A few hours later, Cie lies on the shingles of the roof of Agent O’s house, staring up at the twinkling stars above. She inhales deeply, the smell of nighttime hitting her nostrils and she exhales a long slow breath. The sound of a window opening draws her attention, and then Nathan is out on the roof beside her.

“So, why’d you do it?” Nathan asks as he settles down onto the roof beside her.

“Do what?” Cie asks and Nathan glances at her.

“You know what.”

“Why would I try to leave Earth. That’s what you mean, huh?” Cie asks, a slight tinge of bitterness to her voice.

Nathan stares at her, seemingly expecting a response besides that. He soon gets one.

“I’ve been on Earth for one hundred and ten years, Nathan. That’s why. I’m not an Earthling. I’m not like you or Agent O.” Cie sighs.

“Well, just because you don’t fit in, doesn’t mean you should leave.” Nathan replies.

Cie is quiet for a long moment, and then she turns to look at her half-brother.

“Y’know, I often think about what would have happened to me had the U.S. government continued to keep me in a lab. With no one to love, and no love directed towards me, I think I would have become evil. But I was released from the lab in 2014. I was adopted by you, and Agent O, even though I know he would never admit it as adoption. I think if I didn’t have my memories of you, Agent O, Mag, and Serene, I think I really would have gone Supernova by now and destroyed this planet.” She murmurs and Nathan nods, his face thoughtful.

“You never talk about your time in the lab. But you were there for a long time, right?”

“Yeah. From 1941 until 2014.”

“I was only in a lab for my baby years before I was put into Agent O’s care. I can’t even imagine how terrible that must have been for you.”

“It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Area 51 was pretty spacious. I was allowed to run around, since I looked like a seven-year-old until 2014, they treated me like a really weird alien seven-year-old.” Cie grins and Nathan frowns.

“You’re not weird. I bet for a Supernova, you’d be considered pretty cool.”

Cie laughs quietly.

“Thanks, Big Brother.”

“Anytime, Little C.” Nathan replies, pulling her into a side hug.

He releases her and they sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“What did you want to find, away from Earth?” Nathan asks, and Cie tilts her head to the side, thinking.

“Adventure. It’s the one thing my life has always been missing.” She replies.

“But you have everything else you could ever want now?”

“Yup. A family, friends, a nice laboratory, a house to hold my belongings of which I have many… Everything but adventure.”

“Is that why you’re so fond of making killer robots and weapons?” Nathan smirks and Cie punches his shoulder lightly.

“Hey, the robots didn’t kill anyone! And you aren’t supposed to talk about the weapons! What if someone is listening? What if Agent O bugged you again so he’d overhear our talks?”

“Your robots certainly tried to kill us. Agent O was furious. That’s why he kept bugging me for a month, so he’d hear if you came up with any new craziness.” Nathan smiles.

“It didn’t work either.” Cie smiles and the half-siblings laugh together.

“So, how’s your secret blog going?” Cie whispers after their laughter subsides.

“I wrote about the craziness that happened today. I reported it how I saw it.” Nathan says, his voice serious.

Cie nods and then pulls her knees up to her chest. They watch the starts, and then Nathan points up.

“Shooting star. It’s gone now.”

“Probably another Supernova baby on its way to a planet to crash-land on.” Cie remarks carelessly.

“Maybe. I like to imagine that someone wished on your shooting star when you crash-landed in the 1910s.”

“I don’t know that they believed in wishing on shooting stars back then. I was still in my baby stage. I didn’t age up to look like I was seven until 1940.”

“Could you have aged up at any time when you were in your baby stage?” Nathan asks, peering at his half-sister curiously.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to remember my baby stage.”

Nathan nods at this answer and falls silent. Then he yawns.

“Are you going to sleep tonight?” Nathan asks after a moment and Cie frowns.

“I dunno. I have a lot to think about. I should probably go check on Mag tomorrow, see how Agent B and him are holding up with Timothy and Princess what’s-her-face living there. I would go to check on them now, but it’s probably pretty late.”

