“You look pale. Are you sure you’re okay?” Adrian asked, his brown eyes full of concern. After all, he was the team’s medic and took the health of all his teammates as his responsibility.

Jamie nodded, but quickly found out that his lie had been pointless when Nate objected with, “You’re not.” He sounded almost angry, which immediately drew the hero’s attention.

“You were gone for a year, Jamie,” the brunet continued as if Jamie himself didn’t know that.

“Nate,” Elias warned him in a reproachful tone. However, when he turned his gaze toward him, he realized what Jamie had seen — that Nate’s words didn’t come from anger, because his eyes were beginning to fill with tears.

“We’re so sorry,” were Nate’s last words before he sobbed aloud, and the moment he broke down, it triggered a chain reaction.

This time the hero in glasses found himself buried under several bodies as they all hugged him from different sides, pressing close to him as if afraid he might stand up and run away. Elias was still on his right side, Nate on the left, though he was practically draped across his thighs, and Adrian found his way there from that side as well, leaning against Jamie’s shoulder.

Only Xavier left him space to breathe, although his gaze made it clear that he was part of this group embrace even if he didn’t fit into it.

After a while, the oldest man in the room stood up and headed toward the kitchen, probably remembering Adrian’s earlier words.

Jamie watched him as long as he could and then once again let himself be fully overtaken by the tight hold, even though it wasn’t entirely the best for his fragile body. However, it calmed his mind and the ache in his heart, so it was enough.

This was his home.

He was finally home.

His calm didn’t last long, because together with the realization that he was back in the place where he had lived, where he had worked, where his closest people were, worries came as well.

“My family,” he said into the silence and opened his eyes.

The trio of heroes pulled away, all sitting so that they could still look directly at him, and over Adrian’s shoulder Jamie realized that by doing so they had moved closer to Creed, who wasn’t pleased about it, but despite that remained sitting in place.

Jamie, however, couldn’t focus on the dark-haired man’s discomfort when he had more important worries on his mind.

“Are they safe?”

He still couldn’t remember how he had disappeared from the surface of the earth and when he had actually last been in the real world. Moreover, because Creed had practically told him nothing about the people who had been behind his disappearance, he didn’t know whether his family was in danger as well. Even though not all of them had abilities, maybe his kidnapping hadn’t been motivated only by that.

“They’re safe,” Eli assured him, giving him an answer first, and because of that he was the one the hero in glasses turned his gaze toward.

“Legion placed them into witness protection. Even Theo’s parents joined them so they could be with their grandchildren,” the blond continued, and after his words Jamie let out a breath of relief.

His parents, his sister, his brother-in-law, his niece and nephew… they were all fine.

“Don’t tell them anything yet,” he stated firmly as a request.

Even though he didn’t doubt that they must have been worried about him and probably thought the worst, selfishly he didn’t want to bring them relief yet. Not when he knew that even he himself still wasn’t completely safe and with the people who were the threat still out there, he didn’t want to drag his family into it.

Fortunately, his teammates understood and nodded.

But then came the more difficult part.

“Will you tell us something?” Nate asked, his tone careful, as if he wasn’t sure whether it was appropriate.

“We searched everywhere,” Adrian added.

“We followed every lead,” Elias continued. Once again it was him that Jamie ended up looking at.

The hero in glasses had never doubted it, yet despite that he found that he needed to hear their words. Some part of him was paranoid, full of anxiety, as if it wasn’t even him anymore, because otherwise he would never have questioned his team. They were his second family.

“I…” he began, but realized that he didn’t even know what to tell them. Moreover, his mouth was starting to go dry and so he was worried that he was at the end of his ability to speak and didn’t want to waste his last words or cause concern because of it. “Later.”

Luckily, his teammates were understanding.

Or rather they were looking at him as if he were a live grenade with the pin pulled.

“We never doubted you’d come back home,” the blond with the buzzcut broke the silence that followed, and before Jamie could respond to his words, which he spoke in an almost gentle tone, Xavier returned to the room.

“I made some sandwiches.”

The food provided another distraction from explaining and facing the truth, so the hero welcomed it with open arms. Creed was a little more cautious, but even he didn’t refuse the first real meal after all those yogurts and puddings.

Jamie felt his friends’ gazes on him the whole time, as if they were afraid that the moment they blinked, he’d disappear again. He couldn’t blame them for that.

Their presence was overbearing and reassuring at the same time, and so it wasn’t a surprise for the hero when they all agreed that they would all sleep in Eli’s apartment that night so they could stay close to him. They took the floor, while they left the couch to Jamie and Creed, and the dark-haired man was properly thrown off by that, but he didn’t protest. It was still clear, however, that the only person he trusted was Jamie, and so he made sure to lie with his head turned toward him so he’d be closest to him.

