He sat across from Vixen at the table. Steam rose from the cups of tea before them, the sweet scent of cinnamon filling the air.

He was surprised by her sudden call and had absolutely no idea why she had called in the first place.

For a long minute, she had yet to say a thing, as though the words were hard to form in her mind.

Vixen took a sip from the cup of tea and slowly set it back down before taking a deep breath.

"I wanted to say sorry and thank you," she finally said, causing Nicholas to raise a brow.

"Sorry for?"

"I wish I’d found out earlier..." she said as a tear slipped down her face while she stared out through the Association cafeteria’s glass window.

"Ronald had been using my mom. They had her locked up in bed and kept using drugs on her just to keep her in that terrible condition." Vixen’s voice cracked with emotion as she spoke, her hands wrapped tightly around the cup, veins visible through her sleek suit.

She turned to look at Nicholas, her gaze locking with his.

"I don’t know what Ronald must’ve done to you. But if you hadn’t stepped in... then I would’ve never known what they were doing! I would’ve never known that my sacrifice and pain were simply another piece to be tossed around on a chessboard. I want to say thank you for that."

"I can’t believe I even stood in your way." Vixen scoffed as she remembered the scene, anger and guilt filling her from within.

Nicholas calmly stared at her.

"I didn’t do any of that for you, so there’s no point telling me sorry or offering me any thanks. The only favour I did you, was not killing you back then."

In truth, he’d only found out about Vixen’s mom when he dug into the documents concerning the Raystar Association, and while it was a terrible thing to come across, he truly didn’t care the least about it.

He’d only gathered all this information beforehand so he could justify killing Ronald later on.

’If she knew this, I wonder if she’d still be here,’ Nicholas thought, letting out a sigh.

"If that was all you wanted to say, I guess I’ll be taking my leave," Nicholas said as he stood from the chair.

"I want to quit being a hero. I’ve saved up enough to take care of my mom’s bills now and also take care of myself. I believe with people like you around, the people will be in safe hands."

Nicholas paused, glancing back at Vixen.

"No, they won’t be in any safe hands. I’m not a righteous hero who wants to save anyone’s life, and neither do I have any interest in doing that. I’m a selfish brother who only cares about his siblings," Nicholas said coldly.

"Oh... I see," Vixen muttered, gazing out through the window.

She thought Nicholas had nothing more to say, but she was stunned to hear his voice the next second.

"...But I’ve seen you fight, and I’ve seen the way you put yourself out there to protect others. While I might not be a righteous person, you’re different. You care, and you didn’t just fight for your mom. You fought for the people as well...You fought to make sure that others could smile."

"That’s not something I’m capable of."

He could still clearly remember all the people who had been killed by Ronald’s gravity attack.

At the time, he had just enough charm points to teleport a good number of them away from the attack, but he didn’t.

His charm points would’ve been reduced drastically, and he wouldn’t have been able to face Ronald.

Although killing Ronald ultimately benefited everyone. In the end, he had no intention of doing it for them in the first place and did it solely out of his own selfishness.

Vixen, on the other hand, when they’d fought on the floor of the building, he could tell she had held back because of the others who were there.

She could have used her full power. Instead, she compressed it just enough to restrain Nicholas.

Not that increasing the influence of the ability would’ve made any difference in the battle, but that much told him the type of person she was.

"So if that much doesn’t convince you how good a hero you are, then I don’t know what else would. Merely quitting because you felt you had been used by Ronald won’t be a wise decision to make. While I can’t see myself doing this job for any reason other than my own selfish needs. You’re doing it not just for the ones you love but for others as well. But if it’s truly your desire to quit, then I’ve got nothing else to say to you. But do not expect anything from me. I’m not a hero."

Vixen listened keenly to everything Nicholas had said, and her face lit up as she stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise and admiration.

"Thank you," Vixen muttered as she broke down into tears, wiping them away with her hands. "Thank you, Phantom. I’ll remain a hero... and maybe one day, I’ll give you a reason to believe in heroes too." Vixen said, wiping the tears from her face, her eyes filled with resolve as she stared at him.

Nicholas only glanced at her for a second before walking away.

"I guess I’ve changed. Since when did I care about what someone else decided to do?" he thought, a grin climbing onto his face.

Normally, he couldn’t care less if she decided to stay a hero or not. And he wouldn’t even voice his opinion even if he did notice these things.

But for some reason, he couldn’t just stand and watch Vixen leave the Association. Maybe it was because he felt a touch of guilt when she’d come to thank him, or maybe because he could relate to how she felt about her mom.

For whichever reason, Nicholas was surprised with himself.

"I can’t wait to see Katie." His expression softened as he thought about his two sisters.

[A/N: Hey everyone! It’s been great to have y’all follow me on this journey so again, just wanted to show my appreciation! It’s a new month, so I’ve got to write lots of Chapters again. Oh well, I would appreciate your continuous support as that would help this book reach out to more readers! So Goldentickets and powerstones please! ಥ⁠_⁠ಥ I don’t mind a castle though sips soda (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠) much love fam!]