9

Pexy smiled to herself. She'd always liked Amber ever since she had met her a few months ago in the orphanage, even though she hadn't really known her too well at that point.

But ever since Alex had mentioned the name in the car park, she realized that she really liked Dan and that they'd become quite close in recent times when he had visited her often. At that moment she remembered what the doctor had told her after the surgery.

It's good that you are getting along with Dan.

It was exactly because of that, which caused her to feel that she could trust Alex. But she didn't think she'd be able to open up to Daniel about whatever it was that bothered her so much. Besides, if Alex knew about what was bothering her he would have been very upset and would have probably insisted that she tell Daniel. There was no need for that, and telling Daniel about Alex wouldn't change anything. She might not have loved Alex as much as she did before, but that didn't mean that he was the cause of her problems. She would have to deal with the problem that he had created first and foremost.

"Yes," she simply answered, not really knowing what to say further.

Dan nodded his head slowly. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment.

"Didn't you say that Alex told you his name earlier?"

"Yeah. What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing," he replied quickly, trying to shake off the strange feeling that had appeared inside of him. He stood back up. "I'll leave you two to your own devices, then. See ya."

"Bye," Pexy replied simply, turning back around to face Alex.

"So, are you going to show me where we're going later?" She inquired.

"Definitely."

Chapter 6

"You should probably wear these."

Alex handed Pexy some sort of dark colored clothing. She hesitantly took it from him and stared at it, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"I don't understand. What does this outfit have anything to do with my powers? Or my abilities?"

He shook his head.

"That's classified information."

She scoffed quietly.

"Please. Your secret identity and superpowers are a secret."

"Yeah, but still-"

Pexy sighed heavily. She pulled the clothes over her head and slid her feet into the shoes that had been set aside previously.

"Just don't ask me to do anything stupid, okay?"

Alex raised his hands in a placating manner.

"Of course, I won't. Now hurry up and get dressed. You have an important meeting to attend tonight at six o'clock in front of the president of the United States of America tomorrow morning."

"And how would you know that?" She retorted. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry."

"You know what? Forget it. I've got to get ready. Meet me outside the building in fifteen minutes."

She pushed past him without another glance in his direction, marching out of the room and shutting the door behind her. Her footsteps echoed through the quiet hallway and disappeared around the corner. For once, she felt glad that she was left alone; the last thing she needed was for everyone to see her looking weak or vulnerable.

Pexy glanced at herself in the mirror. She had never put any extra effort into dressing herself up like this, but for some unknown reason she felt more comfortable now that she was wearing the dark colored suit that Alex had bought for her, instead of just wearing a simple t-shirt and pants like she normally did. It wasn't that she particularly disliked the color black; she just preferred darker colors, ones that weren't too bright or too muted. It had always been like this, with her. When she was little, she had always preferred her mother's dresses and skirts. They had never been too flashy, and although the outfits weren't perfect, they had been beautiful. Her father had always worn suits like that when he worked, so seeing him in those clothes had always excited her. Of course she understood why her parents loved them so much. It had been almost as if they were wearing a piece of him with every piece of clothing that they wore; a part of him had somehow managed to make it into hers. That was a thought which caused her to frown sadly.

She tried desperately to ignore the sadness that came upon her as she gazed at her reflection. After spending a little bit longer observing herself, she finally decided to move on. Once she was fully clothed, she walked out the door. She made her way downstairs where she saw Alex waiting by the bottom step. She stepped off the elevator and headed towards him, taking a seat next to him on the stairs.

"Ready?"

He smiled softly as he grabbed her hand.

"Almost."

They started down the steps leading to the lobby together. On the way down, they ran into Daniel who was heading toward their apartment with an armful of shopping bags.

"Oh, hey Alex!"

Alex and Daniel smiled at each other as they exchanged pleasantries.

"Is that all you got? You look kinda heavy."

Daniel laughed lightly.

"Nah, man. I actually picked up some stuff for