Lost in Another World: Try again?

One Year Later

Penny lay in the bed she and Trevor used to share. Had it really only been three months? Had it all been real? Are you awake? I need to call you. She and Andrew talked all day now; it was as natural as breathing. It also was a good way to distract from the grief.

Call away. I can't sleep anyway.

Penny looked around the room. Leo had been amazingly helpful. Her parents had been busy with the restaurant, so he had come over to help her pack up the apartment. She was still torn between moving in with her parents and starting over somewhere new. With Metallic Owl gone, there was no need for her to stay in Arcadia - other than Andrew and his little twins.

She picked up her phone on the second ring. "Hey, Andy."

"Hey Pen, Mom needs to go into the hotel, some kind of an emergency that I can’t understand, and I'm having too rough a night to be alone with the twins."

"I'm having a bad night too. Give me five to restock my overnight bag."

"Okay, see you soon." He hung up. You really should just leave stuff here, you're here so often.

Her parents would ask too many questions. She’d thought about it, but it didn’t seem fair to Sophie’s parents for her to just take Sophie’s place in the girls’ lives. She was their godmother; that had been Sophie's wish.

Fair, see you soon.

***

Andrew hung up the phone. "Ma! Pen's on her way, and the twins are settled. Feel free to go."

"I'm sorry, Andrew, I thought the other girl could handle the event tonight and all the last-minute design changes… but I guess I was wrong." She smiled and cupped his cheek. "They have grown so much in the past month that she would have been proud of how you've handled everything."

"I know, Ma." Andrew sighed. "I miss her."

"Oh, my boy, I know. She was lucky to have you."

"Ma? Before you go…You know how Pen is the girls' godmother?" She nodded. "Well, before the twins were born, the three of us had been talking about going away - you know, starting over. I know Pen still wants to. I don't want her to go alone, and I’d like her help with the twins..." He stopped short and looked down, afraid to ask the next question.

"Oh Andrew, say no more. If you and Penny want to go away for a bit or move away, I would understand. I can’t imagine the pain you're both going through, and Sophie and I had talked at great length about you three moving away. I think it would be good if you both left to start over! Just not too far away, okay? I want to be able to see my grandbabies."

"Really? Thanks, Ma. I'll keep you posted." She smiled and walked out the door. Andrew looked over at his sleeping twins, Hope and Grace.

Penny walked in. "Hey, Andy."

"Thanks again for coming." He watched as Pen's hand rested on her stomach as she sat. "So when were you going to tell me?” He sat close to her but still kept some space; they had been careful, and they were unsure what they wanted to do next.

"Tell you what?" She quickly moved her hand away.

He chuckled and grabbed her hand and pulled it back on top of her stomach. "That you’re pregnant with Trevor's child?"

"I was worried I'd miscarry with all the stress. So I haven't told anyone. Mom and Dad have been so busy. And Leo assumed I threw up from the grief of packing up Trevor’s things." She curled up on the couch, resting her back against him.

"Well, you were my wife for seven years. I noticed but wanted to make sure what I was seeing was real. Did Trevor know?" He gently rubbed her arm, waiting to hear her story.

She shook her head. "I found out the morning of the battle. I was going to tell him that evening, I like to think he heard me while he was lying in that hospital bed... But I really don't know. I took the test on a whim that morning. We'd been so careful, but I guess one night we weren't. I was three weeks late... So I'm just over three months along. If this one is anything like ours, I've got at least one more month till the press notices."

"Think they'll still care?"

She had had a hard time leaving her house still these days, often using Rose Thorn to get around, or putting on a face mask and dark glasses. She’d even gone as far as to cut her hair down to a pixie cut and wear wigs.

“‘Daughter-in-law of Metallic Owl pregnant with her heir; is evil in its blood?’ I see it now." She rolled her eyes. Before he could speak, she continued, "Andrew, I've been doing some digging, and you know that little getaway town we used to go to when we were kids?"

"Yeah, of course. I can't wait to take the girls there in a few years." He smiled at the memories he had there.

"Well, what if we moved there? Together?" She squeezed his hand. "There is a shop for sale that has an apartment upstairs and a basement that we could turn into a pretty fun nightclub." He looked at her with eyes wide. "I figure if we use the trust from the Mayor and the money I inherited from Trevor, we could afford it and do whatever minor changes we need. When the legal battle is over, the money I get from here will be enough to cover the cost of any major changes we want." She turned to look up at him; the hope in her eyes was enough to make him melt.

"You've really thought this all through, haven't you?" He smiled. "Mom and I talked before I left, she said she thought it would be good for us to get away…"

"Would you really want to go away with me?" She fidgeted with her hands.

"Pen, everywhere I look in Arcadia I see Sophie or Trevor. I want somewhere new so this can be somewhere we visit and teach our kids about their parents." He took her hand and brought it to his lips. "Marry me again?"

"Of course, but we’ll need to wait for my legal battle with the Owl herself to be over. Then we should talk to Sophie's family, maybe Leo too. I want them to still feel a part of our family."

"I agree, it takes a village after all. I still can’t believe you have to go to court for the money Trevor left for you. She disowned him… she shouldn’t have any say in that money."

"I don’t make the rules, Andy. But, my being pregnant does help my case. I just need to tell my parents, then my lawyer will take care of the rest.” She yawned, followed by Andrew. When was the last time they had slept well?

"I’ll be there with you every step of the way. But right now, we both need some sleep. The twins are still asleep, so let’s take a nap.” He pulled out the stool from his side of the couch and Penny copied. She curled up next to him and they both quickly fell asleep.

