Red is Blue

The soft clinking of cutlery against plates was the only sound filling the cozy dining room as Eden sat with her parents, Jack and Alice. The sun streamed through the windows, casting a warm, golden glow over the table. The atmosphere was serene, yet there was an undercurrent of tension that Eden couldn’t quite shake. Today was her birthday, a day that had once brought her so much joy, but now felt like a shadow of its former self.

Jack, her father, cleared his throat and smiled at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “So, how’s everything going, Edie? You’ve been keeping pretty busy lately.”

Eden smiled faintly, poking at her salad with her fork. “Yeah, things have been… busy. Work’s been intense. I am just happy school is out for the moment. I don't even know how dad managed more than this for his doctorate."

Alice, always perceptive, watched her daughter carefully. “Busy is good, I suppose. Keeps you out of trouble,” she teased lightly, but there was a hint of concern in her voice.

“Right,” Eden replied, her tone a little too flat, too rehearsed. She forced a small smile, trying to ease the worry she could see in her mother’s eyes. The conversation moved to lighter topics—Alice’s recent gardening efforts, Jack’s new hobby of birdwatching—but Eden could feel her parents’ eyes on her, sensing that something was amiss.

As they finished their meal, Alice reached across the table, placing her hand over Eden’s. “So, honey, any plans with your friends today? It is your birthday, after all.”

Eden hesitated, her mind flashing to the base, to her team, to the empty space where Isaac should be. This year wasn't the year to celebrate herself in any way. She swallowed, quickly putting on a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I think I’ll just take it easy today, maybe catch up on some rest. Nothing too exciting.”

Alice’s gaze lingered on her daughter, searching for something that Eden wasn’t showing. She nodded slowly, squeezing Eden’s hand gently. “Alright, sweetheart. Just make sure to take care of yourself, okay? We love you.”

“I love you too, Mom. Dad,” Eden said, her voice soft, as she stood up from the table. “Thanks for lunch. I should get going.”

Jack stood and pulled Eden into a warm hug. “Take care, Edie. And remember, we’re always here if you need anything.”

Eden nodded, hugging him back tightly before turning to embrace her mother. “I will. See you soon. Thank you both so much for this."

With a final wave, Eden left the dining room, her heart heavy as she made her way back to the base. With any hope she could sneak in while the others were busy or out on business so that she could just go to bed in her room. The quietness of the day only seemed to amplify the absence she felt, the gaping hole that Isaac had left behind.

Once Eden had left, Alice sat back down, her expression pensive. She glanced at Jack, who was already looking at her with a similar concern. “Something’s not right, Jack,” Alice murmured. “She’s not herself.”

Jack nodded, his brow furrowed. “I know. She’s been through a lot lately, hasn’t she?”

Alice sighed, pulling out her phone. “I’m going to call Caleb. He and Frank are closer to her than anyone, maybe he can do something to lift her spirits today.” Jack watched as Alice dialed the number, his hand resting on her shoulder in quiet support.

When Caleb answered, Alice spoke softly but urgently, “Caleb, it’s Alice… I need to ask a favor. It’s Eden’s birthday today, and she’s not doing well. I can tell something’s off with her, and she won’t talk to us about it. Can you… I don’t know, just make sure she has a good day? She deserves that much.”

She listened to Caleb’s response, her eyes softening slightly. “Thank you, Caleb. It means a lot to us. Just… take care of her, okay?” As she hung up, Alice turned to Jack, her worry still etched into her features but some relief began to ease into it after talking with her daughter's friend. “I just hope she’s alright.”

“She will be,” Jack reassured her, though his own concern was clear. “She’s strong. Whatever it is, she’ll get through it.”

Alice nodded, hoping he was right as they sat together in the now-quiet house, their thoughts with their daughter.

Caleb had woken early today, filling his thermostat with the strongest coffee he could brew, as he got to work. He ran through the base like a mad man, picking up everything he could, giving out orders to whoever appeared from their rooms. He was a man on a mission today, as today was a very special day.  

