When the weekend arrived, the team was already working full-time from home. It was good news, but at the same time, it meant he had only two days left before the world was supposed to find out he was alive.

Adrian had healed him to the point where he almost felt like his old self physically, but at the same time every day was a reminder that he had missed a year. Every conversation his teammates had contained something Jamie didn’t remember, or even remembered differently, and his confusion only grew.

He tried not to show how much he felt he lacked control over his own life, but he knew his friends noticed. They watched him too closely for it to escape their observant eyes. 

But Jamie didn't want to just pretend to be strong. No, he wanted to feel strong again, or at least... normal.

That was precisely why he now stood silently facing the wall in Eli’s bathroom, while the others were in the living room on the couch and mattresses to fit everyone comfortably. 

Adrian and Nate were on patrol duty, though so far nothing had arisen that required their direct presence in the field. 

The full attention of the hero with glasses was fixed on a small smudge on the wall, one he had no idea how it got there. He would have liked to examine it up close, but he didn't dare take a step forward... and then another, until he passed right through the wall thanks to his ability, which he still had no idea how it fared.

“Hello? Jamie?”

He didn’t realize he had been staring at the wall for too long until the knocking came.

“Are you okay?”

It was Eli. 

Of course it was him.

“I’m fine,” he called back even though it wasn’t true. For a second he considered calling him inside and using him as support, but he quickly changed his mind. If his abilities were unstable, he could hurt him with them, and that was the last thing he wanted.

He flushed the toilet, pretending he had just used it, washed his hands, and then reached for the handle to go outside.

The first thing he saw was Eli’s worried expression.

“Don’t,” he told him before he could ask. He knew exactly what question was on his tongue.

“Just promise me you’ll tell me if something’s bothering you,” the blond said, and when he saw Jamie wasn’t pleased with his concern, he added, “Mi worries es su worries.” Then he frowned. “Or the other way around, I guess.”

The dark-haired hero laughed even though he hadn’t meant to. Eli finally sounded like the carefree man he knew, and so it was easy for him to make Jamie laugh without even trying.

Maybe his life wasn’t as lost as he thought.

“I missed you,” he said even though in reality he had only spent a month without him.

He realized, however, that in his memories Elias hadn’t been the same as in person. He hadn’t been this attentive, his eyes hadn’t been this warm. Something was simply different. Jamie felt different in his presence.

“I missed you too,” Eli returned immediately, a gentle smile on his face.

Jamie wanted to hug him again, just like when they’d reunited, but he stopped himself. He had never sought his closeness this often before, and even though it could be explained by the fact that Eli represented something familiar in a world that had changed and therefore comfort, it was time he started relying on him less.

That was why the hero in glasses cleared his throat and stepped past the blond. Then he turned to him with: “Let’s go see if the others have found anything.” 

Elias nodded and together they returned to the living room.

Creed was once again huddled in the corner of the couch, watching the other heroes with a wary gaze, though he occasionally glanced toward the TV. The youngest hero—with short dark hair, deep-set almond-shaped brown eyes with heavy lashes, and round cheeks—was two seats away from him. A gap still remained between them, but it seemed Adrian had decided on exposure therapy. Maybe it was because, although Creed had been looking better since they arrived, he couldn't hide the pain and paleness in his face.

“It looks like nothing is happening. There’s a strange calm in the city today,” the medic announced to the pair of heroes when he noticed them. 

“Maybe we should head out into the field and make sure the police haven't missed anything,” Nate suggested.

From what Jamie had gathered in the few days since his return, the brunet could rarely sit still. He was clearly used to being constantly busy between school and work, but now that he only had one of those, he had free time he didn't know how to spend. He couldn't spend all of it in the gym, so he preferred working in the field.

However, his time in the gym had certainly left its mark. Like Eli, his appearance had changed, though not as drastically. Unlike the freckled blond, he wasn't thinner or looking unhealthy. Nate was in the best shape of his life, with broad shoulders, muscular arms, and a chest that strained against his tight t-shirt. 

Perhaps the shirt hadn't originally been tight, but Nate hadn't bothered to buy new ones since he’d bulked up.

His hair was also a bit different. He had always worn it in a modern style, with faded sides and longer hair on top. It was still like that now, but it was slightly shorter and he didn't need gel to slick it back.

“We’ll be right back.” 

For a moment, it seemed Adrian hesitated, but he eventually agreed to Nate's idea. Nevertheless, he cast a look at Jamie as if checking for his approval, even though the team leader was also in the room. 

