Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ashlyn isn't sure when everything changed. Perhaps it was when Aiden became more violent toward the Phantons, attacking them mercilessly, with nails too long and shadows darker than those of a human being. Perhaps it was when Taylor became more irritable, her eyes wide and her fists clenched, always ready to attack, or when Ashlyn herself realized she could hear the whispers more clearly, saw that the Phantons spoke to them during the day, saw that they would obey her if she commanded them forcefully enough. It probably started when the first one died, when Tyler's eyes darkened and his shadow grew deeper. Not that the “why” matters to them anymore.

It's been years now since they destroyed the Cranes, member by member, but they still look young, maybe in their early 14s. Logan was the first to notice this fact. Two years after the incident in Savannah, Aiden made a playful and innocent comment about what “skincare routine Taylor was using to keep looking so young.” Just a silly joke, the kind you'd normally expect Aiden to make, but it turns out Logan took it a little too seriously. 

He started to really study everyone's appearance, and after a few months, he concluded that aside from the most drastic physical changes (they looked like Phantons, they were becoming monsters, but no one dared to think about that at the time), no one had really aged at all.

The group definitely didn't panic after realizing this, of course not. After a few panic attacks, dark jokes from Aiden, some physical fights, existential crises, and lots of sleepovers, everyone got over it.

Ashlyn still feels strange every time she looks in the mirror; she feels like a ghost. She pretends not to notice Tyler and Taylor testing apps that age their faces. She says nothing when she sees Aiden's smile turn sour when he is around an adult or elderly person. She definitely doesn't comment when stories about immortality, even childish ones like Peter Pan, become a sensitive subject in the group and are practically banned.

Yes, everyone is definitely fine with that.

All of their relatives are already safe at home, but the group no longer lives with them; instead, they stay at the bus cemetery. Close enough to Ashlyn's house if they need help, but far enough away so they don't accidentally hurt her parents. Their hideout is safe, it's great. It has lots of flashlights, food, and especially weapons, but it also has soft and comfortable items like pillows, blankets, and lots of stuffed animals. 

After everything they've been through, the group prefers to sleep together at night, hidden under a fort of heavy, soft blankets, surrounded by cuddly animals and hugging each other. Ashley confesses that she was a little embarrassed about it at first, but now it's almost impossible to see her without touching one of her friends. This also applies to the others. They are always close and in physical contact, whether holding hands, hugging, holding each other's wrists or arms, or just close enough to touch shoulders. It's a form of comfort, of reassuring each other that they are all okay, all together.

At the moment, they were all inside one of the buses, just relaxing and doing their own thing while waiting for midnight to arrive. Ashlyn had turned on a speaker at a low volume and was dancing to clear her mind, her steps fluid and graceful, her braided hair curling around her with every movement. In the other corner of the bus, Ben was trying to teach Logan how to draw, and just a few seats away from them, Taylor was reading some books they had picked up in the Phantom dimension while Tyler slept on her shoulder. Aiden was just watching Ashlyn dance, sometimes making origami or playing with his Rubik's cube just to keep his hands busy with something.

Everything was relatively quiet, seemingly too quiet, because suddenly a blood-red portal appeared next to Logan. It was quite small, just big enough to fit a hand through and nothing else, but it was enough to scare everyone. Logan ended up falling off the seat he was sitting on, almost dragging Ben with him, but he quickly grabbed a gun and pointed it at the ‘thing’. Everyone quickly followed his lead and armed themselves, but before anyone could figure out what was happening, the portal disappeared, almost as if it had never been there.

The shocked silence lasted only a few seconds.

“What the hell was that?!” Tyler shouted, his voice hoarse and still a little sleepy. The others soon followed suit.

“Was that a portal? Like the ones in TV shows or games?”

“Could it have something to do with the Phantom dimension...”

“Are we going to start changing dimensions during the day now?!”

"Hey, what do you think it would be like to go through the portal? In some stories, it's like diving into ice water. Man, it must be really intense."

“Aiden, now is not the time for that!”

Watching the commotion, her mind still confused by the events, Ashlyn just groaned and threw herself on the floor, sitting up and brushing her hair out of her face.

“How is this my life?...”

Ben, the calmest of the group, went over to her and put his hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her. He sat down next to her and the two watched the rest of the group argue. Logan was muttering theories quickly while Taylor tried to keep up, making comments from time to time. Tyler and Aiden were fighting about something and Tyler looked like he was about to attack Aiden. Their relationship had improved greatly over time, but they seemed to just enjoy fighting with each other.

Ashlyn sighed. All the noise was already starting to make her ears hurt. All she wanted now was to put on her earplugs and hide in a corner pretending nothing was happening, but she knew it was better to get everyone organized before real chaos broke out. 