Nathan pulls out his green phone case that reads, “My brain has too many tabs open” and clicks his phone on. The light from the phone lights up his face.

“It’s 6 in the morning.” He says as shows Cie the time and she sighs.

“Agent O will be up soon. You should probably get some sleep.” She says, staring at the picture Nathan has as his lock screen background.

It’s a picture of the two of them lifting Agent O’s pink suburban into the air together, while Agent O yells at them from the driver’s seat, his head out the window. Cie remembers that day. Their friend Serene Strange had taken the photo using her phone and had sent the picture to Cie and Nathan. Serene had been amazed at Cie’s strength on her own, but then Nathan had suggested they pick up Agent O’s suburban once he got home. And they had, much to Serene’s delight and Agent O’s dismay. They did the antics at midnight, not like if anyone in their neighborhood had seen them would have cared much, they live in a neighborhood of secret agents. Energi is infested with secret agents.

“Night, sis.” Nathan says as he clicks off his phone’s screen, bringing Cie back to the present.

“Night, Nathan.” She says and Nathan climbs back inside his window, shutting it quietly.

Cie stays outside until sunrise, and then opens her own window, jumping inside the house. She lands nimbly, like a cat, on the floor. Then she shuts the window. Her bedroom is covered in band posters and she has a closet full of two-piece dresses of a variety of colors. She had made it clear to Agent O when she’d become his charge that she loved two-piece dresses. He’d never forgotten, and he’d always gotten her a new dress whenever she messed up one of her dresses. Her bed has green bedsheets and blankets, but the bed is not often used, so the sheets and blankets are neatly tucked in. When she does sleep, which is rare, she has a pair of white pajamas with red stars on them. She only has one pair of pajamas.

She stretches and pulls her phone out of a dress pocket, sending a quick text to her friend Mag,

How are you holding up with the newbies?

She sits in her beanbag chair and waits for him to respond, and he does a few minutes later.

Timothy is sleeping in my room. Octavia is staying in Agent B’s room.

Good luck to Agent B.

Octavia seems a bit obsessive about Tim.

He hates being called Tim. Octavia tried to call him that.

Ooh, drama.

Fill me in.

I don’t know them very well, but Timothy doesn’t seem to like or know Octavia. Call it a hunch.

I could tell that much…

Timmy was keeping Octagon a leg-length away from him on the couch when he was here.

Timmy? Seriously?

He would literally cause bodily harm to you if he heard you.

Ooh, being defensive for Timmy? Cute

Stop.

LOL

I mean, sorry, Prince Mag Aristide XD

Mag doesn’t reply and Cie stands up from her beanbag chair. She runs a brush through her short brown hair, taking time on her long curly green bangs, which are always a tangled mess after a long 24 hours of staying awake. She sprays them with hairspray to keep the bangs out of her face. Then she slips her headphones around her neck. She looks at her closet full of two-piece dresses and picks a brown top with a black bottom part. She quickly changes out of the dress she had been wearing for the past day and night and then dumps the old dress with the ripped hem in a laundry basket. She’s still wearing her brown leather boots from the day before, and the same socks.

She was too lazy to change socks, and it’s not like anyone will see her socks anyways. She strolls over to her bedroom door and opens it, stepping into the hallway. She jogs down the stairs, to the kitchen where Agent O is reading the newspaper with his black cup of coffee.

“Where are you going?” Agent O asks, not even putting down the newspaper.

“Agent B’s house.” Cie says as she heads for the living room.

“Be back by eight tonight.” Agent O calls and she waves to him as she enters the living room and opens the front door.

“Bye.” She says as she steps outside, into the brisk early morning sunrise.

She walks down the street, heading towards Agent B’s house. Her address, which Cie was forced to memorize in case something ever happened, is 413 NE 4th Street. Cie pulls out her phone as she slips on her headphones.

She puts on her favorite grunge band and then whips out her phone from her dress pocket.

On my way to your casa.

This early?

Of course. There’s drama afoot.

I can smell it.

Cie slips her phone back into her dress pocket, and walks down the street, oblivious to the black van parked in the driveway in one of her neighbor’s houses, the driver watching her with interest.