When Matthew pulled himself together, he allowed the paramedics to check up on him. And, upon determining that he was mostly unscathed— save for a few bruises and scratches— decided to let him get some air.

Pulled by the voices of police officers and other worried paramedics, Matthew rose on wobbly legs and stumbled over to the left wing of the estate just in time to see Mr. Grey emerge from the hole in the wall, ushering a cluster of paramedics who were carrying someone out on a stretcher.

Matthew gasped when he caught sight of long, fiery-red hair and rushed over. Cecilia.

But as he headed across the lawn, he stopped, his attention stolen by the distinctly-shaped bags laying on the grass. Body bags. He stopped as he passed one that was being zipped up by a cluster of paramedics, his blood turning cold.

Just as the zipper went over her grey, lifeless face, Matthew caught sight of a woman that he didn't recognize. She had been young, no older than at least thirty, and had long blonde hair. But what struck him as odd was the fact that she, unlike the rest of the heroes, wasn't wearing a suit. She was wearing normal clothes. She looked... normal.

Matthew turned away. He couldn't help but wonder what Pardus had done before Matthew had arrived, if he had started by targeting everyday people before moving on to heroes. That woman would be another question left unanswered by Pardus. Another winning blow.

Matthew lifted his head upon hearing a familiar shout and found Jason running towards him. "Matthew!"

And, before he could even blink, the older boy had thrown his arms around him, almost knocking Matthew off balance. "You did it, Matthew. You did it. We saved her. She's alive."

This time, Matthew didn't squirm in his embrace. He didn't try to pull away. Instead, he stayed in his arms for as long as he could, feeling tears begin to form in his eyes. He gripped the back of Jason's hoodie and buried his face in his shoulder.

Jason stiffened, then gently rubbed his back. "Matthew?"

Matthew didn't respond. He let himself cry. He let himself have this moment of vulnerability. And Jason got the message. So when Matthew's shoulders began to shake and his tears dampened his shirt, Jason just stood there and held him.

Like Micah had.

Even though Jason was far from a brother to him, far from even a close friend, he and Cecilia were all he had left. He didn't have Micah anymore. He never had Pardus. Matthew had nowhere to go, no place to call home. Sure, he would be free from torment and slavery, but he was more alone than he had ever been before.

Freedom came at a cost, it seemed.

Finally, when Matthew brought himself to pull away, he hid his face and wiped his tears. He hated crying in front of people. He hated drawing attention to himself. He wanted to disappear.

"Is it okay if I ask what's wrong?" Jason carefully asked. "What happened?"

"It's nothing," Matthew muttered hoarsely. "How's Cecilia?"

"She's being taken to the hospital. Do you want to come with me? You know, to get out of here?"

"Vulpus!"

Matthew's attention snapped to the left as he heard Yang's voice, but upon remembering that his eyes were red and puffy from crying, he averted his gaze elsewhere.

Yang pulled to a halt, and Matthew could feel her dark eyes on him. "Vulpus, are you okay?"

"He's fine," Jason assured her. "He just... needs some space."

"Ah, okay," Yang said. "Well, I just wanted to congratulate him on win—"

Matthew snapped. "I didn't win, okay?!"

Yang and Jason fell silent.

And after what felt like a painfully awkward moment, Yang spoke up. "Well... look at what you did do, Matthew. Pardus is finally going to be gone. Sent to his death or to prison, we don't know. Either way, you started this, and then you finished it. That's what heroes do, Matthew. They look at the bigger picture. Without you, without your guidance, Pardus would've never been found and stopped."

She was right. Deep down, Matthew knew that. He had been the one to catch one of the most arguably prolific villains in Amberchase, but where she had been wrong was the part where she had mentioned it being a part of some "bigger picture". It sounded selfish, but a part of this fight had been for himself. For his brother. To find closure after all these years of abuse. And now that little sliver of dissatisfaction, that lack of closure, was the one thing eating at him. Pardus had said what he had said to lure Matthew back to him.

This fight wasn't finished.

Instead of answering her, Matthew looked to Jason. "I'll go with you."

Jason nodded. "Okay, then we better hurry. It looks like her ambulance is about to take off."

