When Hope was younger she thought her life was perfect. Then her mother was ripped away from her and her father shipped her off to boarding school with nothing but confusion and heartache in tow. The life she'd led was far from the one she'd dreamed about when she was little. She'd wanted to be a hero like her parents were. Back then she didn't even understand the extent of their heroism, she just knew their job was important and that they saved people on a daily basis. She thought that was cool. She never thought that by her mother saving someone, it meant that she may never come home.

Like most little girls, Hope grew up with her dad being her hero. Not the superhero kind, but the type of hero who would protect her from harm and would always cherish her more than anyone else. He was her hero, but right then, as a little girl with tears streaming down her face, she just needed him to be a dad.

She always thought her mother would just come back. She'd saved a lot of people before so she was sure that she'd come back and save her. She'd dream she'd come back and whisk her away from her dorm room where she'd spend night after night crying herself to sleep. All of that pent up emotion built an exterior in her that was made out of the toughest of materials. Hope built a wall safe enough to protect her heart, that was until Scott came along and she learnt the truth of her mother. Her mom really was a hero, one that she could still look up to like she did when she was seven.

When she'd found out Scott had a daughter, a part of her heart broke. They were putting him through all of this and he had a daughter at home. A daughter that would rely on him to be the father figure she needed. She'd been through that, the ups and the downs. Hope never wanted Cassie to go through what she went through. She saw a lot of her childhood mirrored in Cassie's and it was part of why she was so protective over Scott.

Scott would say that Cassie reminded him of her, that they were both so incredibly intelligent and adventurous. Hope wouldn't disagree, she loved Cassie and found it easy to talk to her because she was almost on the same level as her a lot of the time. However, one thing Cassie is that she wasn't growing up is that she is far more resilient.

Cassie had lived a life where her father had been in prison, then put under house arrest and then stuck in the quantum realm. Years and years of her life had revolved around her dad being gone, yet she remained the same. She was admirably strong and always remained the same curious girl she had always been. Hope wished she was like that. She wished she'd been happier and spent more time enjoying the positive things she did with her dad and not the negatives. It was too late to change the past.

Hope sat on the floor in the corner of the gym. Scott was busy training Cassie but she knew she'd have to cut in soon because despite the training she'd given him herself, Scott wasn't the best martial artist.

"She's going to be better than you soon," Hope said loudly so they could hear over the music that blasted through the room.

"What do you mean soon? I already am." Cassie winked at Hope and she responded with a chuckle.

She had to admit, it was weird adjusting to a life where half of the population had moved ahead five years. You had to get used to different ways of life and the fact that people had grown and changed around you. Cassie was still that same optimistic girl she'd grown to love, but now she was taller, stronger and a fighter. The strength she'd claimed in a period of despair had made her nothing but a better person. The caring nature of her father with the stealth of a fighter.

One thing she did notice about Cassie was that she was reluctant to spend time alone. She'd developed a sort of protectiveness over the people around her, especially her dad. Whenever she'd get asked to parties or sleepovers by her school friends she'd hesitate and more often than not would decline, instead choosing to curl up on the couch with her dad. She'd constantly be in contact with him, a quick text asking where he was at least three times a day and a tight hug before she went to sleep every night that she stayed over. It was a way of coping.

Hope enjoyed the nights they spent together. Nights where it was the three of them, snuggled down on the couch after a long day of fighting and training. They'd watch some dumb action comedy that Scott would choose, but no matter how bad it was, they'd still spend the evening laughing until their stomach's hurt. Popcorn fights would often ensue between Scott and Cassie, and Hope would always get pulled into the fight by Cassie who would want her to be on her side. She'd happily oblige. Scott would joke about how the women in his life were always ganging up on him but they wouldn't let the sob story tactic keep them from losing.

Often those nights would end with all three of them asleep, resting upon each other in some sort of way. Tonight was no different. Cassie rested upon her dad's shoulder, hugging onto his arm whilst Hope was sprawled out on the couch with her head in his lap. His fingers were resting in her hair from where he'd been absentmindedly playing with it before he fell asleep.

Hope had since woken up and had spent the last fifteen minutes staring up at his face. He was so peaceful when he was sleeping. He was usually a guy who was going a hundred miles per hour and Hope could read him like a book because his emotions were right there on his face. When he was sleeping though, he was still, and she'd even go as far as to say, cute. She wouldn't say that to his face though. She reached up her hand and stroked it across the side of his face and continued as if she was brushing a piece of hair behind his ear. His eyes fluttered open and when he looked down at her, a sleepy smile appeared on his face.

"You better get her to bed," Hope whispered, "she'll have a sore neck."

Hope leaned forward and sat back up on the couch. She grabbed a hair tie from the coffee table and tied back her hair so it was out of her face.

Scott, afraid to make any sudden movements and waking Cassie up, slowly moved and rested Cassie's head against a pillow. He then stood up and picked her up, taking her to her room, tucking her in, and kissing her forehead.

"It's weird," he said as he came back into the living room. "It feels like only yesterday she was ten years old and I was doing that to her. Carrying her like it was nothing and putting her into bed, tucking her in and kissing her forehead. It was less than a month ago for me, but for her it was years."

She watched as he collapsed back on the couch, his head falling into his hands.

"I know you feel guilty Scott but this really was out of your control. You didn't intentionally disappear for five years, nobody did. She knows that."

Hope shuffled up so she was closer to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer and kissing her forehead.

"Time hasn't moved for us at all but half the world has moved on five years. It's hard to wrap your head around isn't it?" He sounded perplexed.

Hope sighed. "It really is. I can't imagine what some people are going through. We're lucky in that respect I guess. Some people are going through much worse. As for Cassie, she knows you love her. She always has. She's understanding, a whole lot more than I was at her age."

Scott laughed. "You'd have really hated your dad if it were you."

"I would have. I was fuelled with resentment at that age. Cassie, she's different. She really is a special one."

"I've told you she reminds me of you haven't I?"

"Yes." Hope rested her head on his shoulder. "Though I don't know why. She's a lot braver than I was."

"The thing is. No matter how much happens to her she never loses herself. That's like you. You had a lot happen to you but you never let it get in the way of your success."

"I just wish I had her emotional stability," Hope let out a sad laugh. "She's suffering though. I can tell, she won't say it, but she is."

Hope recognised that Cassie was putting on a front almost immediately. That was something she would do. She'd pretend everything was okay, but then it would all come crumbling down at some point. She didn't want that to happen to Cassie.

"I know." Scott replied, taking Hope's hand in his and fiddling with her fingers. "I think the training is helping. Also the fact she can spend more time with us now. She didn't get that before. With prison, then house arrest and then a five year gap."

Hope let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. "She's been through it all."

"Mhm," Scott said, staring at the blank TV.

Hope put her hand on the side of his face and moved it so that he was looking at her.

"It's not your fault," she said before leaning in to kiss him.

As they pulled away from the kiss, she rested her forehead upon his. Enjoying the feel of being this close to him and never taking it for granted again.

"I love you," she spoke softly.

It wasn't the first time she'd told him that, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

"I love you too."

Healing would take time, but they'd do it as a family.