(Invincible) Invincible Bond: Chapter 15 - Finding the Line

A/N: Sorry for the delay. My sister is getting married this week, and my schedule is hectic.

Chapter 15 - Finding the Line

Summary: A powerful battle ends, but a single message may change everything they thought they knew.

Eve was floating midair at a height that even a month ago she would consider impossible for her. She looked down at the island she was floating above to see Mark flying around what could only be described as a kaiju monster.

Cecil told them this monster had a name but refused to disclose what it is, claiming there would be a perfect time for it.

Eve had to marvel at Mark's current speed and agility; this monster had tentacles and a sharp-toothed mouth instead of a face, and it was using all its tentacles to try and smack Mark out of the sky.

The monster itself towered to the size of some skyscrapers in the city, so Mark had to fly around, between, and every other possible combination to not get hit by any single one of those tentacles.

His speed doing it was also something Eve found very impressive; thanks to Cecil's training, Mark grew by leaps and bounds in what could be considered a rather short time.

But to test Mark alone wasn't the purpose of this test—well, not only that. They meant to test their teamwork; that's why Eve was using her powers to hold the monster down, depriving it of any sort of mobility.

Eve winced again as the pain her body and mind was under kept growing by the moment, and still even now she couldn't help but feel proud of herself. Before this training, she wouldn't even dream of being able to hold something of that size and power in place for even a single moment. To be able to do it for the past two minutes, even if it takes a hell of a lot out of her, is still an accomplishment she never thought she'd reach.

But even through the pain, she kept her eyes sharply on Mark; that's how she noticed when he found an opening in the monster's defense and charged forward with a punch ready.

Noticing the monster was still struggling against her energy bonds, Eve thought of something that would give Mark's attack more momentum. She let go of her hold, and the monster had no time to react; her earlier struggles caused her to take an involuntary step toward the approaching Mark.

The monster literally walked into her boyfriend's fist. Mark was prepared for the shockwave and caught himself in the air before it had any chance of affecting him; the monster, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky, and because she was already off-balanced to begin with, she was temporarily lifted in the air and landed a mere centimeter backward.

As she landed, Eve could see the ground shake under the massive size of the fallen monster.

Eve caught on to what Mark was about to do when he began flying higher. She glanced at the monster again and noticed she was trying to stand back up. Eve's eyes narrowed at the tentacles, all of which were flat on the ground in an attempt to help the monster pick herself up.

Eve decided to use the moment to neutralize a threat to Mark's plan. In a blink of an eye, her arm shot forward again, and energy bonds appeared again to keep the offensive appendages pinned to the ground.

A sonic boom filled the air around them as Mark broke the sound barrier a moment before he used his full body like a rocket and landed on top of the monster's head.

Another shock wave kicked dust into the air, obscuring Eve's vision of the monster and Mark. Without a line of sight and with her powers stretched to their limit as they were, she felt her hold on the monster's tentacles slip away.

Her arms fell back to her sides, and she was panting pretty heavily from the extreme usage of her powers. Hearing no more roars and punches, Eve chose to take a risk and began descending into the cloud of dust that still hung in the air.

She almost touched the ground when she could finally make out the scene clearly. Mark was sitting on top of the knocked-out monster; he himself was panting as hard as her.

With a small smile on her face, she landed right next to him and sat down. Both were panting and smiling; Mark had already taken his mask off and was holding it in his hand. She bumped shoulders with him, causing him to look at her with a tired smile, and he said, "Hi you."

Eve snorted a little before retorting, "Hi there, stranger." She then looked around the battlefield; there wasn't much damage considering the size of the monster. Yes, there were a few craters and knocked-away trees, but all in all, they kept the fight to a localized area so the damage didn't spread like it used to at the start of their training.

With a little proud smile, she said, "You did pretty well, Invincible."

Mark's smile grew a little, and he replied honestly, "I couldn't do it without you, Atom Eve."

Before she could answer, there was a flash of blue light behind them, and as they were turning around, already knowing what they would find there, his voice said, "You are partly right."

Behind them now stood Cecil, a hand on his hip, but there was a small smile on his face, which was a rarity.

Neither of them spoke, knowing the older man would say whatever he wanted to anyway, and they weren't wrong. "As it stands now, Mark alone would have trouble with this, but I think eventually he could have won... the damage, though, would have been bad, not to mention the visit to the hospital he would surely need."

Yeah, Eve wasn't relishing the thought; just last night, she had a nightmare again from the fight against Battle Beast and Mark's condition afterward.

The small smile soon grew into something... Eve was a little apprehensive to say the word "proud" when it comes to the director of the GDA, and still, she couldn't find anything better to describe the expression on the older man's face.

Cecil's voice was carrying the same sort of emotion his face was displaying, "But you two worked well together and managed to take the thing down in around the same amount of time Omni-Man did not so long ago."

Eve's eyes widened as she understood the implications: they have a chance now! A small one, yes, but if they can have a little more time, then both of them could take on Omni-Man and win. Hell, with enough time, Mark might be able to match his dad blow for blow.

Mark looked down, not satisfied with the result. "I'm still too weak then," Mark grumbled.

