Fresh feels from the ES Book 3 Finale. If you picked the Vaanu ending, this is a story of what could have happen during their reunion and after, mostly focusing on Jake. ES x Hero crossover, btw. Enjoy, and indulge.

P.S. I haven't written anything in such a long while.

P.S. You can listen to these following songs to torture yourself as I did with myself: Happy Ending – MIKA, Fact-Fiction – Mads Langer, Every Little Part of Me - Julie

"Happy reunion everyone… Here's to five years!"

Everyone smiles, even Jake. He raises a glass of his whiskey, clinking with the others. It's been five years since then, three years since he was declared innocent and Lundgren was sentenced for 180 years, two years since he was able to go back home and see his family again, a year since he's decided to be an airline pilot—live the easy, quiet life for now.

Jake downs his drink. At the corner of his eye, he sees Diego raise a toast again.

"And to Taylor."

Quietly, the gang raise their glasses once more. Everyone smiles, albeit more solemn, reserved. Taylor was a bittersweet memory—a beacon of hope and the heart of the group that kept everyone together. The reason why they all lived. Why the world was saved. Why they were all here, why they found the love of their lives, the best of friends, and a family in each other. She was the best thing that happened in Jake's life.

Jake's eyes close for a long while, the rim of his glass inches away from his lips, and then he downs it once more. The memory of her still burns, and not even whiskey could douse that painful flame. Jake would not admit it, but that handfasting from five years ago—he took it seriously, with all his heart, his soul. They vowed a year and a day. But to him, he knew he promised an eternity.

Tonight, the ocean was calm. The constellations above them, the million of stars that watch them, were bright against the dark canvas of the Caribbean night. Perhaps, Taylor was there, amongst the beautiful stars, looking at them fondly as she always did.

Jake sets aside his empty glass, chuckling to himself, shaking his head. Diego's shoulders slump, and Varyyn holds his husband close. Sean claps the pilot on the back sympathetically. Quinn watches sadly, knowing the ache of never seeing your loved one again.

"We all miss her." She says, her hand gingerly tugging a pair of dog tags withered by time. On it, Kele's name was engraved. Furball sleeps besides her, nestled in a makeshift bed of blankets. "It feels empty, knowing they'll never come back, but we had lived the best of our times with them."

Jake does not answer, but returns a simple, grateful nod. He pours whiskey again into his glass, his sad eyes reflecting on the golden liquid swirling inside. He remembers her words at the beginning of the recording; she wasn't human, or at least, didn't start as one. She was a fragment of the Island's Heart, of the Vaanu—or Slimer, as he called it. She was different, but he loved her all the same, and everyone felt the same way too. She was Taylor, their leader, their friend, his Princess.

Abruptly, Aleister's phone vibrates, alerting everyone with an elegant soundtrack as his ringtone. Zahra rolls her eyes at the choice of sound.

The Brit raises his brows in question at the caller, and Grace tries to peek. "Hm? ...Oh!"

"Apologies, let me take this call." He hurriedly presses his phone to his ear and stands up, walking away from the group. Somehow, the somber ambiance was broken, and Raj begins to show some photos of his recent celebrity catering to the gang.

Zahra hands over her phone and earphones to Estela and Michelle, asking them what they think of her new song. Michelle bobs her head to the thundering beat, and Estela readily hands back the earphones to the singer after the second line. "This is your sixth song about Craig."

"It is not!" The latter denies vehemently, brows crooked and eyeing Estela icily.

Michelle rolls her eyes, although obviously enjoying the music. "I don't know why you keep denying it, but you end up admitting so when you're stupidly drunk. Quinn, come here, give this a listen."

"Yeah okay!" The redhead smiles, taking the other earphone. Furball wakes up from its nap, and happily trots to Raj for treats.

Estela simply stares at Zahra, with a deadpan expression, before giving a knowing smirk and moves to drink from her glass.

Craig laughs, simply trapping Zahra with a one-arm hug. "Y'know they're not wrong, right Z?"

"You're not supposed to say that, loser."

