While he was thinking, Mary remained silent, which he did not consider a positive sign. He was starting to get nervous, fearing that he had messed up by ignoring her. When he finally turned toward her, she smiled gently. To his surprise, he realized that she had probably just not wanted to interrupt his work. She truly confused him.

“I would ask if we can help with anything, but I already revealed my abilities to you, so...” She scrunched her nose in a grimace and let out a short laugh.

"Thanks," he replied in the same tone. "Your company is enough."

"As long as no one is breathing over your shoulder?"

"Exactly." He nodded and this time did not stop himself from laughing briefly.

“How long have you been working for the Legion?”

His smile disappeared the moment he heard the male voice. He hadn't expected Jonas to join the conversation again, especially with that question.

"Not long," he answered vaguely at first. However, the blond man gave him an intense look, making it clear that he expected a better answer.

"A few weeks, take it or leave it." He shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. "I am more of an external worker," he added.

The Legion still hadn't figured out how to employ Lynnie, Drew, and himself. Since they had been seen with the rest of the team, the public automatically connected them with the Legion. The corporation behind the heroes was naturally not thrilled that they were presenting their brand, but the corporation had no power over them. They could not ignore the situation, so they offered the three of them part-time positions, which they all refused. They did not want any contract tying them down. At least Rowan and Drew did not want one, and Lynnie simply followed their lead. Now, they were looking for another solution, although the villain doubted they would come up with something he would agree to.

“But you know Speedsonic?” Jonas asked. Rowan was beginning to feel that these were not random questions, and that Jonas was heading somewhere with them. He had no idea, though, whether he had already connected him to Matteo or was simply guessing.

"We've known each other for a while," the villain offered, providing another vague answer.

“Do you know the rest of the team, too?” the blond man asked another question.

Suddenly, Rowan had several options for how to respond: he could admit that he was part of the team, get straight to the point and reveal that he knew Matteo, or play it wild and say that he was Max’s nephew. Jonas definitely would not expect that.

"I do," he answered, not wanting to hesitate too long. "I have family members who work for the Legion," he added. Technically, three of his family members currently worked there—his two uncles and his fiancé—so it was not a lie.

"Really?" His answer clearly intrigued Mary more.

"Uh-huh."

Before either of them could ask something else or think about whether they should ask about such a delicate subject, Rowan was saved from further conversation. If you could call it saving and not pushing the situation into an even more stressful part.

The sound of someone clearing their throat made all three turn toward the door. There stood the hero in white, clearly unprepared for what he was seeing. Apparently, Speedsonic had told him to return to the Legion building, but not what awaited him there.

"Hi," Citadel said. His voice did not sound at all like one would expect from a hero. His brother was not going to spare him, though. He immediately stood up and moved closer to him, and his wife joined him quickly. Rowan still had no idea what to do.

“What are you guys doing here?” the hero asked, shifting his gaze past his brother and sister-in-law until his eyes met the villain’s. Rowan quickly shook his head to signal that he hadn't told them anything.

"We wanted to surprise you the same way you surprised us," Jonas replied to his brother. To anyone else, it might have sounded sweet, but the villain knew the context.

"Uhm—" It was clear that the hero did not know what to say. Yet he took a step forward and hugged his brother in greeting. After that, he hugged his sister-in-law. Then, his gaze fell on the villain behind them once again.

"Ro, can you take a break for a moment?" He finally addressed him, too, and, as always, the villain did not refuse his request.

"Sure," he said, standing up automatically. He didn't come closer, though, since he would've had to walk around Jonas and Mary, who looked confused as well, and he didn't want to step into their line of sight.

"I know you want answers," Citadel said to his brother. "But we should move to my apartment first."

"As long as you're not hiding anything else," Jonas replied. His tone made it clear that he was not pleased that his brother had kept something from him in the first place. Especially when it was something this important.

"You don't have to worry," the blond hero assured him. "Come on."

This time, Rowan didn't stay where he was, but walked closer. Although he considered staying in the back, he eventually gathered the courage to pass the couple and stand by the hero’s side.

"Are you all right?" he asked, noticing the dark spots that stood out sharply against his otherwise white uniform.

"I'm fine," Citadel assured him. "There was a fire, but we got it under control quickly."

Rowan nodded.

The villain said nothing more, but his question, worried look, and proximity seemed enough for Mary to put two and two together, as she suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my God!"

All four of them stopped automatically, and Rowan and Citadel turned to her. However, the villain quickly shifted his gaze to his fiancé to see if he had come to the same conclusion. His expression said it all, so it seemed Jonas was the only one not in the loop.

"In my apartment, please." The hero tried again to make them move so they could have this conversation in private.

Luckily, Mary understood that this was not the best place. "Right, right." They were able to keep walking, their steps now more urgent.

The brunette held back until the door to the hero’s apartment closed behind them. A wide smile then appeared on her face, and she stepped closer to the villain. "Oh my God! You are Revenger!" Glancing between him and the hero, she added excitedly, "And you two are getting married!"

Rowan felt the familiar panic return because, while Mary’s opinion of their wedding and of him was clear, Jonas’s expression was not so easily read.

“I guess you got to meet each other even without me,” Citadel said, now allowing himself to wrap his arm around the villain’s.

"I wouldn't call it a proper meeting since we still don't know anything about him," Jonas objected. "Except that he was a criminal until recently and now works for Legion."