She mentally prepared herself, counted to ten, and stood up, turning to help Bem do the same. She motioned for him to cover his ears and shouted as loud as she could.

“GUYS, STOP. NOW.”

Everyone automatically fell silent and looked at her, most with guilty expressions. She sighed.

“All right. Let's get together and discuss... this like civilized people, okay? No yelling, no interrupting others, and all the basic rules we have during our meetings. Understood?”

A low chorus of “Yes, Ashlyn, sorry” could be heard from everyone except Tyler. The children stared at him until he finally rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Sorry, Ashlyn."

Ten minutes later, they were all sitting close together, with Ashlyn standing in front of them, ready to redirect the conversation if they strayed from the topic at hand or started arguing. Taylor was the first to speak.

“I think the most important thing right now is to discuss where the portal led and whether it could appear again. We can think about the ‘why’ later, when we're more certain about the situation.”

Several murmurs of agreement were heard.

“That's easy to find out. We can just wait and see if it appears again, and if it does, I'll stick my head in there to see what's inside!”

The others didn't even have time to disagree before Ben hit Aiden on the head, scolding him. He bent down and put his hands on his head dramatically before whimpering.

“Ouch! Calm down, calm down, Ben, I was just kidding.”

Ashlyn put her hand on her forehead, already feeling a headache coming on.

“Guys, please, let's focus on the matter at hand. Taylor is right, we need to know where that portal leads, but SAFELY and without taking unnecessary risks.”

She looked at her boyfriend with a serious expression and spoke in a lower voice.

“Aiden, enough joking for now, we should take this situation seriously, especially if it involves the Phantons.”

The boy was about to make another lighthearted comment, but he saw something in Ashlyn's eyes that made him stop smiling and straighten up. He sighed.

“Okay. Anyway, there's not much to discuss right now. All we know is that a strange portal appeared and disappeared shortly thereafter. Nothing unusual has happened recently, and we have no basis for any theories.”

Tyler's face formed a frown and he also straightened up.

“As much as I hate to agree with him, Aiden is right. None of us have any information that can explain anything about that portal. In fact, it reminds me a little of the beginning of the Phantons' appearance, it almost seems like it was a group hallucination.”

Ben tapped the chair in front of him twice to get the group's attention and began signing. After everyone agreed to learn sign language, he preferred to communicate that way during calmer situations. 

“We should wait until midnight. We can see if there's anything strange in the Phantom dimension or with the Phantoms themselves then.”

Everyone thought for a few moments and agreed that this was the only thing they could do. Once that was settled, they looked to Ashlyn for approval.

“All right, if everyone agrees with that, then we have a plan.”

They couldn't even get up before the portal appeared again. This time, it was much larger and was right under their feet.

A few hours later. Ashlyn asked herself for the second time that day, “What the hell is my life?”

Chapter Text

“Alright, let me get this straight. You kidnapped us into another dimension through some weird portal to… capture Phantoms? … You do realize how insane that sounds, right?”

It had been two hours since they’d arrived in what Ashlyn liked to call in her mind the “hero dimension.” Surprisingly, they weren’t in any immediate danger. In fact, they hadn’t been hurt at all—other than the small tumble when the portal *spat* them onto the ground. Not that this made things any better.

As soon as they stood up and got into fighting stances, they saw two people, a man and a woman, standing unarmed with their hands raised in a clear gesture of peace. Before Ashlyn even had the chance to open her mouth and start asking questions, they were already explaining everything. According to them, the group had landed in a dimension where heroes and villains existed and nearly the entire world population had some sort of superpower. That alone would’ve been strange enough, but then they said the woman—Lira, if Ashlyn remembered correctly—had accidentally discovered that she could turn people into Phantom-Infected by doing just that to a group of people. As if that wasn’t bad enough, she explained that this group had escaped, and so she had abducted the six of them to ask for their help in sending the Infected to the Phantom dimension before they caused any problems.

Honestly, the whole situation felt like a dream a seven-year-old would have. Normally, the solution would’ve been easy. The man had assured them they had the option to refuse, and Ashlyn would usually have said “no” without hesitation. But… the idea of a world where people could literally be born with any power... That was way too good to pass up. For one thing, there might be someone out there with the power to heal Ben’s vocal cords, or even restore Logan’s sight—and that would certainly make them both happier (especially Ben. Ashlyn knew that, even though he always seemed glad when his friends had fun, that happiness turned painfully bitter during karaoke nights).