Everyone always made sure the hero was alright, and while he was grateful for it, he also began to wonder if it was sustainable in the long run. After the weekend, the Legion was to find out that Solid was back, and he didn't doubt that although the organization would let him rest after everything he’d been through, the question of whether he would return to duty would constantly hang over his head.

In the past, he would have said yes without hesitation, but now… his fear was probably irrational. He remembered nothing of his stay at R.I.S.E., so did they even have a reason to look for him? He was helpless against them whether he was with them or out, and there was a good chance they knew it.

“We’ve put together a map of all the NovaCure Labs branches, if you want to take a look.” 

Fortunately, as the team leader, Xavier had to know all his teammates. That was exactly why he knew precisely what Jamie needed and didn't let him feel useless, even if he could only help from the couch of Eli’s apartment.

“How many are there?” he asked after nodding. 

Xavier handed him a tablet, saying: “Fourteen, including the one in Krasport.” 

“Why are there two types of markers?”

The first thing Jamie noticed on the screen were larger red circles, fourteen of them after a quick count, and then smaller purple ones, which there were clearly more of even at first glance.

“NovaCure Labs has its own pharmacy network. After Adrian remembered how the Sunshine Boy case started—” his gaze briefly flicked toward the dark-haired stranger, “—we decided to mark the pharmacies as well, even though Creed didn’t know whether they were connected to the experiments.”

Pharmacies with medication for superhumans had become much more widespread since more Legion branches were established years ago. Since more heroes were now in the public eye, there was also an awareness that there were likely many more people with abilities out there, even if they hadn't chosen the hero’s path.

Right now, after a quick count, he could see almost forty of them on the map, with one in every city where a Legion branch was located. If pharmacy employees were involved in the kidnappings as well, they would be close to heroes and no one would suspect them.

If Creed’s words were true, one of the biggest frauds and human experimentation operations had probably been escaping Legion’s attention for years.

It was a chilling realization.

If Jamie hadn’t been kidnapped, would they have found out at all?

His fragile mental state stirred again, because suddenly he felt as if the light from the tablet was too bright, and in the hands holding it he felt a slight tingling, like pins and needles.

His vision was starting to narrow into a tunnel, unable to see anything but the map in front of him, even though the very sight of it was what was causing him stress, if that was what it could be called.

“Your hands are shaking.”

Suddenly he wasn’t the only one holding the tablet anymore. Hands appeared on the sides where his weren’t, and from the voice Jamie recognized it was Eli. When he finally managed to look up, he once again saw the concerned expression on his face.

The dark-haired hero nodded and let him take the device, though he stayed close so he could still see it too.

“Let’s go sit down.” 

He followed Elias’s instructions and sat beside him on the couch. From the side he could feel Creed’s gaze on him, but he didn’t return it, instead continuing to look at the glowing device.

“Do you think we should warn Legion? Or at least the hospitals that get their medication from them?” Jamie shifted his attention with his question toward the team commander.

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Xavier admitted. “But without their medication, hero hospitals wouldn’t manage. They practically have a monopoly on the market, since the only company that comes close to them is Nexus Biotics, and they don’t yet have enough capacity to cover the market if we shut down everything NovaCure owns.”

“So what now?”

Xavier was the one who always knew what to do. Even though he was only thirty two and belonged among the younger team leaders, since there were still some in other branches who remained active even in their fifties, it didn’t take away from his leadership abilities or critical thinking.

The only thing that revealed he carried too much responsibility for his age, even though he handled it well, were a few gray hairs that stood out clearly in the sunlight among his otherwise light brown strands. And maybe a few lines around his blue, almost gray eyes.

“First we’ll inform Legion that you’re back. When we tell them you’re suffering from memory loss, it will buy us time for the investigation,” he replied. “If Creed is right and someone in Legion is helping them, if that information reaches him or her, they’ll get a false sense of security and it will give us another advantage.”

It was a good plan.

It was a plan that protected him and Creed, and while it kept them safe, it gave the others the opportunity to act as if they had no doubts about Legion or anyone else. That way they were safe too, even though they knew what to watch out for.

“Okay.” Jamie took the tablet from Eli’s hands and handed it back to Xavier.

“For now, focus on getting better,” the commander told him. “No one expects you to return to duty right away, but I know you. You don’t want to just sit and wait.”

Jamie nodded. “I can still do some research.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Xavier assured him. “But until we have more leads, the best thing you can do is focus on your memory. Of course, no one is pressuring you. Whatever you went through was traumatic, and none of us want you to suffer because of the memories of it.”

“I know.” Even so, Jamie wanted to remember. That was why that day he made an important decision, one he saw as the first step toward finding out what had actually happened on the day he disappeared.