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The only thing that kept Gus on his feet after Alex went down was his training.
Every day, relentlessly practising for this exact scenario from as soon as he was old enough to walk.
And yet nothing could have prepared him for the sight of his sister collapsing like that.
He had to know if she was even still alive.
Pragmatically, he had to know to re-evaluate the situation.
Did he have to get her to safety, or would he be fleeing alone?
But even if that wasn’t a concern, he knew that he would never be able to just leave his sister.
He had to know.
Effie attempted to strike him again, but his hands were fast as lightning, catching hers before twisting her arm around her back.
While she let out a yelp of pain, Gus kicked her in the middle before bolting back towards Alex.
Jay tried to tackle him, but Gus spun out of his way, racing towards Alex.
When he finally reached her, his hand went to check her pulse, but his attention was drawn back to the sound of the two older Enhanced sprinting towards him.
One of Gus’ hands brushed the charm around Alex’s neck, as the other came up to defend himself.
A torrent of fire shot forward, knocking Effie and Jay back.
Gus blinked in shock, looking around to see the source of the flame before exhaustion and realisation hit him in tandem, the fire sputtering out.
The flames had come from his hand.
Gus’ chest restricted with panic as he struggled to wrap his mind around what had just happened.
That had been magic.
He had used magic.
How had he been able to use magic?
Effie and Jay stumbled upright, both of them having managed to put out the flames.
Their armour was burnt, but they were still standing.
Gus’ hand went to Alex’s neck again, to check her pulse for real.
He needed to get her out of there.
As soon as his skin touched hers, however, the world seemed to slip out from under him, and he tumbled back onto a carpeted floor.
Alex was next to him, breathing ragged but there.
Gus could feel panic threatening to return. Had he just teleported them? Or what was it magical beings called it? Shifting. The name seemed apt, but he refused to let himself think on it, or the reality of how they had escaped.
Alex needed medical attention.
She needed him.
He had to focus on that...