Matthew was about to turn, but he stopped when he heard Yang speak up again. "Wait, Matthew—" She said. "I just need you to know that if you are serious about being a hero, if you really want this, you should apply to TAFAH."

Matthew blinked at her, her words processing in his mind. Then he said, "I'll consider it, thank you."

He turned and hurried after Jason as they rushed to catch the ambulance before the doors shut and it sped away.

Matthew didn't look back at the estate as he hopped into the back and sat down beside Jason. He didn't even glance out one of the small windows as the sirens blared and the ambulance took off. In his mind, he pictured Pardus being carried out through the doors of his grand estate, past all the servants he abused, refusing to look them in the eye. He pictured Pardus being shoved into the back of a police car, fussing about how they were handling him and how they were wrinkling his nice clothes. Then he imagined him rotting in the stinky, orange prison uniform he'd be given, trapped in the small cell he had to occupy.

Now Pardus would feel what he had felt.

And thank God for that.

Matthew's gaze trailed over to Cecilia as the car screeched down the streets and into the city, and took in her face— the paleness of her skin, the peaceful expression that she wore. It had probably been the same expression she had worn when Pardus froze her over. That tranquility had probably come from her knowing that her beloved was safe and that she had protected him.

At this thought, Matthew turned and looked over at Jason, who had taken ahold of one of her hands and was bent over it.

"I never told her that I loved her," he remembered Jason saying.

Now he'd be given the chance to say what he wanted to say. Now he'd be able to hold her again. And even now, with Red Sun's name on the list of people who helped save the captive heroes of Amberchase, his chances of becoming more popular and earning more money were high. The only thing that needed to change was the fact that Red Sun was a vigilante. And maybe, just maybe that would.

But Matthew couldn't help but ponder over what Yang had said, and realize that going to TAFAH might be his only option. He couldn't return to the estate. He couldn't live with Jason and Cecilia. And he would not want to end up in the foster care system.

For now, however, he had some time to think about it.

And think, he would.

~     ~     ~

Matthew didn't remember the last time he had been at a hospital, but what he did remember was that they always made him uneasy. As he sat beside Jason, waiting outside Cecilia's room, he bounced his knee and tried to listen to music to take his mind off things.

He stuffed his headphones into his ears, opened his playlist of Coldplay songs, and hit shuffle. The one that started playing was, "Swallowed in the Sea".

At first, he didn't pay much attention to it. But then a specific set of lyrics made his skin crawl.

You put me on a shelf

And kept me for yourself

I can only blame myself

You can only blame me.

Matthew sighed loudly, paused the song, and forcefully pulled his earphones out of his ears.

Jason looked over at him curiously. "Are you okay?"

Matthew sighed. "I just... nevermind. It's not important."

"You, uh, sure?"

"Yeah."

Jason paused for a moment, and looked away from Matthew and down at his hands that sat in his lap. "You know... you can stay with me and Cecilia for a while until you find a place to go."

Matthew shook his head. "No, I can't."

Jason returned his eyes to Matthew and frowned. "Why not?"

"Because, as you said, you're low on money. You can't afford to take care of me more than you already have."

"But..."

Matthew's mind went wandering to that first day in Cecilia's apartment, what she had said to him when he asked why Red Sun hadn't bothered getting his hero license.

"You can ask him that once we save him."

So Matthew turned to him, whether it was the right time or not, and asked, "Why don't you get your hero license? You know, after all this, you would probably make good money. You're on the list of people who helped put away a supervillain."

For a moment, Jason didn't respond. He probably didn't know how to. But, when he did, he started with a sigh. "That's... a long story, and a personal one."

"But still," Matthew pressed. "It would solve all your problems. You would make more money. Money that both you and your girlfriend need. Why not?"

"Because—because," he stammered. "The law is faulty. Rigged. Why should I follow the law if it—it—"

Matthew just looked at him, watched as he choked on his words, waited for Jason to give him a good explanation.

"It took away my father," Jason finished. "He was killed. He was a police officer who died at the hand of the very same system he served. He was killed by another officer. It robbed me of my home, my mother, my sister. It tore my whole family apart."

Matthew's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting that. If anything, a pang of pity coursed through him. He knew what it felt like to watch your family get ripped apart.