They all had questions, but the feeling of closeness was more important at the moment than the desire for knowledge.

The answers could wait.

Still, Jamie did eventually provide one honest one.

The moment an opportunity appeared, he stopped Adrian so the others wouldn’t see.

“Got a second?”

The team’s medic was confused but nodded nonetheless and let himself be pulled into the bathroom. The others were currently fetching mattresses and blankets from their own apartments, while Xavier had decided to take patrol duty, though Jamie gathered from the conversation that it was originally supposed to be Nate’s turn.

Creed was still sitting in the same spot on the couch, as if hoping that if he didn't move, no one would pay him any attention.

Jamie didn’t like leaving him alone, but since he was starting to have trouble concentrating and felt as if his brain was shutting down the longer someone spoke to him, he knew it was only a matter of time before other symptoms showed as well.

Fatigue was catching up with him, and when he didn’t fully focus, he stumbled on his own feet as his balance failed him. Fortunately, at that moment only Creed saw him, and one look was enough for them to exchange a silent agreement that they wouldn’t mention it.

“Can you help?”

Though the hero in the glasses didn't want to alarm anyone, he knew he had to do something if he wasn't going to collapse in front of them, and the only option was to turn to the team’s medic. Either way, he didn't doubt that Adrian had seen through his gaslighting about being fine. After all, he was trained to notice every symptom of every ailment.

Moreover, his superpower was trained for that just as much as his senses were, and so the moment he took Jamie’s outstretched hand, his eyes widened together with a dreadful realization.

“Jamie.” His voice sounded almost broken.

A single touch told him everything that was happening inside the hero, and although Jamie kept telling himself it wasn’t that bad since he knew how he’d been a month ago, Adrian clearly perceived the truth differently.

“How are you even standing?” He was baffled.

“Barely,” the hero in glasses admitted honestly.

After he spoke, Adrian’s eyes dropped to his mouth and he frowned even more.

“Your voice…”

Jamie’s tone didn’t reveal anything, but since his youngest teammate was still holding his hand, he had to know how much strength it took him to say anything at all.

“I—” Although he didn’t know exactly how to defend himself, Adrian didn’t let him anyway.

“Don’t speak anymore.” He sounded more worried than reproachful. “Not until I fix your voice.”

Despite his warning, Jamie spoke again anyway, but for a good reason. “Don’t overdo it.” He didn’t want them to switch places and Adrian to feel prostration.

The other man didn’t respond immediately, and for a second it looked like he would protest, but then he nodded and closed his eyes. Jamie did the same and allowed himself to take a step back so he could lean against the closed bathroom door. Finally he could stop pretending for at least a moment, and he appreciated the extra support.

He felt fleeting touches as Adrian used his ability, gradually healing what Jamie assumed were the worst symptoms of his condition that needed acute help. His posture slowly became more stable, his fingers less shaky, and his mind less foggy.

“Thank you,” was the first thing he said after his teammate let go of him and the dark-haired hero opened his eyes again.

Adrian nodded, but he still looked serious. Jamie studied his expression to make sure he hadn’t done too much and sacrificed his own health, but it seemed he had thankfully listened to him.

“We’ll continue tomorrow,” the medic said, his voice full of authority. “The moment you start feeling worse, I want to know, Jamie. I understand that you don’t want to stress the others, but please, Jamie, don’t spare me. That’s why I’m here.” At the end his tone changed and became almost pleading, desperate…

“I will.”

Now that Adrian knew his secret, Jamie thought about whether he should also make Creed let himself be examined, but he knew the mysterious stranger would certainly refuse. He didn’t want to be in the presence of people from Legion, let alone let them touch him and use their abilities on him.

“I’m really sorry.”

Adrian’s broken voice brought him back to the present, and Jamie watched as his brown eyes glistened.

“It’s not your fault, Adi. Not any of yours,” the hero assured him, and since he still saw him this close, he didn’t miss how his expression changed for a second after Jamie called him by the nickname. The same nickname he had always called him during their honest conversations in the past months…

.

.

He had never called him that in real life.

That was why he was confused.

This realization hit the hero in glasses like a slap.

Although it cost him a lot of strength, he tried not to show it. He needed to reassure his team that they had him safely back and nothing else mattered. He needed to feel normal. At least for a minute.

Fortunately, Adrian played along, and when they returned to the living room, they found that during the minutes they’d spent in the bathroom, it had transformed into something looking like a scene from a teen movie about girl sleepovers.

Despite it being a strange sight, Jamie hadn't felt this safe in a long time as he fell asleep on the couch, surrounded by those closest to him.