Chapter 394: Trip Down Memory Lane

"Nate..."

Before Ethan could say anything else, Phantom grabbed his arm.

"Let’s go."

"Wait-"

The world disappeared.

Ethan felt his body sink through the rooftop, then through another floor, and then another. Concrete passed through him as though it wasn’t there, leaving him with the deeply unpleasant sensation of falling through solid matter.

He hated Phantom’s ability.

Not because it was weak, but because it was fucking annoying.

"Could you warn me before you do that?!"

"You would’ve said no."

"I probably would’ve."

"Exactly."

They finally emerged on another floor.

Ethan immediately noticed the difference.

This wasn’t the over-the-top environment of Victor’s office.

There were couches, a small kitchen, bookshelves, and photographs scattered throughout the spacious room. The lighting was warmer too, giving the entire floor the feeling of someone’s home rather than an office buried inside a skyscraper.

And sitting on one of the couches was a woman Ethan hadn’t seen in seven years.

His cigarette nearly fell from his mouth.

Jessica looked up.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Nathan took that time to slip out of the room unnoticed.

She was older now.

Not drastically different, but enough that Ethan could immediately tell that almost a decade had passed. Her face had matured, losing some of the youthful softness he remembered. Her hair was longer, her features more defined, and there was a calmness to her that hadn’t been there when they were seventeen.

She was still attractive in her own right.

Ethan noticed that.

But it wasn’t what struck him.

When he looked at Jessica, he didn’t see a beautiful woman. He saw the girl who used to laugh at his terrible jokes and smack his shoulder whenever he did something stupid. He saw the girl who had sat behind him on a stolen motorcycle, wrapping her arms around his waist as they sped through Brooklyn.

He saw seventeen-year-old Ethan.

For just a moment, he wasn’t twenty-five. He wasn’t a B-Rank Titled, an Enforcer, or the Lord of Beasts. He was just a stupid kid who had no idea how badly his life was about to go.

Ethan quickly pulled the cigarette from his mouth and extinguished it between his fingers after his unexpected trip down memory lane.

Jessica noticed.

A small smile appeared on her face.

"I didn’t think you’d be the type to smoke."

Ethan glanced at the cigarette between his fingers.

"Prison changes a man."

Jessica’s smile faded slightly.

"Yeah."

Silence followed.

It wasn’t comfortable, but it wasn’t hostile either.

So much time had passed and so much had changed that neither knew where to begin.

Jessica looked Ethan over carefully.

She recognised him, well, at least in parts.

His blue eyes were still the same, and his facial structure hadn’t changed completely, but almost everything else seemed different. He was broader than she remembered. Leaner, but fuller and more muscular. His posture was different too, with an alertness that hadn’t existed when they were teenagers.

Even the way he stood had changed.

There was a silent confidence, but also an alertness that only came with a troubled past. He looked like someone who had spent years learning how to survive, and that was exactly what he was.

Jessica swallowed.

"You’ve changed."

Ethan gave a small shrug.

"So have you."

"Seven years is a long time."

"Yeah."

Another silence settled between them.

Jessica awkwardly looked down at her hands and almost seemed nervous. Ethan was definitely intimidating, especially considering his newfound status and abilities, but that wasn’t why she was feeling that way.

"I didn’t know if you’d even want to see me. I mean, you didn’t while you were..."

Ethan’s expression hardened for a moment.

"Honestly?"

She nodded.

"I didn’t."

Jessica flinched.

Ethan immediately sighed.

"But that’s not because I hated you."

She looked back up as he continued.

"I didn’t want to see anyone at that time, and when I came out, too much time had already passed. Who would wait or care about a criminal without prospects that they dated as a kid?"

"I-I..." she paused. "I wrote letters."

Ethan’s eyes narrowed.

"To me?"

Jessica nodded.

"I didn’t know if you received them."

"I didn’t."

She looked genuinely surprised.

"I sent them to the prison."

Ethan smiled.

"That corrupt shit hole probably threw them out."

Jessica locked eyes with him and could almost feel his pain as he relived those years he had only recently come to terms with.

"So, how’s your life now? I mean, you’ve probably seen how crazy mine is."

Jessica gave a quiet laugh.

"I have."

She went on to talk about how she came to become an environmental journalist as he settled down across from her.

"You always were passionate about that nature bullshit."

She wasn’t offended by his dismissive words.

If anything, there was something endearing about them.

"You really haven’t changed."

She fiddled with her hair.

"And to your earlier question, I would have waited."

Her words hit harder than Ethan expected.

He quickly looked away.

’Fuck...’

He wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

There was another awkward silence in which Jessica’s freckled face had flushed red. Eventually, Ethan plucked up the courage to speak directly and honestly.

’I just fought a giant fucking water beast; I can tell an ex that I’ve moved on.’

But just as he opened his mouth, she spoke.

"I get it. Shit happens."

They locked eyes, both smiling slightly, recalling them using that phrase quite a lot.

"Shit definitely happens," Ethan repeated.

He was relieved they didn’t have to delve deeper into that topic, but then he asked the biggest question of all.

"What about our-"

Ethan’s jaw tightened before he could finish.

Jessica seemed to notice.

"You know?"

"Nate told me."

She nodded slowly.

"She’s my everything."

Ethan stared at the floor, still not quite processing it.

He had a daughter.

A child he had never met.

Someone who had grown up without him and knew absolutely nothing about the man Ethan had become. Jessica reached toward him, then hesitated, placing her hand on the couch beside her instead.

"She’s happy and healthy."

Ethan nodded.

"Good."

His voice was quieter now.

Then, as if on cue, a door opened behind them.

Ethan looked toward it as footsteps approached, Phantom responsible for a pair of them, a playful smile on his face.

"Well..."

He stepped aside.

"There’s one more person you should meet."

Ethan’s heart stopped, and Jessica’s expression softened as a small figure walked into the room.