Jake watches everyone, how they've all so evolved and moved on, how Taylor changed their lives as well. He relents to the lighter ambiance and finally just shakes his head, tapping Sean on the shoulder. "So, how's the arm after the game, Cap'n Am—"

Aleister comes running back to the circle, his eyes wild, his mouth agape, as if trying to look for the right words to say. Grace immediately stands up and holds his husband close. "What is it?"

Jake becomes alarmed at the sight of Malfoy like this; he's usually more composed, and rarely did anything rattle him besides Grace and his crazy dad and holographic mother. Finally, Aleister speaks.

"Silas Prescott… As you would know, he's a big business tycoon from Northbridge, one of my father's friends… I had attended his gala with Grace and our respective teams three weeks ago, where a hostage and explosion disaster happened and—"

"So, what then? I mean, hell yeah, we know what happened and that there are a growing number of superheroes and shizzle there but—" Craig says, but is soon cut off by a more annoyed Aleister.

"Will you listen first, you simpleton?! Just… It's time you know. Silas unveiled something called a Prism Gate during his gala." Aleister explains through unsteady breaths. He looks at Grace, and they nod.

His eyes watch everyone's anticipated expressions. "But before the grand reveal of the Prism Gate, he also presented… a crystal. A crystal, as he explained, that he discovered twenty-five years ago on an island, possessing components that go beyond the human knowledge of quantum mechanics."

"Crystal?" Quinn perks up.

"Yes." Grace answers. "The crystal gives power to the Prism Gate. It was an endless bound of energy, but, we never found out how exactly Silas could harness this when the robbery happened… The Prism Gate was gradually getting erratic and unstable, and then… it exploded. We had to escape immediately."

Michelle's lips tip down sadly. "I remember. There were a lot of people at the hospital then…"

Aleister continues, and Jake grows restless. "We were unsure if these were linked to what we are familiar with, but it could not be just a mere coincidence. We had to get at least a sample, a piece, anything , of the crystals Silas holds, and had it studied to match with my father's own findings from before…"

His eyes meet Jake's.

"They match. These were the same crystals that caused time anomalies on this island. The… very same crystals on the pillar where Taylor held on before she…" He trails off. "Anyhow, upon further research, the Prism Gate has been stashed elsewhere. The rising number of supervillains must definitely need a stricter approach on security."

Jake momentarily loses himself at his last memory of Taylor. How he held on tight to the crystal pillar with her between his arms. His pounding heart, her ragged breath, their last few moments together. Their last kiss, how Taylor never got to say a proper goodbye before the light took her away.

"How exactly did you do 'research'?" Zahra presses, and Aleister takes a moment before he replies.

"We… hired a private investigator," He says hesitantly, looking at Grace for reassurance. Aleister meets everyone's curious gazes. "He's checked Prescott Industries, and followed all possible warehouses and labs Silas could keep it from the public."

Craig raises his hand, a childlike awe gleaming in his eyes. "Yo, you might think this is gon' be weird but, did that gate thingy have to do anything with the new heroes and supervillains in Northbridge?!"

"Actually Craig, yes." Grace nods.

"Whoa! S-So that means, whoa, okay, so that's why Taylor—"

"Is it going to let us see her?" Jake suddenly speaks, his expression unreadable to the gang. He was welling up with anticipation and hope—but his mind tells him otherwise. It was going to hurt him more. What if the Prism Gate wasn't a ticket to see her? To be with her again?

Aleister and Grace fall silent. "We… We don't know for sure." The bespectacled girl answers, nervously fishing out her phone from her pocket. She scrolls to some encrypted messages from her e-mail. "The PI will continue his investigation and will keep us updated if there are any more discoveries."

"But…" Diego's voice cuts through, his eyes full wonder as they look up at the couple. "Why all this? Why hire a PI? Why investigate? Why go through all of this when we aren't sure that we'll see her again?"

Aleister takes a deep breath, but Sean beats him to answering. The football player drifts to the Brit's side, clapping him on the back. "If Taylor was here and one of us had gone like that… She'd definitely tackle the first chance she'd get to see us." He smiles kindly at Aleister, to which the latter returns one as well.

