"taylor. Taylor. TAYLOR."

Taylor blinked back into consciousness to find Dominic bending over her, worried. When she locked eyes with him, he sighed.

"Gym Boy is never going to let me hear the end of this," he muttered. "He'll go on and on about how he should have come."

Taylor only half listened to Dominic, the other half of her was gazing around. They weren't in the bank anymore but in an office. Along with this observation came the realization that she didn't hurt. With the hit she took, she should be feeling an army of construction workers banging around in her head. But she felt nothing, she was fine.

"What happened?" she asked, remaining on the floor in case movement brought on the pain. "Did you stop the robber?"

Dominic snorted. "Are you serious? I watched you get thrown into a wall. The only thing I cared about was getting you out of there."

"How long has it been? My head doesn't hurt. Maybe we can still go stop him."

This made Dominic laugh. "You're cute. We're in the Time Stop, of course you don't feel any pain, that comes later."

Dread seeped into Taylor and the desire to move evaporated. The team of construction workers were simply on standby.

"We need to leave," Dominic said. "You have to take us back to the cafe."

Reluctantly, Taylor sat up, she was not looking forward to what was to come. Dominic helped her to her feet, his grip never lessening on her arm. She was grateful, she didn't think she'd be able to think let alone get them out of there if she was hit by pain.

The office shifted to the cafe, the patrons all frozen. At their table, Clint sat staring at Taylor's empty chair with a crinkle of concern between his brows. She didn't doubt how that worry would multiply when he found out what happened.

"You should sit down," Dominic said. "I have a feeling this isn't going to be pleasant."

Taylor had that same unsettling feeling. As Taylor took a deep breath to ready herself, Dominic double-checked the cafe to make sure no one looked their way.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Not really, but let's do this."

Giving her a sympathetic look, Dominic took his hand away. A wall slammed into the back of Taylor's head and she gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. A sledgehammer beat against her skull and she bent double, clutching her head and squeezing her eyes shut. Through the pounding, she heard a chair scrape against the floor.

"What happened?" Clint demanded.

She caught a whiff of his wintery cologne as Clint knelt before her.

"The situation didn't go as planned," Dominic said. "She was thrown against a wall."

The first initial assault of pain ebbed and Taylor relaxed a bit. Clint shucked in a breath and let it out slowly.

"Okay," he said, all his emotions trapped inside. "Dominic, go ask for a bag of ice as well as eggs." Dominic went without complaint. "Taylor, can you talk to me? Tell me how bad the pain is?"

His voice sounded like a gentle wave, soothing. She shook her head, still fighting off the intense throbbing.

"That's okay," Clint said, calmly. "I need you to take a deep breath, can you do that?"

Taylor barely nodded, afraid the pain would spike if she moved too much. She took a deep breath in and released it.

"Again."

She repeated the process. With each exhale, she felt herself loosening. The pain became more bearable.

"Good. Can you look at me?"

Slowly, Taylor lifted her head and opened her eyes. Warm, caring brown eyes met hers. Clint shifted closer and cupped her face, his hands gentle.

"Keep looking at me," he said.

He studied her eyes as she stared back at him. They were so close it could have felt like they were sharing a moment. If not for Taylor's head throbbing and Clint's clinical manner.

"Your pulps aren't uneven," he said. "But you still might have a minor concussion. Can you answer some questions for me?"

"Okay," Taylor said.

He took his hands away and Taylor almost wanted to ask him to leave them there. It was a nice distraction from the ache in her head.

"Full name?" he asked.

"Taylor Grace Barnes."

"Address?"

Taylor rattled it off, along with a train of other bits of information. Satisfied, Clint drew close again, carefully touching the back of her head. She winced when he found the spot where she'd collided with the wall.

"You have a bump, but at least it's sticking out, that's good. We'll have to go to the nurse to see if you have a concussion."

