I woke up somewhere very hot. I don't know where--I just remember seeing sparks up near the ceiling.
I must have passed out because the next time I opened my eyes, I was wearing a hospital gown and lying down in bed. A figure moved above me and then came into focus. A dark mask covered most of his face but I recognized those bright blue eyes. "Ryan?" I whispered. "What's going on?"
He put his hand over my hand. "You're safe now, but I think you have me confused with someone else. I'm Streak."
I shook my head and my vision swirled.
"Try not to move." He patted my hand and stepped away.
A few minutes passed and my vision cleared. My head stopped pounding. I sat up carefully. The room didn't spin.
A man in a white lab coat walked over and shook my hand. "I'm Dr. Atom. Do you remember your name?"
"Molly Waters." I glanced around the room. It looked like a standard hospital room but somehow I didn't feel like I was in a hospital. "Where am I?"
"This is part of the Super Seven's headquarters, actually. Streak found you and brought you here. He was concerned that--"
"Found me where?"
Dr. Atom gave me a look. Was that confusion? "You don't remember?"
"No."
"Streak found you at the nuclear power plant north of the city. We were hoping you could tell us what you were doing there."
I rubbed my hand over my head. "I don't know. The last thing I remember was going to sleep in my apartment."
"Then how did you end up at Next Gen Energy?"
"I told you, I don't know." The sparks I saw, the heat, that must have been in the nuclear plant. But I didn't remember how I got there. This didn't make sense. "May I speak to Streak please?"
"Yes, in a moment." Dr. Atom flipped a page on his clipboard. "He was worried that something happened to you, so I ran a few basic tests. Your vitals are normal. Blood test results are normal. No sign of radiation poisoning."
I nodded. "Thank you."
He stood up and left the room.
Streak walked in. He pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down. He looked at me for a moment. I didn't say anything.
He took a deep breath. "Do you know what my day job is?"
"Taxi driver," I said. My voice was barely a whisper. This wasn't at all how I imagined this conversation going.
He stood up and paced around the bed. "How long have you known who I am?"
"About two months."
Ryan took even strides. He kept his voice at an even tone.
"Have you told anyone?"
"Of course not." I couldn't tell if he was angry with me.
He sat back down. "Molly, what happened tonight?"
"I don't know."
"You can be honest with me, you know."
"I know." I shifted on the bed to face him. "The last thing I remember is going to sleep at home. How did you find me?"
"Dr. Atom is sort of the Super Seven's operator. He put out the message that Next Gen Energy was going on overload. High chance of an explosion. I was in the area, so I thought I'd check it out. Fate was already there. There was smoke from fires that were put out, but the situation looked under control. I asked her what needed to be done and she shrugged. She said things were mostly taken care of by the time she got there."
"By who?"
"Exactly. Fate saw you first, actually. I recognized you, so I brought you back here to make sure you were okay."
"Thank you." Ryan moved his hand onto the bed and I held it. "I'm sorry this is so bizarre."
"There's more..." Ryan glanced at me for a second and then stared at our hands. "When Fate and I found you, you weren't wearing any clothes."
"I...what?"
"I covered you with my cape." He was blushing. My cheeks were probably bright red. I've woken up naked a few times in the last few months, but always in my apartment. Still mysteries as to why or how, but at least no one else saw me. "Small fires, debris everywhere, but there wasn't a scratch on you. None of this makes sense."
"Ummm...is there...I don't know if it's too early to ask. But is there security footage of the place? Maybe that can show us what happened."
He nodded. "Fate is getting access to it."
"Ryan, I'm scared. I don't know how any of this happened."
He squeezed my hand. "I know, but we'll figure this out."