Quinn's eyes water, her smile wistful but optimistic. "Taylor taught us to hope, Diego. And if that piece of crystal is the first step we have in finding her again, I think it's worth the shot. We'll never know unless we try, right?"

Each face lights up with a smile. Diego wipes away a tear as Varyyn hugs him close. "Yeah… She would. This is what she would have done."

Jake felt weak. His eyes blink with tears, the restless hope inside him getting unbounded each second. Perhaps it was a way. Perhaps it was time to see her again.

"Five years ago, she…" Jake had his head hanging low. Everyone turns to him, various expressions watching him. Everyone knew how Jake was inconsolable for a long while, losing his wife, the love of his life, just like that. Sean had Michelle, Diego had Varyyn, Aleister had Grace, Craig had Zahra… and Jake had barely anything to remember her by except her voice. A hollow space filled with just memories.

And finally, he speaks of her without pain, as Jake wipes away a tear with the back of his hand. He chuckles as he continues. "Princess told me she'd be gone forever to save the world… I remember tellin' her that I'd come after her."

He pauses, biting down his lip. "That I'd find a way. That I'd cross every damn mile of space to get her back, no matter what it took."

Jake takes a stride towards Aleister and Grace, nodding gratefully and smiling at them. "Heh, sorry 'bout this… But thanks. I'm keepin' that promise, and finally, step one's here. I'm getting my Princess back."

Aleister scoffs, waving him off. However, he bears a soft, kind expression, his eyes glimmering with the same hope everyone has, and obviously, tears. "Taylor has been a gift to all of us. Grace and I… made sure to gather as much information we can before we share it to you. If not to see her again, it would at least give us an idea about the phenomenon that happened, or what her origins are."

"There's hope, everyone." Grace sniffs and beams cheerily. "Taylor is important to all of us. She pushed us to who we are right now. We'll let everyone know once we get more details about the Prism Gate."

"So, we're really doing this?" Craig exclaims, a bewildered look on his face. He looks at Zahra, and she rolls her eyes.

"It's Taylor we're talkin' about." She snorts, shaking her head. "Plus, I doubt we're doing this legally, so I definitely am excited to hack some billionaire systems."

Jake perks up, smiling. One by one, they look at each other, faces of determination, eyes glistening with hope. Quinn nods cheerfully and Furball hums happily. Diego was definitely in, and so was Raj, heartily laughing, and Estela, giving the pilot a nod of assurance.

Some, however, show faces of doubt. Worries. Concerns that the future they've built would crumble.

Michelle sighs. "I'm in but… If, as Zahra says, we're not doing this legally, aka hacking, sneaking around and trespassing, you better make sure we don't end up in prison."

Sean weighs this carefully and looks at Jake. "Yeah, Michelle is right. All of us have actual jobs now, and we could all go to jail now we're in the real world. We have to be careful about this."

"I'll make sure we won't." Aleister tries to reassure the group. "As much as possible, we will not try to do anything illegal… for now. None of us want to risk anything. Information is important, and we shall wait for more of that."

"But if it comes down to it, I'll do the dirty work." Jake says confidently, smirking at the Brit.

"Me too, but uh, not dirty work, probably like… a lookout or something." Diego says nervously. Varyyn intertwines their fingers.

"I shall assist too, should we need to… How do you guys say it… Ah, 'wreck some noobs'." Zahra wipes an invisible tear from her eye, proudly looking over at Varyyn. She flashes him a thumbs-up.

"Me and Z are down for some action, just like the good ol' days." Craig says, flexing a bicep.

Doubts were washed away by assurances, by hope. Everyone looks at each other again, just like five years ago, as if finding strength in each other. Each person in the circle knew they would back each other up no matter what the circumstances are. That's how it always went. That's how lasting friendships work, tested by time, monsters, psychotic billionaires, and murderous mercenaries.

Jake picks up his whole bottle of whiskey this time and raises it for a toast. His blue eyes were unyielding, positive. "One more adventure then, fellas."