Dominic appeared then holding out a bag of ice and a plate of steaming eggs. Clint took the ice and handed it to Taylor.

"Can you hold this to her head?" he asked.

Taylor gingerly placed the ice against her injury and let out a breath when the throbbing dropped to a dull ache.

"Thanks," she said.

Dominic nodded. Clint glanced up at him, doing a quick survey.

"You good, man?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm good. He only got to her."

Both boys trained their gazes back on Taylor, wearing twin expressions of concern. If she had the energy, she would have commented that it was possible for them to get along. But it didn't feel like the time. Drained, Taylor closed her eyes, letting the ice numb her pain.

"You should eat," Clint said. "It will help."

With one hand, she ate the plate of eggs. It did help and she felt her weakness receding. Both boys watched her, their concern taking on different forms. Clint went analytical, searching for any more signs of damage. Dominic went fidgeting as if he wanted to go hit something.

"You can both stop staring at me like I'm going to fall over," Taylor said. "It doesn't hurt as much."

Despite this statement, they both continued to look at her with wrinkled brows. With the pain manageable, she almost found it amusing. They did have common ground, annoyingly enough that common ground was her. To avoid their eyes, Taylor moved from the empty plate to the waffles, the food helping keep weakness at bay. Eventually, both boys relaxed.

"What happened?" Clint asked Dominic.

As Dominic related the brief events in the bank, Taylor couldn't help feeling like they were missing something. She knew she didn't weigh that much, but when the robber had thrown her it felt like she weighed nothing at all. And she couldn't remember him ever touching her.

What she wanted was the video footage from the bank. If there was any. But the only way she'd ever see that would be with police access and well...

The thought soured Taylor's stomach and she stopped eating, her appetite gone. When she took the ice away from her head, she felt relieved that the pain didn't surge back. Clint and Dominic stopped talking, watching her again.

"We should get to school," Taylor said.

"We should," Clint agreed. "You need to see the nurse. You can get aspirin from her. It will help with the pain and inflammation."

Taylor rose but paused, her balance off-kilter. Dominic took hold her of arm to keep her from falling. She waved him away.

"I'm fine," she said. "You don't have to worry about me so much."

Dominic and Clint exchanged a glance at this.

"Tay," Dominic said. "You say that, but you're talking to the two people that have seen you exhausted, passed out, and appear bleeding," he gestured between himself and Clint. "On both our floors. So you don't actually have a say in whether we worry or not."

Well, that was no arguing with that, it wasn't a great track record. Sighing, she took hold of Dominic's arm.

"Fair point," she said, using him to make sure she could walk straight.

With money left on the table, they headed out of the cafe, Taylor protected by both boys on each side. When she felt steady enough, she let go of Dominic's arm. They walked in silence to the school. Taylor winced as they stepped into the crowded hallways, the noise hurting her head. Clint touched her arm.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's just loud in-"

"DOMINIC!"

Taylor cringed at the shout as Dominic's posse of football players came towards him.

"I'll see you both around," Dominic said. "Tay, don't let your head fall off."

As he joined his group, Clint guided Taylor toward the office. Inside, the secretary juggled five different students' needs and quickly told Clint and Taylor the nurse was running late and to wait for a few minutes. Clint sat down beside Taylor, sending her looks every few seconds. She appreciated she wasn't alone but the hovering was starting to irritate her. When the bell rang, Taylor nudged Clint to stand.

"Go to class," she said. "I'll see the nurse."

"Are you-"

"Clint. Go. If I pass out in the hallway I'll call you."

Clint frowned at Taylor's joke even as she grinned.

"Not funny."

"Okay, I'll just make sure not to pass out. Fair?"

For another second, Clint wavered and Taylor pushed his stomach to urge him on. Though with his physique it was like pushing against a brick wall. Still, the brick wall seemed to finally decide to move on.

"Message me if you need me," he said.

"I will."

