Written by Erica Rose Jackson One year after the epilogue in Resilience Rose walked back into Brentwood Labs after another successful mission to find her husband, Jay, tinkering with a chemical compound she’d never seen before. “Hey babe,” she announced her presence, “What are you working on?” she inquired, genuinely curious. She wanted to wrap her arms around him from behind but she resisted, afraid she’d mess up his experiment, or cause him to spill it. He glanced up from his work, adjusting his glasses, “I trust your mission went off without any incidents?” She laughed, “Yes, I got the bad guys and no one got hurt. Now, what is that?” she repeated her question while pointing at the vial of purple liquid in front of Jay. “I’ve begun to think that it may be beneficial to have a team of heroes with different abilities. This is, hopefully, a serum designed to give someone the skill to control the weather. Any chance you have a friend brave enough to try it out?” he asked, knowing all of his friends were probably too old to join a super team. Rose leaned back against the table as she thought over her husband’s request. After a few minutes of silence, she answered, “I’m not sure I have enough friends to help you create an entire team of super friends but I can think of one who might be game for this. Her name’s Reid Monroe and she lives here in Nashville. Do you want me to ask her out to dinner and see if she’d like to come become a science experiment?” she teased a bit at the end, earning a smirk from Jay. “If you wouldn’t mind, I would like that very much,” he replied before he added, “Wouldn’t you like to have some backup out there?” Rose nodded, “Of course, I would. And, you know that I wish it could be you but I understand why it can’t be.” She pulled out her phone, “I’ll shoot her a text and ask her if she wants to have dinner with me tonight at The Stillery, as long as you can spare me for a night,” she teased him again, knowing he’d be too wrapped up in his work to join her for dinner. “You know I’d rather spend the evening with you, but I have a lot of work to do here at the lab,” he responded, hoping she wouldn’t be too hurt by his explanation. She moved forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, “I was just playing with you, my love, though it might make sense to put up our Christmas tree here since it’s where we spend most of our time. You know, it’s only three weeks away,” she leaned in and stole a quick kiss. “I’ll see you at home later, deal?” “That sounds wonderful,” he whispered before he stole a kiss, before he added, “Be safe out there, Resilience.” She gave him a wink, “I always am.” Reid Monroe was sitting at her desk when she got the text from Rose inviting her to dinner. She sent back an enthusiastic ‘yes’ before she returned her focus to her work. Once her day ended, she headed straight to The Stillery where she found Rose waiting for her in the parking lot. The women greeted each other with a warm embrace before they went inside and got a table. “How have you been?” Reid asked after they ordered their drinks, “I haven’t heard from you much since you met Jay.” Rose smiled, “I’ve been good. Sorry I’ve been pretty MIA for the past three years, but that’s actually part of the reason I asked you to dinner tonight. How’s everything been in your neck of the woods? Any romance news?” Rose suddenly realized how long it had been since she’d shared girl talk with anyone. Reid shook her head, “No, I’ve been so busy with work that I’ve had zero time to devote to my personal life. I’m curious about how your relationship with Jay has something to do with our dinner though, spill,” she added, almost ordering while looking Rose straight in the eyes. “Well, I was hoping we would catch up more before I revealed my ulterior motives but it’s not looking like that’s going to be possible,” Rose paused when their waitress returned to take their orders. Once the waitress walked away, Rose continued, “Here’s the thing, I’m Resilience,” she revealed her superhero identity causing Reid’s jaw to drop. Reid took a moment to gather herself before she replied, “You’re a hero with super strength? How?” “My boss asked me to steal something from Brentwood Labs and I spilled some on myself,” Rose began to explain, “That’s how I got powers. Jay is working on something new and he asked me if I knew anyone who might be interested. You’re the first person who crossed my mind. So, would you like to have the power to control the weather?” she asked, still wishing they’d spent more time on small talk before getting into her motivation behind their dinner. “What?” was all Reid could muster, “I’m sorry but this is a LOT to take in. Why do you think I’d want to become a superhero? I just explained how busy my life is with only my work calculated into the equation.” Rose could tell she’d really overwhelmed her friend. “Listen,” Rose started, “you’re right, this is a lot. Why don’t we just enjoy our night and you can sleep on my offer and get back to me tomorrow? You don’t have to do it, but I really think you’d find my work extremely fulfilling and I know you’d be good,” she said her last words on the matter and the two women moved back to general conversation until they parted ways at the end of the night. Reid crashed onto her bed once she got back from dinner, her mind racing over the prospect of becoming a superhero like her friend, which she’d just learned about.
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