Cleaning Out the Closet

The mental image behind it all left Zora feeling slightly numb and horrified at the reality of what had actually gone down. It was strange how different Frederick's story was to Broen's. The details of what happened were quite similar, however, the tone and sense of loss were different.

With Frederick, she felt the scope of the tragedy, with Broen, it had been more awe-inspiring, exciting in a terrifying way... but not as relatable as Fredrick's. Maybe it was the way he related it to her or maybe it was the tone of his voice or perhaps, it was quite simply the fact that Frederick had actually cared what happened to the people of Halcyon.

"I can't even imagine. That battle sounds harrowing, and quite simply terrifying if I'm honest," Zora said shaking her head in dismay, and very grateful that Frederick had left out the more gorier details.

"Broen had mentioned Zantibaya to me," Zoraida remarked, suddenly remembering the name of the entity he had fought. "Do you know who took it down?" she asked hesitantly as she looked at Frederick with a quiet sadness in her gaze.

Zora wasn't sure why she did it, but she placed a hand lightly over Frederick's in a comforting gesture when he mentioned having thought Broen had perished along with the Alexandrian. She understood how he must have felt, and the fact that, in a very convoluted way, he had lost his son twice in such a short time tore at her. She would have been devastated if she had had the same thing happen to her with her own son, Jeremiah.

"I am sorry I brought it up, Frederick," she said apologetically, "I wasn't sure if you knew or not," she confessed.

"I just," here she sighed, unable to really put it in words what she had been trying to do. "I guess in some strange way, I wanted you to know you could be proud of him if that makes any sense," she admitted.

Zora could actually agree with Frederick there. Broen was - or had been - really great at whatever he had set his mind to. In fact, she could easily have seen him as being a great superhero just because she had actually seen him being heroic and risking his life for her and her employees.

"I have to agree with you there," Zora said then as she looked at Frederick wistfully, "Broen did have a lot of potential, and he was really quite good at whatever he put his mind too. He was stubborn that way. He never gave up when he wanted something," she admitted, thinking now of how he had almost killed himself to get his powers back after he had lost them.

"And while I admire that drive, I also wish he had been a little less stubborn and more open to compromise at times. He was very much an "on my terms only" type of person and trusted very few people," Zora mused as she looked at her hand which was still on top of Frederick's and sighed, wishing in an odd way that Broen had been a tad more like his father who was reasonable about things and easy to talk to.

Zora looked at Fredrick very surprised. She had known that Broen's original powers had been somewhat awe-worthy, but she had not really realised how awe-worthy they were until his father pointed out that he could have been the greatest hero of his generation.

"I had no idea," Zoraida said with a tiny shake of her head as she withdrew her hand from Fredrick's. Broen had bragged about himself, about his abilities, but because of his bravado and arrogance when they first met, Zora had always taken his words with a grain of salt.

"I mean, I knew he was powerful, I just never realised his powers were that powerful," she admitted as a weird sense of guilt gnawed at her. It was like she should have known, but hadn't.

Zora winced then, Frederick was right to an extent, and it hit home. "Yes, Broen could be difficult. I often felt like he held me somewhat at a distance, didn't want me to get too close, even when we were close. I mean, we could talk, and he was good to me, but I definitely felt like, like I conceded a little more than he ever did," she confessed.

"As parents, we can only try our best, there is no magical formula that guarantees a child will turn out like we hope they will, and I am not sure it would have made a difference, Frederick," she told him. "Broen was stubborn, and if you try to punish or become more strict with a stubborn person, they only dig their heels in further," she reasoned gently as she finished off some of the food on her plate, placing her fork across her somewhat empty plate when she was done.

"I-...I don't know what to say," Zora said as she looked at Frederick in surprise and then lowered her gaze, clearly touched that he thought that way. It had been a while since anyone had told her anything like that. Heaven knows, Broen rarely had - at least he hadn't near the end and before he had left to find himself. And Zora knew he had trouble expressing himself, but it had gone from Broen being slightly possessive and telling her she was hot while not being able to keep his hands off her to a sense of almost disinterest in her.

"Before I'd have liked to think he knew that, at least on some level, but now, well, I am not so sure anymore," she admitted quietly as she stared across the table at Frederick's plate.