turning all that fear into love and healing and warmth. I was still learning how to use my emotions in the process, but there was a noticeable difference in the drain from my physical body. Though I tried to keep it small enough that no color would turn on my hands, I saw myself glowing a gentle purple no matter what I did.

Invincible reacted, grabbing my hand tighter. "I'm alright," he assured with a soft smile, although he didn't let go.

"You're alright," I murmured, relief clear across my features. Hesitantly, I let go of his hand, already some of the marks on his body looking slightly less prominent.

He smiled at me softly again, turning to William who was hardly keeping himself together. "You can't tell anyone else!"

"You're Invincible!" he kept murmuring. "It all makes sense now! Holy shit!"

Mark flew away, expertly timed to evade Rick. I stepped back slightly to allow Rick's large body to barrel into William, engulfing him in a large hug. I tried to look anywhere else, not wanting to intrude on their moment, but they were rather cute together.

"You saved my life," Rick exclaimed. His face was colored in joy.

William flushed pink, gripping him tightly. "Well, I... Yeah, I guess I did!"

"Guys! I'm so glad you're all safe!" Mark exclaimed, running toward us minutes later in his normal clothes. His hair was slightly disheveled, but otherwise he was visually no worse for wear.

I gasped, running to him with open arms. "I should be saying that to you," I muttered into his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't come prepared. I should've been with you."

Mark shook his head, understanding the underlying meaning to my words. He spoke quietly to me, keeping our little secret. "Nobody could have predicted this. You've done enough. You're doing enough. Plus, did you see me? Totally had it covered."

"Really kicked that guy's ass," I agreed, though I made an effort to use my powers on him just a little. Taking his pain away, this time. I could feel within myself that he had felt it a bit more than he let on.

"That's what I'm saying!" Mark pulled away from me, leaving me with one last glance. Next, he turned to Mark and William, smiling. "I called the police, they're on their way. Should we go back to the apartment?"

Absolutely nobody had any objections.