Quickly the office emptied as well as the hallways beyond. Taylor leaned her head back on the chair but winced when she hit her injury. Sighing, she lifted her head and stared at nothing, replaying the brief bank encounter. She knew what she had to do. She didn't want to do what she had to do. He was still...

With another sigh that came from knowing the inevitable and wishing for a different future, Taylor pulled out her phone. She stared at the screen for a long moment, gearing up. Putting the phone to her ear, she focused on the ground, a patchwork of scuffed and beaten linoleum. Though she hadn't expected differently, the trail of rings that ended with a voicemail still stung.

"This is Detective Weston, leave me a message. If this is an emergency call 911."

Taylor paused before speaking, picking at a tear in her jeans. "Hey. It's me... I know you still need time and... and that's okay. I'm calling you because well... You most likely already know this but there was a robbery at the Williams bank this morning. I believe it was a single robber, I only saw one guy. I couldn't stop him... I might... I might be wrong about this. I hope I'm wrong about this but... I think he's like me."

Taylor tugged at the rip even more. It sounded ridiculous but then again it didn't. Dominic and she existed, why not someone else in the city? But if that was true what could normal policemen do?

"I don't know for sure. I wanted to tell you though. Just, be careful." She hesitated. "If you want to talk it over... Well, you know how to reach me."

Taylor hung up and made the same mistake of leaning her head back again. Swearing under her breath, she gently touched her bruised head.

"Have a seat and the principal will be right with you."

Taylor looked over as a guy with dark blonde hair, attractive features, and dark eyes turned away from the secretary. When he made eye contact with Taylor, he smiled, the look both flirty and friendly. Taylor didn't react, not sure how she was supposed to. Most of her interactions nowadays were with Clint, Dominic, or Bailey, that was about as big as her friend group was at the moment.

"Hey," the guy said.

Taylor nodded but didn't think more than that was necessary.

"That's how you greet new students?" the guy asked. "I don't know if I should be offended or honored I got a response at all."

"Take it however you want. It's nothing personal, that's how I greet most everyone."

"Good to know. This is how I greet people." He held out his hand. "I'm Grayson, you can call me Gray."

Taylor studied the offered hand for a moment before shaking it. "Kinda formal for a high schooler."

"Product of my upbringing."

"Grayson?" Taylor looked up at Principal Kent standing in her doorway. "Why don't you come in?"

Grayson stood but kept his attention on Taylor. "I still want to know your name."

"Taylor."

Grayson smiled. "I'll see you around, Taylor."

"It's not that big of a school so I'm sure you will."

Chuckling, Grayson turned away and joined Principal Kent. Taylor watched him, her heart jolting in her chest. From the back, with his hood up, Taylor saw a familiar set of broad shoulders and a tall stature. One that she'd seen right before she'd been thrown into a wall.

**********************************************************************

WHAM BAM POW!

Cliff hanger punch to the metaphorical face! Ha! Makes you wonder why I'm called Sunshine Girl when I seem so evil! Maybe it's a diversion, I'm not actually sunshine but rain!

But some people like rain because its peaceful, and sometimes there's rain with sunshine. So it seems I can be both! One of the paradoxes of life!

Moving on!

Give me your super thoughts! And if they aren't super well... that's okay I'll take them anyways. 🗯💬💭🦹🏼‍♂️

I think we should decide now where we stand on the new addition: Grayson, who also goes as Gray. Is he the super?

Yes, most definitely is.

No, it's coincidence.

It's another diversion, I'll make you think he is but in fact he isn't but I play it so it is never clear and therefore you sit screaming at your phone for answers and in the end I twist it all around again.

That last one is a very oddly specific answer, I wonder if it's true. Hmmm...

We shall see! *evil cackle*

See, told you I could be both! I gave you a chapter (sunshine) but I also gave you a cliff hanger, confusion, and doubt (rain)

Vote, comment, follow! Know that even though it might not seem like it, I do love you!

And love to annoy you!