Today was Edens birthday.

Caleb was sparing no expense for this day, he made sure the place was spotless, decorated, and ready for Eden to come back to a big surprise. After all she had done for them, for him, the least they could do was give her a birthday worth remembering. She did so much to keep the team together, with her positive attitude, supporting them through their struggles, holding herself together, giving while giving everything to them. After Isaac, today was a much needed day, even if she would say otherwise.  

He was standing on the ceiling, stringing up lights, when his phone went off.  

“Hello...” He answered. “Oh hello Mrs. Reed, oh of course, I am currently working on a nice little surprise for her as we speak...” He felt his heart sink a little, hearing Edens own mother speaking about how something was wrong. “I agree, which is why today I have spared no expense to make today special, god knows she deserves it to be.”  

”Just...take care of her, okay.”

“Of course, Mrs. Reed.” Caleb took a deep breath as the call ended, bracing against the wall as he slid into a sitting position, looking down at the room below. Just take care of her, yeah, right, how could he take care of her? when he could barely manage his own shit. No, he couldn’t do that now, doubt himself, not today, not when it was his turn to be there for her. He pushed himself back to his feet, jumping down to the ground. He double checked everything, Edens favorite drinks, check, favorite snacks, check, food, check, music, check, he didn’t miss a thing.  

Today was going to be a day to remember, Caleb was gonna make damn sure it was.

Today was a special day, or rather, it would be if Frank had anything to say about it. It was Eden's birthday and the whole group was planning to make it special for her. He wasn't quite sure if they'd succeed but they were going to try their best for their resident team healer.

While Frank was the leader of their band of costumed weirdos, it was Caleb who was in charge of the party. Frank barely had time to consider throwing a surprise party for her when Caleb all but burst through his room and told him excitedly about his big idea. This was very impressive considering how Frank had all the time in the world to think.

He felt relieved that Caleb was taking charge as the past few months had been...Stressful. He still considered Eden one of his closest friends but he couldn't deny that everyone had drifted since London. Everyone was still processing that horrid day and Frank just didn't know how to approach his friends as openly and easily as before. It felt like there was an axe hanging over their heads waiting to drop the moment they brought up that day. He wished he could make her laugh like she used to so easily but he just didn't know what the right start would be... Hopefully, this party will be just that.

As Caleb was setting up the party, no doubt walking on walls again, Frank and Marcus were out picking up their gifts and the birthday cake. Marcus was currently going over the cake order while Frank was 2 shops down talking with the owner of a bookstore.

The owner smiled and placed a wrapped parcel down on the counter. "Here you are Mr. Marston, just as ordered. The owner smiled and tapped the parcel. "Books by this author are quite a rare find these days. Even rarer to find one in such good condition... I probably should have charged you more but, eh." They shrugged. "I'm retiring soon anyway, wouldn't do me much good to get a few more hundred bucks here and there."

They finished ringing up the order and handed the parcel to Frank. "I sure hope whoever you got this for takes care of it. Thing is old and delicate."

Frank nodded and said his thanks as he left to go look for Marcus with his wrapped gift in hand.

Today was a special day.

Marcus had that feeling deep in his bones and the others did too. Caleb was the person to bring it to the forefront, essentially springing it on them that there was a aprty to be had. Well, Marcus had been keeping track of all the birthdays of his team. Caleb already had ideas on what he wanted to do, so Marcus proposed going with Frank to look into getting gifts. He didn’t exactly have a close relationship with Frank but he liked to think they were friends.

Well his job was to get the cake.

So here he was at a cake shop, having called for what he could get as far as cakes were concerned. His expression was mildly troubled as he realized he couldn’t exactly get the custom cake he wanted to get. Not enough time to order anything good. Not that the cakaes arranged around the small bakery were bad, because this was a place he was sure his mom went to at times. The fact it still stood after all these years and small meta attacks in the neighborhood was impressive. Maybe the cakes were that good? That or the villains wanted to curse people with bad cakes.