Before Eve could retort this self-insulting statement, Cecil bent down to put a hand on Mark's shoulder and said calmly, "Think about it, kid, how much you improved in just a couple of months of training; I've never seen any hero grow up as fast as you did."

The director then stood back up, Mark's eyes following the man's scarred face as he spoke firmly, "No one can become as strong as Omni-Man overnight. We have no idea how many years of training he went through before coming to Earth. Just keep in mind you are not alone; I trust you will reach your father's level soon enough. For now, you did an amazing job, Mark."

Mark seemed to consider the man's words; wanting to make sure they took root, she caught his free hand in her own and gave him a firm squeeze. Once Mark's stare landed on her, she smiled reassuringly at him and nodded.

Mark's entire body seemed to relax before he said gratefully, "Thanks, Cecil, Eve."

The older man just shrugged and said as if he didn't give a damn what was going on, "Well, I called you in pretty early today for this so you can take the rest of the day off; we just picked up Nolan is on his way home, so you can go on a date, or whatever it is teenagers do these days."

Eve and Mark smiled at each other, and she said, "Sounds great to me."

Mark grinned wider and replied, "I'm all in with this plan."

Before Cecil changed his mind, they began to float into the air, intending to take off back toward their home city. Before they could even reach any real height, they heard Cecil call back to them.

Eve cursed mentally, assuming the director wanted to give them another mission he just remembered and to cancel their date. She was surprised when he pulled the sleeve of his suit back to reveal his teleportation watch.

Cecil didn't take his eyes off them as he spoke while pointing at his watch, "Drop by the Pentagon later; I want you to have a couple of those I had made for you."

Mark was just as wide-eyed as her, and there was a smile on his face as he asked excitedly, "Seriously? We will get our own teleportation watches?"

Cecil smirked back at him and said nonchalantly, "I told you, I trust you two. Now get out of here, kids." With that said, he pushed his watch, and in a flash of blue light, both he and the monster were gone.

Mark and Eve looked at each other; Eve shrugged and asked her boyfriend, "Shall we?"

Mark made an exaggerated bow midair and said in a mock regal voice, "After you, madam."

Eve giggled before turning back and taking off; a moment later, Mark was at her side.

On their way back home, they flew over Chicago, and Eve smiled a little watching ordinary people living their ordinary lives. Her eyes caught a glimpse of a dark-skinned woman with her daughter playing next to a tall blonde man; they looked like a happy family. Eve found herself glancing at Mark as the thought passed her mind.

Then Mark pulled her attention even more to him by pointing at a range of mountains in the horizon and saying enthusiastically, "How about we hang out there for a while, just the two of us?"

Eve's smile spread all over her face as she answered happily, "Works for me."

About an hour later, both of them were sitting on the edge of a cliff, their legs dangling over the vast forest beneath. Eve took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air of the late morning; the sun was high in the sky warming them while a light breeze made sure it wasn't too hot to comfortably sit outside. It felt like the perfect day.

Before she even realized what she was saying, she broke the silence by saying, "You know, every time I considered leaving home, I had this place in mind..." She pointed out a single tree in the middle of the forest and said a little nostalgically, "I would imagine using my powers to build a tree house right there to live in."

Mark looked at her with concern and asked gently, "You thought of it often? Running away from home, I mean."

Eve wasn't even sure why she brought the subject up; she guessed being here with him just struck a chord she tried to keep locked away. With a shrug, she answered calmly, "Every now and then since I became a teen; my dad got a lot worse then."

She felt her hand being pulled in Mark's direction; that was when she noticed he was holding her hand now with a small frown on his face. His voice was soft and sad, "I'm sorry you had to go through that for so long."

Eve gave him a grateful small smile, "It wasn't for long, actually. After all, I joined Teen Team and moved out as soon as possible, and after the breakup, you and your family gave me a real home, a place I feel now that I'm a part of."

Mark's frown turned into a brilliant smile as he said, "You are a part of our family, Eve. You are my family."

Eve could feel her face heating up, her mind going back to an hour ago when she saw that family and the thought that crossed her mind because of it.

Mark's smile faded away again as he asked as gently as he could, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but why did you go back there at all?"

Eve looked up toward the sky; she had asked herself that question a few times since she began living with the Grayson family. She shrugged and said in what felt like a far-away voice, "I kept hoping things would get better, that my father would see reason and calm down, but I guess I was too naïve."

She returned her gaze to her boyfriend's concerned face. She smiled a little and spoke with more force in her voice, "Sometimes you don't know what your line is until you find it, and when you do, it's up to you, no matter what everyone else says—even if they are your parents—to make the choice if you are willing to cross that line or not. It took me a while, but I chose to cross it." Her smile grew even wider as she cupped Mark's cheeks and said lovingly, "And I'm happy I did."

Mark's own face spread in a smile as he leaned into her touch, and he said wistfully, "I'm happy you did too."

Eve laughed a little and, wanting to lighten up the mood, shouted, "We should take a selfie; I want to remember today."

Mark just nodded in agreement. Eve began pulling out her phone from a special case she was hiding under her cape.

She just unlocked it and wanted to go straight for the camera app when she noticed the large wave of unread notifications filling her screen.

With a deep frown, she asked no one in particular, "What the hell happened?" as she began scrolling through the messages.