Ethan stands by the window, his hands clasped behind his back. He stares out onto the city, its light illuminating the skyline. It's his favorite view of New York but it's still not enough to calm his nerves. He sighs and hangs his head a moment, lost in thought.
'Why did I say that? Why am I being so judgmental?' he thinks. 'We need to spend more time together, it's that simple. We need to remember who we are without the suits.' he thinks. 'Maybe I should call her...or give her a little bit to cool down.' he thinks.
Gwen is sitting hunched in the corner of Nick and Richie's guest-suite, knees drawn up to her chest with her arms holding her legs, forehead resting on her knees. She's sobbing as silently as she possibly can, trying hard not to wake up her older brothers.
She just couldn't hold it inside anymore. She keeps thinking back to all those times when she and Ethan were alone and experiencing these moments of profound relationship-magic-- for lack of a better word-- where neither of them could put into words what was happening, but they both knew it was something important and real and beautiful, and most importantly undeniable. She cannot believe Ethan would so lightly throw out the threat that he would leave her if she didn't obey him. She's still in shock over it. Sitting here on the floor, she keeps going through moments of extreme sorrow...then fury...then depression...then hopelessness. Now she's back to sorrow.
She cries for quite a long time. One minute she's resolved that it's over...the next she's filled with horror at the thought of leaving him. It all boils down to the unpleasant fact that they need to talk. She doesn't want to be the one to go looking for him...she doesn't want him to think he won and that she's "coming home." She wants him to know how serious of a mistake making that threat was. Because in the world of grudge-holders, Nielssons are world champions. Gwen peeks over her knees at her sleeping brothers. The three of them still haven't apologized to each other, or even talked about the huge family fight. They've just sort of settled into a comfortable joviality.
After thinking for a long time, she finally opens the window and flies out into the night-- trying to get some composure. After a long flight high above Manhattan, she finally returns to Stormwatch Tower. She wants to see if the lights are on in her apartment or not before she makes her next move.
Ethan raises his head and looks out at the skylights. He sees Gwen fly off and he nods in resolve. He'll follow her. They need to talk. He made a big mistake and he won't let another moment pass without telling her. He opens the window and flies off after her.
Gwen is approaching the skyscraper when she sees her windows open and Supreme fly out of them. She quickly ducks behind the nearest skyscraper as a first instinct, and then feels stupid for doing that. He can always find her somehow no matter where she is. She floats out from behind the building and levitates there with her arms folded, waiting for him to see her. Her EuFiber tucked safely away, it's just Gwen in her warm-up outfit and tennis shoes.
Supreme flies up to her and nods to her. He looks up at the sky. "Care to go on a late night flight," he says letting his EuFiber drop. "With Ethan Crane from Kansas?" he asks smiling at her hopefully.
Gwen frowns and her hands grip her arms tighter. Why is he smiling?? They're having a fight! And he MUST have some kind of mind-reading power to know that changing out of his Supreme-costume was the only way to guarantee she'd talk to him! How does he keeps guessing what's in her thoughts!?
"I don't want to fly anywhere right now." she says angrily. "I just want to know why you said what you did." Her lips tighten as she fights back more tears.
"Because I was scared and I was an idiot." Ethan says. "I've been burning the candle at both ends and you've been suffering for it. Because I've been so concerned with my image and my job that I forgot to be concerned about you, Aura." he says.
"Gwen." she corrects. She sighs, brushing at her eyes. "We never should have gotten married in our costumes...in Geneva. We should have stuck to our plan to get married on your dad's farm, and we should have worn normal wedding-gear, and I wish I hadn't decided to date Supreme instead of Ethan Crane because now I'm married to Supreme instead of Ethan! If I'd been dating Ethan this whole time, then it would have been Ethan that Aura married, and I wouldn't be tarnishing Supreme's image! I screwed all of this up when I decided to date Supreme!" she cries, turning away a little.
Ethan shakes his head. "You're not tarnishing anything, Gwen. But your anger-streak...it scares me sometimes. At times it feels like that if you are really upset there's nothing you couldn't do." he says.