“I recognize you.”  The woman behind the counter looked a little old, though he was always bad at guessing ages.

”Could say that. I was looking for a birthday cake, last minute kind of deal.” Marcus noted, looking around the shop with furrowed brows. There were cakes, cupcakes and the like. ”Think you can help me with that?”

She chuckled. Was it something that happened often around here?

“Yeah, I think I can do something. What you looking for?”

”I want something red. Simple maybe? Happy birthday Eden?” This was part explanation part contemplating outloud.

“Let’s see if I can do something about that.” She didn’t sound so certain, even still he stood there with arms crossed, waiting with as much patience as he could muster.

Time dragged on from there, his mind wandering over the many ways she would tell him she couldn’t help. How much time did pass? One moment he was standing, near dozing off while standing in place and then her aged voice broke through the torpor.  He had spaced out? Possible, really possible but he didn’t want to look it. By the time he returned to reality,she was already packing up a cake in a neat white box and setting it before him.

He offered a few words and paid before taking the cake with him. Stepping out it didn’t take too long to find himself standing face to face with Frank, holding up the box with all the softness he could muster. ”I got the cake!” He noted with a smile. ”She likes chocolate right?”

Jakob’s eyes slowly opened as the commotion outside shook him awake. “Can’t be ranger business” he thought to himself as he checked the time on his phone. “Frank never lets him sleep through those.” After winning the war with his bed, he crawled to his feet and started getting dressed. A part of him was hoping it was another Eden animal crisis, a glance at the photo of him wrestling a deer to the ground finally put a smile on his face.

He had not taken five steps from his room before a hand grabbed him by the collar and started to drag him out of the base. Caleb’s grip didn’t relax for a mere moment before they were standing outside. “Stay out here and Keep an eye out for Eden, don’t come back until we give you the signal” was all he heard before watching as the door shut in his face. A look of panic washed across his face as he quickly patted himself down, relief took over as he felt the outline of his phone in his jacket pocket. He suddenly heard the base entrance swing open once more as Caleb’s head poked out again. “Also, I know you’re new but get Eden a birthday gift while you’re out” was thrown out before the door once again sealed shut. Jakob stood there for a moment processing what just went down, a look of pure anxiety slapped him in the face as he realized how screwed he was. He failed to bring the words he was thinking forward, all he could get out was a frustrated “Fuck” as his mind returned to normal function.

Jakob started to pace as he tried to get whatever ideas he could together. He racked his brain on how he could fulfill his task without it being obvious, this only led to him realizing he didn’t know much about the target.
“Shit, what does Eden like again?” he thought to himself as his pacing got worse. “I know she likes animals and I’ve seen her read before.” Though the ideas were simple, they somehow made his struggle even worse.
He stopped pacing as he looked to the sky, seeing it was strangely a gorgeous day without a single cloud in the sky. He could only laugh as a new thought crept into his mind.
“Of course, even fate doesn’t want to upset Eden on her special day. It’d be like upsetting a puppy.”

His daydream was interrupted as he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw one of his teammates starting to sneakily make their way through the building’s side alley. He laughed to himself as he looked back to the sky for a moment, his smile fading when it clicked who he just saw in the alley. His feet hit the ground hard as he took off running towards them. He had just made it as they reached the back door. after a few moments of trying to catch his breath, he finally caught enough to say something.
“Hey Eden, such a Nice day we’re having today huh?” He tried his best to keep his cool not to raise any suspicion.
He took a deep breath before continuing. “Listen, I wanted to thank you for bringing me onto the team like you did.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, when he saw no signal yet, he proceeded with the next step.
“So How about I thank you by buying you Coffee or something? I know several cool places around here too.”

Eden had almost made it, her heart racing with the thought of slipping into her room unnoticed. She just wanted to crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head, and let the day pass without anyone mentioning the dreaded word—birthday. But just as she turned the corner toward the base entrance, Jakob’s voice called out to her, stopping her in her tracks.