Besides, it would be nice to spend some time in this new world. They hadn’t been able to pretend to be normal teenagers for a long time—not even during the day. Back in their home universe, they were presumed dead and almost never left the school bus graveyard for fear of being caught. Here, they would definitely have more freedom.

“Ashlyn?”

Oh. She had probably been lost in thought for too long. Her friends were staring at her, concerned, and Aiden—the one who had called her—had a hand on her shoulder, trying to get her attention.

“You okay? You zoned out for a while.”

Ashlyn didn’t reply, but she grabbed Aiden’s hand from her shoulder and squeezed it lightly as a confirmation. She glanced at the others briefly before turning her gaze toward Lira.

“If we agreed to your request, would we be provided housing and food during the mission?”

Tyler, who had started looking bored about an hour ago, suddenly straightened and stared at Ashlyn in shock. “WAIT A SECOND—you can’t seriously be thinking about saying yes to this! This is insane!”

Everyone ignored him.

“Well, of course,” Lira replied. “We’d give you everything you need to cover your basic needs. You would also be split into two groups to be adopted by me and my husband, as well as a volunteer who came forward a few weeks ago. It’s not strictly necessary, but this way you’d have valid identities and could walk around more freely.”

Ashlyn thought for a while longer. She was seriously leaning toward agreeing to help (as long as the rest of the group approved too, of course), but she still had more questions.

“And how exactly did you create that portal? And how did you know we could help with the Phantoms?”

The two exchanged a glance, having some sort of silent conversation. When it ended, Lira answered:

“Well, that would be my husband’s quirk—sorry, power. He can create portals that bring the help he needs at a given moment. Sometimes the portal fails, like the first one you probably saw, which was way too small. In fact, it was during one of those failures that our volunteer arrived… Anyway, I’m getting off track. When you came through, we simply assumed you were the right people—and your reaction confirmed it.”

“I see. Could we have some time to discuss this privately?”

This time it was the man—apparently Lira’s husband—who replied.

“Of course. We’ve set aside a room in case you accepted. You can talk there. Please follow me."

Ashlyn gave her group a quick look, signaling she would explain everything once they were alone. Then she gave Aiden’s hand—still in hers—a slight squeeze and stretched her other hand toward Taylor.

Following her lead, everyone linked hands with each other and started walking after the man whose name they still didn’t know. They had learned their lesson. They weren’t going to separate—not here, not in an unknown place with suspicious people.

After leaving the room, they entered what seemed to be a surprisingly well-lit and organized basement. In one corner sat a few boxes filled with tools; one wall had a shelf with fabrics, rugs, cleaning products, and other random objects, while the other was stacked with cut pieces of wood. They climbed a short staircase that led to a hallway with four doors. The man opened the first door on the right, let them all in, and left—saying he would be back soon. Aiden was the first to speak.

“So… not that I’m doubting you or anything, Ashlyn, but what’s the point of agreeing to this?”

“Never thought I’d say this, but I actually agree with Aiden. Why the hell would you even consider saying yes, carrot top?” Tyler added.

Ashlyn took a deep breath and looked each of them in the eye. Most of them were in worn-out clothes, hair messy, heavy bags under their eyes—and the only one smiling was Aiden, which, let’s be honest, didn’t mean much. She thought again: *Yeah, it would be worth completing one or two missions if it meant everyone could relax for a while.* Then she began to explain.

“I know it’s not exactly smart to just trust strangers and stay here—especially if it means fighting Infected—but think about it. We’d finally have the chance to be—or at least pretend to be—normal kids again. Lira already said we’d be given everything we need. Being legally adopted means we’d have proper identities. And we’d be free to walk around, since we’re not wanted criminals here. It’s a great opportunity!”

For a while, nobody spoke. Ashlyn was almost ready for everyone to disagree and demand they go back to their own universe, but then Taylor took a deep breath and said:

“As suspicious as this all seems… Ashlyn might be right. It hurts to see everyone so exhausted all the time, and this is a chance to at least put down some of the weight we’ve been carrying.”

*The Infected probably won’t even be that hard to beat,* Ben signed. *We’ve fought and defeated full Phantoms before. The mission won’t be too difficult.*

Logan adjusted his glasses. “I agree with Taylor and Ben. If everything goes right, this will definitely benefit us."

Aiden looked at Ashlyn, still smiling, and nodded. “Well, whatever the final decision is, I’m with you guys.”

Everyone turned to Tyler, who, after a moment of hesitation, finally sighed. Then, as if he were making the worst decision of his life, muttered:

“Fine. What could possibly go wrong, right? Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

As they all left the room with a spark of hope in their eyes, Ashlyn thought: *Yeah. Even if it goes wrong, it’ll definitely be worth it.*