Gwen watches Ethan for a moment. "You're right." she says in a dark-sounding voice. "If I was mad enough I could." She floats there silently for a moment. "But this has nothing to do with anger! I was angry at the court system, not Edgar Wright! I was trying to do the right thing, Ethan! He's a mass-murderer! Do you know that tonight Damage and I went through a list of all the victims he killed, and there were children and families! You're willing to fly Apophis into space to keep him from hurting more people, but you won't let me fly Edgar to some tropical island to do the same thing?? You'd actually LEAVE me if I did that?? Why? WHY??" she nearly shrieks.
"I won't leave you, Gwen. I'll never leave you." Ethan says putting his hand on her shoulder. "Edgar Wright will serve his time in prison, you saw to that tonight." he says with a smile. "I already got the call, but I refused to be the prosecutor." he says. "I'm quitting tomorrow. You make enough money here for both of us." he says with a smile. "It's time I concentrate on us."
Gwen frowns harder, blinking back more tears. "It's not that easy! You act like this is something we can just put behind us! But this is twice now that you've tried to manipulate me with our relationship! I don't care if it was the only thing you could think to say to me to stop me, it was the WRONG thing! Oh boy was it the wrong thing! Because if you didn't really mean that you'd leave me if I did it...if you were just saying it to manipulate me..." she says shaking her head slowly. She floats down slowly and sits on the ledge of the building, holding her head in her hands.
After a second she looks up again. "Would you have left me?" she asks, her voice quivering.
"No...I would have been upset but I wouldn't have left you, Gwen," he says. "You're the love of my life. How could I leave?" Ethan says. "You're right, it was the wrong thing to say and the wrong thing to do and I'm so sorry," he says.
When Gwen hears this she starts crying loudly-- hoping for a split-second that the building she's sitting on is an office building and not where people live!
She cries not because his words are touching, but because it proves that he WAS just trying to manipulate her! She wishes she could do that stupid water-trick and seep into the ground right now.
She finally looks up. "See?? That's what *I* was thinking when you said those words! That the Ethan I fell in love with would never have said that to me! That he would never leave me over such a frivolous thing! But Supreme isn't above that! I'm glad you're quitting your job...I AM! But what are we going to do about Supreme?? Because right now I'm tempted to stage some kind of public divorce to him, and then start dating Ethan like I should have done! Ethan? Who told you how Supreme was supposed to act? Hmm?" she asks testily.
"There is no Supreme. I realized that tonight. It's time to put him to bed. It's just Ethan wearing the Supreme costume from now on." Ethan says. "You're right, it was getting out of control. There's part of me that will always play by the rules, Gwen. But I shouldn't expect others to be that way."
Gwen's eyes are wide as she listens to this. "Really?" she asks with a mixture of wariness and hopefulness. She floats back up off the ledge so she's standing in mid-air again. "As a lawyer, you KNOW that the court-system is corrupt...the laws are corrupt...the politicians and lawyers are corrupt...why would you want to play by those rules? That would make YOU corrupt! There's a difference between being lawful and just being dumb. I am always going to do what *I* feel is right, no matter what. I am always going to try to bring justice to those who were screwed over, including myself. I don't do things because I'm mad. I do it because someone deserved it. I never just pick out some innocent bystander and torture them. Someday when we've cleaned up the court system and laws and politicians and lawyers THEN I'll play by the rules. But until then I'm going to do what *I* know is right. I'm going to be the Robin Hood. When Edgar Wright was released, I officially turned my back on the justice system." she says.
"I love you, Ethan...I love you. But not even threatening me with something like leaving me will stop me from doing what I know I should do. I'm a nova, right? I'm supposed to protect humans when I see them put in harm's way, right? So I'm not going to give second chances to murderers." she says folding her arms with a fierce look on her face.
"I understand that now, Gwen." Ethan says. "The system can work. I know it can and on that we'll have to agree to disagree." he says. "From now on you won't question my methods and I won't question yours. We'll just be Ethan and Gwen and leave it at that." he says with a smile.
Gwen floats there for a minute with her eyebrow raised as she considers this. This talk is going much better than she thought it would. She was so sure Ethan was going to be stubborn and they were going to end up getting in a bigger fight!
She gives him her first smile of the night, albeit a tiny one. "I thought that's what we agreed on when we first became a couple," she says in a softer voice. She takes a breath. "Listen...I want to lay all the cards on the table tonight if we're going to resolve this and work through it so there are no more surprises in the future. This is important to me. I want us to agree that we are two individual beings who can decide to do whatever we want to do as far as dealing with the world, and it has nothing to do with if we love each other or not, it has to do with our own code of ethics."