***

Pen woke up in a dream, that felt more like a memory, was it hers or Andrew's she wasn't sure. But it was clear she wasn't going to get to leave any time soon. Metallic Owl was facing her - oh, this was that memory. She took a breath and let herself go.

Metallic Owl had grown tired of using others and had cornered Rose Thorn and Ice Raven during a battle. Thankfully Andrew was waiting on standby. His job was to keep Sophie off the field; she was six months pregnant with twins, so she wasn't allowed to fight.

The battle was hard. Metallic Owl had learned to make liquid metal clones. Ice Raven had been caught in a trap. The liquid metal clone had become a statue, trapping him in a headlock. He was using up his energy trying to get out. He was too close to defenceless. But Rose Thorn couldn’t help him, she was busy trying to trap the rest of the clones. By the time she’d trapped them all in a cage of vines, Metallic Owl was removing Ice Raven's ring.

“Elements! Transfer me Ice Raven's power now!” Before the ring was off, Rose Thorn had the Element of Ice joining her, becoming Frosted Rose. But Trevor’s identity was exposed. "Trevor!" Frosted Rose called out. Andrew, get here now! Metallic Owl took Trevor’s ring!

Metallic Owl brought her last clone back to life and had it throw Trevor on the ground. She picked him up herself. "So, not only are you a completely useless son, married to a worthless girl, you also are the reason I can't get my husband back! The magic in these Elements could heal him!" The shock of learning that her mother-in-law was the villain she’d been fighting since she was a teen stopped Penny in her tracks. Trevor didn’t freeze; rather he fought harder, trying to fight off his mother. To his credit, he had forced her to drop him. He was standing ready to fight her himself, but he had spent too much energy fighting the clones. Metallic Owl kicked her son square in the chest and he fell off the building they’d been fighting on.

“Trevor!" Frosted Rose tried to get to him but Metallic Owl tripped her. She couldn’t reach her lasso or see well enough to catch him in ice and she heard him hit the ground.

With Owl's foot on her back, Owl told her, "He's not worth saving."

"How dare you! He was your son! All he wanted was your love!" Frosted Rose managed to get herself to turn around and shoot ice onto Owl's hands, binding her and giving Frosted Rose a chance to get away and recharge. Frosted Rose hid and Fire Storm landed beside her. He didn’t know what had happened but took one look at her and hugged her. “We need to stop her; the Element Repair may be the only way to save Trevor now."

"You got it, Rose!" Andrew knew she was hurting, but they didn't have time for that now; they had to stop her.

Metallic Owl fought like a mad woman, saying that once she got her hands on the Elements she would rebuild her family with a son who wouldn’t betray her and a husband who never got sick. Her fighting style became illogical and soon she was quickly overtaken by the two heroes; the betrayal of her son seemed to weaken her.

Once they had her trapped, they took the ring back and removed the pin that held the Element of Mineral. After that, the police took Trevor’s mother away. Frosted Rose promised to answer their questions but she had to check on Ice Raven who had been hurt in battle.

Frosted Rose and Fire Storm landed next to Trevor. Frosted Rose looked at Trevor and took Fire Storm's hand. They held their hands out, and lights of pink, blue, purple and orange shot out from their hands. Trevor hardly moved. But he was breathing. Thankfully, when the police came, and the EMTs with them, they assumed Sophie had called them. Frosted Rose managed to keep it a secret that Trevor was Ice Raven. People were so shocked about the identity of Metallic Owl that they hardly noticed Trever being taken away in an ambulance.

Trevor never did wake up. Penny sat with him all night, praying he would wake up. "Come on, Baby, I need you. I can't raise our little one without you. We can name them after your hero self like you wanted, please, just wake up." And with that plea, the heart monitor went silent.

***

Andrew woke up to the girls crying. Pen seemed to wake to the noise too. “My dream?" Penny seemed shaken.

"I think it had to be, I didn't have that many details." Each of them picked up one baby.

"Sorry, that battle plays over and over again. I've pulled you into that dream before, haven't I?" She rocked Grace while Andrew changed Hope's diaper, and then they swapped.

"Yeah, maybe." He blushed. "But I've pulled you into my last hours with Sophie before, so we will call it even." With a baby in each of their arms, they sat down on the couch. "You know, when yours comes we will be outnumbered."

"Yeah, I guess we will. But it’s nothing we can’t handle together." Andrew couldn’t agree more and kissed her forehead. The world might judge them for moving on “so fast” but it was no different than what they had done all those years ago when they came back from Twin Crescents. They still loved Trevor and Sophie, and always would. But they also had never stopped loving each other, and this just felt right to heal together.

***

So as their 25th birthdays came and went, they were parents to three under a year. The twins were almost one, but with only ten months between them and River, Andrew and Penny were definitely outnumbered. Shortly after River was born, Penny won the money she was owed from Trevor’s family. So Andrew and Penny got married in a small ceremony with only their parents present and moved to the little tourist town.

Penny turned the store into a studio for her photography, which she called Blossom Pictures. Andrew ran the Shield Jazz Club, crediting Pen for the name because of one of her many nicknames for him. All five Elements were in the box that was put together once all five elements had been reunited. They kept the box in their house. Penny set up an email where people could request visits from the heroes and the Police could alert them if they needed their help again. They explained that Ice Raven and Mighty Mage had retired and would not be wearing the mask again, wanting to disappear. Rumours flew, but Penny and Andrew were gone so it didn't matter to them. They left Arcadia behind, fully committed to the new life in the little tourism town, and started over again together.