"My mother struggled with substance abuse after he died," Jason continued quietly. "And because she couldn't pay the bills, my sister and I were given to our aunts. They were kind to her, loved her, but I? I wasn't happy there. So when I turned eighteen, I packed up my crap and left for the streets. Where I stayed."

"But... but your sister?"

Jason ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "She's fine. Happy. Living the life of a spoiled little princess."

"You don't see her ever? Talk to her?"

Jason's silence was the answer he needed.

Matthew looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry I asked."

"It's okay..." Jason said solemnly. "You... you're right."

Matthew lifted his head.

"I've been living on the streets for four years. When I met Cecilia, she gave me a purpose. She gave me a family, a life. I think It's time I come to terms with the law and start repaying her, providing for her like she's provided for me."

A small smile crawled up Matthew's face. "Good."

At that, Jason smiled too.

But, the brief moment of tenderness that they shared was quickly silenced as the shadow of a man loomed over them. Matthew quickly looked up and found that it was a police officer, a bald man with bushy eyebrows.

"Are you Matthew Rivers?" He asked.

"Yes," Matthew feebly replied.

"Will you come with me? I just have a few things to ask you regarding your guardian."

Matthew stole a nervous glance at Jason.

"Just go, I'll, uh, probably be here when you get back. Unless they let me into Cecilia's room by then. Then I'll be in there." Jason stammered.

"Oh. Okay," Matthew said as he stood and turned towards the officer. "Lead the way, sir."

And with that, the officer turned and headed down the hall, expecting Matthew to follow.

~     ~     ~

During his discussion with the officer and his investigators, Matthew was asked questions about his life at the estate, Pardus, and how he had treated him as a guardian. To which, Matthew gladly answered.

Going forward, he would be the direct witness in the prosecution of Pardus, and would be protected by the law. However, because he had no other legal guardians, the investigators recommended being put in foster care. To prevent that unwanted outcome, Matthew had struck a deal with them. If he were to apply to TAFAH and get in, he could attend their private school and live amongst the other boarding school students. The school would become his permanent place of residency. One of the teachers would become his guardian.

It was a deal.

And so Matthew left the private room that they had talked in with a stack of papers in his hand, and in search of a quiet place to sit. Unfortunately, in a bustling hospital, that was an almost impossible place to encounter. However, he soon stumbled across a lactation room, and, to his luck, found it empty.

Matthew slipped inside and closed the door, trying not to think about how awkward it would be if he was found in here, but he supposed he really didn't have any other choice. He collapsed in the chair and laid the papers on his knee, clicking his pen as he read the requirements on the application. Then, he began to fill it out.

First, his name. Easy enough. It was Matthew Rivers. Then his gender, male. His date of birth was March 15, 2005, and his place of birth he guessed to be Amberchase. His chosen alias was Vulpus. His idio? "Copying" others' idios by touch.

From there, he filled out more details about his abilities and moved onto filling out menial things like his shirt size, pant size, and shoe size. When he reached the section about hero costumes he wrinkled his nose and scratched it out. Then, began to fill out what information he could about his homeschooling. Unfortunately, he couldn't fill out the section about all his grades dating back to elementary school. He hoped it wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

When he was finished, he sighed and read everything over, chewing on the end of the pen as he did so. It was crazy to think he had a chance at attending TAFAH— a real, well-regarded school for rising young heroes. He knew that there would be some good things that came with it, but also some bad. He had never attended a real school before, much less been around that many kids his age. It was scary, but still leagues better than going into foster care.

When the application was finished, or finished the best he could, he stepped out of the lactation room and found the officer that had led him to the investigators. From there, he gave him the application and set off in search for Cecilia's room. Thanks to his photographic memory, he found it pretty quickly. However, when he rounded the corner, Jason was not there.

He was probably inside by now.

Matthew stopped at the door and sighed, slowly reaching for the handle. Then, after another pause, he opened the door. As it swung open, he heard two voices laughing, and found Cecilia sitting up in bed with Jason beside her in a chair. She immediately looked over at the door as it opened, her smile widening.

"Hello, little thief."

Matthew smiled, too. "Hey, Cecilia. How are you doing?"