"So if someone in the Teragen threatens or hurts or kills someone, if I decide I want to kill them or hurt them, you can tell me how you feel about it and give me your side of the issue, and maybe you can even try to stop me physically if I'm about to do a stupid thing-- like with Raoul-- but ultimately you have to let me make the decision and not threaten me with consequences or punish me for it later. You have to trust that I have a good reason for doing it. And I won't hold it against you later that your opinion was different than mine. I might be pissed, but we can talk through it, right? Because Ethan, I never do anything to purposefully go against you or hurt you or make you 'look bad.'"
"And speaking of that, I want to call a press conference tomorrow and tell the world that I don't want you to be blamed for anything I do in my line of business...to remind them that I've always been the type of person to step outside the lines, and even though we're married I'm still me, and yes, you do let me know when I'm doing something you don't approve of, but ultimately it's out of your hands. They have to realize that calling me 'Lady Supreme' isn't going to suddenly magically change me into this female version of you!" Gwen pauses and then puts her hands on her hips. "You thought marrying me was going to do that, didn't you! Admit it!" she smirks.
"No Aura, I didn't but you must admit...you've been a lot angrier since we've been married. You seemed to take on this killing edge ever since Frost. Before when you fought Novas it wasn't...like the way you fight now," he says.
Gwen is quiet for a minute. "It's not since we've been married...it's from before then. I've been doing a lot of thinking about it. I've been angry since I erupted, but when I first joined Team Tomorrow and Stormwatch and all of that we didn't have a nova-prison, so we had to kill-on-sight. And we were assigned to do a lot of dangerous, physical-type missions where we had to kill lots of terrorists and people like that. But these last two years we've been doing stupid missions where there's not much fighting involved...I think I'm just getting restless..." she sighs. "I'm seeing a psychologist in the building...Bob sent me to see him..." she finally admits.
"That's good..." Ethan says. "I know the last two years have been...strange...more political than the other years. I feel things are different now than they were back then just like you, Aura, but the world is getting used to us being around. They are changing the rules because they are adapting."
Gwen folds her arms and shakes her head slightly. "Sometimes I wish we'd never thought up that prison..." she says quietly. "Besides...all it is is a Teragen-magnet. We arrest someone...the Teragen arrives to break them out..."
Gwen pauses. "Speaking of the Teragen and adapting, we've been interrogating Narcosis and we found out some things you need to know. Divis is going to be gone for the next 2 years because he's in a chrysalis of some kind. You know that tainted energy that's been collecting on all of us? Well...maybe not YOU! But anyway, Divis is going through this 'change' where he's using that energy to change into something called a 'marvel.' In 2 years he'll be back in his new form."
Ethan rubs his chin, looking very Supreme-like for a moment. "I see...I don't like this, Gwen, I don't like this at all. This could be why he seemed so much stronger the last time I fought him." he says. "I wonder if he's done it before," he says thinking.
Gwen raises her eyebrows. "How are you going to be able to keep up with him?" she asks looking concerned.
Ethan shrugs, "More training I guess." he says. "I'll work harder to keep up with him. I'll have some time now to do just that," he says with a smile. "Two years eh? I'll keep my eye out for him then. Until he returns we'll train and start fine-tuning our powers." he says.
Gwen nods. "I'll train with you. I've been neglecting training for the last year-- as I discovered when Pumpkin knocked me unconscious with one blow!" she says, a real smile on her face. She quickly lowers her eyes and runs a hand through her hair. She doesn't want to lose the serious mood just yet.
"So...what are we going to do when we find ourselves in disagreement over how something should be handled-- like with Edgar tonight?" she asks calmly. "I think it's important to figure this out."
"I don't know," Ethan says. "I don't want you to kill anyone...unless they are trying to kill you at the time." he says. "I don't know how we can handle this unless you do whatever you're going to do when I'm not there," he says.
Gwen nods slowly. "So...what if I do something when you're not there-- something I felt was the right thing to do, but it involved killing someone, or flying someone to my deserted island-- and then after it's over, you find out about it. What happens then?" she asks, so glad that they're finally talking about this.