"Criminal is not the right word," Citadel corrected him immediately. Rowan turned his gaze to him, wanting to show that his brother was not completely wrong. He did not want the hero to give his family polished facts just so they would like him.

"You said your family works for Legion," Mary chimed in, breaking up the tension between the siblings.

Her eyes were fixed on Rowan, who answered her automatically. "Vanish and Seismic," he revealed.

"Max?" Jonas asked immediately. His tone shifted from irritated to surprised.

Rowan nodded. "I am his nephew."

"I do not understand." The villain did not blame him for being confused. Everything Jonas had heard about Rowan or his relationships with Matteo and the other heroes had been taken out of context, and he had only heard the most shocking parts.

“We should sit down,” the hero said, moving toward the couch and pulling the villain along with him. Fortunately, Mary quickly followed his lead, and soon she and her husband were sitting across from them.

"You can start explaining," Jonas broke the silence that followed.

The hero and the villain exchanged looks; it was clear that neither knew where to begin. So much had happened in the past few months that it was difficult to choose what was essential and what they should not skip.

In the end, Citadel started. “The first thing you should know is that Rowan was never a villain. From the beginning, we were on the same side. I just did not know it."

“How is that possible?” The doubt on the blond man’s face was obvious; he wasn't trying to hide it. “How could Max not know that his own nephew was terrorizing the city? Or did he know?"

"He didn't," Rowan spoke up. He still feared making a bad impression, but he did not want to leave everything to his fiancé. He had to gather some courage. "We hadn't seen each other in years. He didn't even know I was back in the city."

The more Rowan explained, the more confused Matteo’s brother looked. The irony of it was striking.

The villain sighed and decided to start from the beginning.

"My parents were Songbird and Tornado. Max was on the same team as them. He isn’t my blood relative, but he helped raise me.”

This was not an easy topic for him, and it was definitely not something he would talk about on a first meeting. But this was Matteo’s family, so he was willing to make an exception. "After my parents died, Max tried to adopt me. Legion’s leadership didn’t approve, though, so we didn't see each other for years."

"That's stupid," Mary said immediately when she got the chance. "Why wouldn't they approve it? He was obviously the best choice.”

"Their argument was that with two hero parents already dead, I would be risking going through the same thing again," the villain explained with a small shrug.

“So Max didn’t know who you were when you appeared as Revenger,” Jonas said, bringing the conversation back on track. He was clearly eager to know more.

Rowan nodded. “No one knew my identity. I created the alias Revenger only to get Legion’s attention. By making them follow me, I was able to guide them back to solving my parents’ murder.”

“Murder?” Jonas repeated, frowning.

“I was there when my parents were killed. I saw who did it,” Rowan admitted. "And yet, they insisted there was no evidence."

"Tigress, Mimic, Hive," the blonde superhero interjected, reaching for the villain's hand to squeeze it in support. "They weren't just traitors to Legion; they were murderers. Not only of Rowan’s parents.”

"That explains the case you were working on and why you were working together," Jonas nodded. “But not how you got together.”

"By coincidence," Citadel offered. "Really," he confirmed when his brother’s expression changed again, becoming easy to read. "We met out of our suits, in a bar."

“So you didn’t know each other’s identity?” Mary understood immediately where this was going. She pointed at one of them and then the other while another smile formed on her lips.

“No,” the hero confirmed. "It took a few months before we got to that point."

"I still don't understand why you never said anything about dating someone when you had months to do it," Jonas said reproachfully.

“Because we weren’t dating,” Citadel admitted. "We just kept ending up in the same bed. That's not a topic I wanted to discuss with you."

The more they explained, the more confused the hero’s brother looked. “How the hell did you get all the way to an engagement, then?”

“I bought a ring?” Rowan offered the simplest explanation. But Jonas’s look made it clear that he wasn’t satisfied with that answer.

"We grew closer. We basically started dating without calling it a relationship. We talked about our future together and realized we were imagining a future together, including marriage, ” Citadel added, rescuing the situation.

"And you got engaged right after that?" Mary asked.

“I waited for the right moment.” The villain shrugged, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "I bought a ring and carried it with me."

“And when was the right moment?” Jonas asked, sounding less excited than his wife.

"It was just a few days ago," Citadel assured his brother. "We finished a mission, and—"

He stopped abruptly, and instead of continuing, he took out his phone. He had the advantage of having a super-speed hero on the team who didn't hesitate to capture their engagement on camera the moment he saw the villain on one knee.

The blond superhero turned the phone so his brother and sister-in-law could see the screen. The photo showed everything they wanted to see: the villain in his suit, without his mask or hood, down on one knee; the hero with a surprised smile; and the rest of the team around them, unable to hide their shock and joy.

"We're not getting married right away," Citadel said, still staring at the photo. "I know it's sudden, but you'll have time to get to know each other. I can’t wait to show you Rowan’s house and introduce you to his other uncle.” He shifted his gaze directly to his brother. This time, he was the one who looked unyielding. "He's the one for me. The only one.”

Jonas held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. "Okay." He then turned to the villain, who had been dreading the verdict the whole time. But, to his surprise, the hero’s brother said, "If you get him pregnant, I want to be the first to know this time."

The tension in the room broke in that moment. While the blond superhero was clearly in shock, the rest of the group burst out laughing. It seemed that, in the end, Rowan would fit into his family just as naturally as Matteo had fit into his.