As he stepped in and closed the door behind him, he noticed that she was hooked up to an IV and bandaged in a few places, but besides that, she seemed okay. In bright spirits, as always.

"Better now," she said, side-glancing at Jason.

Jason's cheeks warmed.

"Good," Matthew said. "I'm sure he told you what happened?"

She nodded, her smile faltering a little. "Yeah, he did." She paused. "I knew you could do it, Matthew. That day I found you, that day you told me what was happening in your life, I knew you could put an end to it. Just... the only thing we were missing was a little more firepower."

At that, Jason laughed.

"Hey, well, don't give me all the credit," Matthew forced a laugh. "Jason and Fire Fists were the ones who broke you out of your ice coffin."

"I know," Cecilia said, looking over at her boyfriend. "I had my doubts, too. I thought I might rot there forever if they came true."

Jason laughed and rolled his eyes.

"Kidding, Jace, kidding."

"I know, I know."

"Speaking of not rotting in that mansion forever, where will you go now that you're free, Matthew?"

Matthew paused for a moment. "Well, I just applied to TAFAH."

Cecilia's eyes widened. "You did?" Matthew that— that's great! My cousin Leo goes there and he really likes it. Oh, Matthew, I'm so proud of you."

"Heh. Yeah..." Matthew rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, his cheeks filling with color. "I just hope I get in. I'm kinda putting all my eggs in one basket."

"Well, that's okay. If you need a fallback, you've always got us." She winked, taking and raising Jason's hand. "Besides, it seems you convinced Jason to get his hero license. He's going to apply to shadow a professional hero, and if he gets lucky, he might get a teacher from TAFAH. He'll be able to check up on you and make sure you're staying out of trouble."

"The chances of me getting a hero from TAFAH are pretty slim, so don't get your hopes up." Jason quickly added.

"Oh, shush," Cecilia chided. "Stay optimistic. Who knows, you did work alongside Mr. Grey and Platinum. Maybe they will mentor you."

"I doubt it." Jason laughed. "But I'll stay positive."

"No," Matthew interjected. "I think Cecilia is right. I think if you ask them to mentor you, they will. I don't know what level of skill you displayed to them while I was upstairs fighting Pardus, but they did get a chance to see your idio at work. They probably saw your determination, your heart, your drive. Just try. Just ask them. It doesn't hurt."

Jason blinked, a little caught off guard that a fifteen-year-old was lecturing him about his future, but nodded anyway. "Thank you, Matthew."

Matthew nodded. He didn't regret what he said.

Cecilia broke the ice. "So... when do you find out if you made it in TAFAH?"

"I don't know," Matthew admitted. "I just hope it's soon."

"Well, you're welcome to say at our apartment for a few days until you get your decision."

"Thank you," he said with a small smile. So long as he wasn't a permanent resident or overstaying his welcome, he was fine with that idea. He just had to get that response from TAFAH as soon as possible. Hopefully, it wouldn't be long.

"Well," he added after a pause. "I'll leave you two to catch up. I'm going to, um, go find something to eat."

"Do you have money? Cecilia asked.

Matthew playfully winked. "I'm a little thief, remember?"

She rolled her eyes. "Just take a few bills so that you can get something from the vending machines."

"But..."

But Jason was already holding out a five-dollar bill before he could protest, and Matthew soon left their room in search of some nourishment.

As he wandered the halls, passing hurrying nurses and doctors, worried loved ones, and sickly patients, he just hoped he wouldn't bump into anyone else recovering from the Pardus incident. He didn't want to be reminded of that guilt, that pain.

Unfortunately for him, he'd carry it with him. Like he had done after Micah's death.

So after grabbing something to eat and drink from the vending machines, he stepped outside and into the city air. Today wasn't as gloomy and grey as Amberchase usually was. No. Today was warmer, brighter. There were no clouds in the sky. Even the pedestrians seemed...happier.

And so for the first time, Matthew closed his eyes and took it in and embraced the city for all of its glory. He basked in the opportunity it brought him, not scorned it. He lived in the moment, the feeling of the sun on his face, tuning out the cacophony of the city streets.

This was home now.

Finally, Amberchase was home.