"I'll forget I found out about it." Ethan says. "As long as I can...understand your logic behind it. I will let it pass, Gwen. But I still want you to work out your anger and seeing the doctor may be the key to that." he says.
Gwen presses her lips together tightly, not wanting to say the first thought that comes to her mind about what would be the key to working out her anger. They're really making some headway on this disagreement-issue and she doesn't want to ruin it.
"Well...I do want to understand myself better, in any case. I would like to know why I'm still an angry person and what's the root of all of it." She pauses and glances at him. "Maybe...you would come to a session with me sometime? After I've made a little progress?" she asks hopefully. "You just have to promise not to tell my family that I'm seeing a shrink. I'd never hear the end of it."
Ethan nods with a gentle smile. "I won't say a word, Gwen. I'd love to come to one of your sessions. I hear you've also been seeing a lot of Jennifer. She's a good kid. You two are getting along well then?"
Gwen grins, and then gets a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Oh yes. In fact, the other day she was begging me to leave you and run away with her!" Gwen starts laughing. "Oh but of course I said no-- don't worry!" she smiles an evil smile. Then she gets a thoughtful look in her eyes. "You two talk a lot...don't you..." she comments.
"Not really," Ethan says. "Just in the mornings at the cafeteria. Sometimes you're in training or at the war room. That's the only time we talk," he says sensing that Gwen is worrying. "Not to worry, Gwen," Ethan says with a smile. "You're the only one for me."
Gwen is relieved that Ethan knows what she's worrying about so she doesn't have to say it. She gives an embarrassed little shrug and looks down with a grin. "Being in Aeon is like a big soap opera sometimes..." she says. "You don't know the HALF of it! That's a good thing, though."
She pauses. "I feel like a jerk for even being worried. I know Slider better than that...I LIKE her better than that...it's just that...I'm used to females being the enemy and the competition and nothing more than that, so...it's hard for me to trust a female. I'm getting there with Slider, though."
She gives a sigh. "I guess I'm also still amazed that you love me. I honestly didn't think I'd be your type when I first got the guts to ask you out, so when I see a girl who I would have thought would have been your type-- like Slider-- I get nervous that you're going to suddenly wake up and think, 'Hey! What am I doing with Gwen? This girl is MUCH better Lady Supreme-material! What was I thinking??' and poof-- be done with me, you know? I know that sounds bad, it's just that we're having this good conversation here where we're putting everything on the table, and I promised I'd always be honest with you, so there it is. My stupid worry." she sighs, sinking back down to sit on the ledge of the building again.
Ethan chuckles and sits on the ledge next to her. "Well you can stop worrying. I'm not going to leave you. I think we have a good relationship. Strained as it may be right now." he says. "I'm glad you're friends with Slider and are surrounded by the people you are. I like Damage and the rest. Good people."
Gwen is SO relieved and happy when Ethan's just sitting next to her gives her that same thrill of excitement that it did when they first started flirting with each other a few years ago! It's all the reassurance she needs that they'll be able to work through this.
She-- almost shyly-- rubs the side of her foot against his as they sit there, and gives him a little smile. "I was thinking...we should do a poster together! Have it say "Why Do The Good Guys Always Like The Bad Girls?" or something like that on it, and have me posed looking naughty, and you posed gazing at me with love, hee-hee! That way we're getting across to the people that neither of us have changed as individuals, even though we're married! Then when I fuck up-- er, IF I fuck up-- then they'll know it was just Aura being Aura, and not to blame Supreme! What do you think?" she asks hopefully.
Ethan laughs, "Excellent! We should do that!" he says laughing. "What a great idea. I'll bet Jennifer will love it. We should have her shoot it." he says. He looks down at his foot and smiles. "This is like the first time we've really talked isn't it?"
Gwen laughs and nods, looking down at their feet touching, too. "Yeah...I guess we did this a little backwards, hmm?" She looks back up at him. "So while we're having this good talk, is there anything that's been on your mind? Any worries or fears? Anything you've been wanting to talk about, too?"
Ethan shakes his head. "Not really Gwen. Just us, that's all. But we've settled that...or at least have started down that path." he says. He thinks a moment in silence then turns to Gwen. "Do you have any idea why you're so angry?"
Gwen kind of hunches in a little when he asks that. She puts her hands on her legs and taps her fingers.
"I've been thinking about that a lot, too." She pauses again, still tapping her fingers. "I think it's sheer frustration. I feel like I'm being held back...prevented from really using my powers. I have fantasies about just exploding into a situation and going berserk on all my targets. I feel like I have all this power building up and I never have an outlet for it-- like when I had to punch Pumpkin's arm, except that what's building up inside of me is still building. I think that's why I've had a lot more episodes lately where I'm almost LOOKING for an outlet, you know?"
She pauses again. "Imagine, if you will, that I'm flirting with you all night...teasing you...getting you worked up to the point where you're almost out of control, and then I tell you I'm too tired for sex, and I go to sleep. How would you feel?? And what would you do about it?" she asks. "Now imagine this is what happens EVERY night, and this is what's been happening every night for the last 2 YEARS! NOW how would you feel, and what would you do about it?"
Ethan smiles, "I understand now," he says. "Well perhaps you should ask Bob for a lot more dangerous missions? Or at least ones where capture isn't an option." he says. "maybe that will get you to calm down a little."
Gwen nods. "I think that would definitely help. And to top off the frustration, I'm the kind of person who doesn't want to mess around with some lengthy trial...and then appeals...and then MORE appeals for the guy I captured-- especially if I SAW them commit the crime! *I* want to be the law! *I* want to be justice! So the thing that's probably been tormenting me the most is this new role we have as 'police officers' who's job is to bring the bad guy to the prison for incarceration. If we have to interrogate them, then fine. If we don't, then what's the prison for?? It's just a waste of time and money. I'm really starting to hate that prison." she sighs.
Ethan nods thoughtfully. "But you must admit it has given us a huge insight into the way the Teragen works and their dealings. If we could only find out where they meet we could nab them and catch them all at once."
Gwen grins to herself when Ethan uses the word "nab."
'Yep...not hard to see that he grew up reading comic books!' she thinks in amusement.
"Well, the interrogation-part prison-life has given us a huge insight. The rest of the time it's just inmates staring at four walls 24 hours a day. No matter how much I hate someone, the thought of them enduring that gives me the shivers."
She pauses. "Speaking of 'interrogation' and finding out where the Teragen meets, would you like to come with us to Bahrain tomorrow morning? Because that's exactly what we intend to do." she smiles evilly. She pauses again and her face turns grim. "I found out what Divis is planning for our future children. If they're novas, he's going to try to kidnap them and take them to wherever he lives for 'observation.'" she says, clenching her hands a little without realizing it. "Fun, huh!" she says sarcastically.
"He can try," Ethan says. "But he won't find them, Gwen, so put it out of your mind. Remember, they can read your mind and whatever is worrying you is right there for them to read." he says. "Maybe you should take some meditation classes as well."
"Already working on that." she says, tapping her forehead. "I got some information from the psych department on how to strengthen my mind so people with mind-powers can't just take me over or read me like an open book, and I'm practicing it constantly. But right now it's just me and you, and I want to talk about this stuff."
"Like, we also found out that none of the women in the Teragen are fertile. Divis has taken a bunch of concubines and has been trying to get them pregnant, just like I thought he was doing-- Narcosis was one of them-- but none of them can have children. I don't remember if she said the men are infertile, too, but if they aren't...if they CAN impregnate a fertile woman...I think any nova woman not in the Teragen needs to carry around a can of nova-mace at all times, if you know what I mean." she says, folding her arms.
Ethan shakes his head. "He's trying to breed an army of those just like him," he says. "We'll stop him, Gwen. I promise. When he and I meet again I'll capture him and we'll end his days of terror." he says clenching his fist.
Gwen loves watching Ethan/Supreme get riled up over Divis! It's probably one of the hottest things about him! If the universe ever flipped upside down and the two became friends, Gwen would be a little sad because no more hot Supreme growling and fist-clenching! Unless he found a NEW enemy, of course...
She tries to hide her content little smile. "Capture him, hmm? Now THAT would be something to see when we visited the prison!" She suddenly stops and blinks. "Wait-- did you say 'capture?' Usually when you talk about Divis you use words like 'kill' and 'destroy' and all that. Don't tell me you're getting a little soft over him..." she says, eyebrow raised.
"No of course not. But if he can be questioned, think of all the things we could find out about the Teragen. We could round up all of them with the information he could provide!" Ethan says. "We have to look at the bigger picture, Gwen."
"Ah yes...but if he were dead would not his little Teras scatter in confusion...leaderless and directionless? Wouldn't his death destroy the Teragen a lot more efficiently than having to go around and find every last one of them? Not that I'm trying to convince you to kill him. On the contrary! I think life is so much more interesting with him in the world, don't you?" she grins, but the grin doesn't quite reach her eyes.
"No, it's a little too interesting, but I understand what you mean. And I'm sure if he were captured, the rest of the Teragen would band together to try and get him out." he says. "That is when we would be able to finish them off in one stroke." Ethan says.
"Aaah..." Gwen says, understanding his plan. Then she has a mental-picture of waves of Divis-worshippers storming and running right over the prison, and she grimaces a little. "Hmmm...we'll have to talk that plan over a little more later on!" she grins. She looks at him for a minute.
"Thank you for being willing to quit your job to help 'us.'" she says. "That's something I don't know if I would have been able to do if our positions were reversed. Are you going to miss it?"
"No," Ethan says. "Honestly, I just did it to help me keep an alternate identity, but it wasn't working out and it seemed far too dangerous for those around me the more time went on. I don't want to endanger anyone," he says. "And besides that...we are important to me." he says. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
Gwen's eyes open wide. No one's ever said anything like that to her before! Most people say things like, "I don't know how I've gone this long without trying to kill you/kill myself because of you, Gwen!" or something along those lines.
"Really?" she asks in a quiet voice. "I think the only other person who's ever come close to sharing those sentiments--" She suddenly goes quiet. "Well...anyway...thank you, Ethan. That meant a lot to me to hear." she says seriously. She slides her hands over across the ledge to rest on his.
Ethan takes her hand in his and brings up to his lips, kissing it. He smiles at her. "Why don't we head home and make up the right way," he says with a grin. "I'll race you to the bed." he says wriggling his eyebrows.
Gwen raises her eyebrow and smiles. "Isn't that how we got into this mess in the first place?" she teases. "Hold that thought." she says, holding up her finger. "That reminds me! How does Supreme feel about being affectionate with his wife in front of America? I mean, I'm not going to grope you on camera or anything...probably...but I think it would do stuffy old America good to see its most beloved superhero being affectionate with his wife, don't you? Think of all the little kids out there in broken homes! Right now all they know about you is that you kick ass, so that's what they want to be able to do when they grow up. What if they saw that you kicked ass, and got some, too?" she grins. "And in a committed relationship with one woman! Think of all the lives you could change! You wouldn't have to hear the phrase, "My baby daddy!" from the ghetto anymore! You'd hear, "My husband!" she grins, trying not to laugh.
Ethan chuckles, "Alright but as long as it's tasteful." he says. "Promise no groping?" he asks looking at her seriously.
Gwen rolls her eyes exaggeratedly and makes a loud sighing-noise. She pretends to be thinking about it for a moment, and then raises her hand in the Boyscout salute. "I promise...not to grope you...where it can be seen by the cameras!" she grins a toothy grin. "Like right now! There are no cameras around, so..." She reaches over to find out if he's happy to see her yet or not!
"Gwen!" Ethan says loudly and laughs. He grabs her and pulls her to him, kissing her. "Alright Mrs. Crane I think it's time to get you home," he says. "It's past your curfew."
Gwen grins, the last of her grudge-holding-willpower gone, and she wraps her arms around his neck, and her legs around his waist.
"OK, OK...you twisted my arm...take me home and make wild, passionate love to me...if you must!" she laughs. She pauses. "I'm sorry we fought...but...in a way...I'm not sorry. We needed this, you know? But it still sucked. A LOT. And speaking of sucking a lot...I plan to tonight...if you play your cards right!" she wiggles her eyebrows.
"I'm glad we got to have this talk. I'm sorry we fought too," Ethan says. He picks her ups and flies off the ledge towards Stormwatch Tower. "Well it's definitely time to get you home if that's the case!" he says flying through their window.
And just before the window shuts...
"Ooh! My MY, Mr. Crane! I've just been inspired with another poster you could do! We'll call it, 'Man of Steel!'"
Ethan's laugh can barely be heard as the window shuts completely with a hiss.