Her shoulders sagged slightly as she let out a quiet sigh, putting on her best attempt at a casual smile as she turned to face him.

“Oh, hey, Jakob,” she said, trying to keep her voice light. “Yeah, it's... it’s a nice day, huh?” She could hear the slight awkwardness in her own words but hoped he wouldn’t catch it.

She blinked in mild surprise when he started thanking her for bringing him onto the team. Her smile softened, just a little, as she glanced at the ground for a second before looking back at him.

“Jakob, you don’t have to thank me for that. You earned your spot here—you’re part of the team now,” she said, shifting on her feet. Even still after all these years of being a helpful person she still had difficulty being thanked, and it threw her off-balance. “But, uh, thanks for saying that.”

Her eyes flicked toward the base door, that gnawing desire to escape still pulling at her, but she tried to focus on the moment. His offer of coffee made her freeze for a second. The idea of going out today felt overwhelming, but she didn’t want to hurt his feelings either. The worry of making him feel like she didn't want to go out with him played in her mind and had her answer delicately.

“Coffee sounds nice, Jakob, it really does, but…” Eden hesitated, searching for the right words. She didn’t want to sound ungrateful or dismissive, especially when he was being so thoughtful. “I think I just need to take it easy today. Been a long week, you know? Maybe another time?”

There was a flicker of something behind her eyes—fatigue, maybe, or something deeper. She didn’t want to admit it, but the weight of the day was pressing down harder than she expected. She just wanted to be alone. Even standing here felt like more than she could handle.

“But seriously, thank you. For offering and for... everything,” she added, a genuine note of appreciation slipping into her voice. “I’ll take you up on that coffee soon, I promise.”

With that, she took a small step toward the base door, her body language making it clear she was looking for an exit.

Caleb had run through everything ten times before he finally realized he was just overthinking. But he wanted everything to be perfect for her, on today of all days. He sat at the bar, rubbing his face as he took slow, deep breaths, giving his body time to rest for a moment. He pulled out his phone, sending out texts to the others, asking about current situations and ETAs on returning. It wouldn’t be much longer before Eden was back from her parents, and given the phone call he had gotten, she most likely wanted to just slip into her room and hide away.

Caleb stared at the background of his phone, which was a selfie Isaac had managed to sneak Caleb into one day during, ironically, Calebs birthday party. Him and Eden had planned this huge surprise party together, distracting Caleb with tickets to see a movie early on in the day. Eden even got him a special cake designed to look like his Ranger Helmet, she had told the shop Blue Gyro was his favorite hero, and also that he was five years old. Caleb chuckled as he remembered Isaac taking a piece and shoving it in Calebs face, Caleb returning the favor right after.

Caleb had always struggled making friends, and if it wasn’t for Isaac, he never would have gotten to know Frank or Eden. They would have never formed the team, and he would have never met Marcus. Caleb often pondered where his life would have been if he was the only child, what kind of person he would have become without his older brother to keep him grounded.

But today wasn’t about him, or even Isaac, today was about Eden. The one who always looked after Caleb after every attack from school bullies, making sure he got better. When Mindy Hawkins had asked Caleb to homecoming, all for a prank, Eden was the one the only girl who offered Caleb a dance so his night wouldn’t have been completely ruined. And when that same Mindy tried to spread a rumor that Caleb, Eden was the one to confront Mindy, punching her square in the face, then reset the broken nose. Mindy admitted to the rumors being a lie shortly after that, and stopped messing with Caleb for the rest of High School.

Caleb was suddenly yanked out of his thoughts as an alert pinged on his phone, revealing a live feed of the side door in the alleyway. Eden was approaching, clearly trying to sneak her way back inside. Fortunately, Jakob had caught her, and kept her attention for long enough for Caleb to act, but Eden was persistent on heading inside. He brought up an app on his phone, showing a layout of the base, scrolling through the options, he hit the button labeled Lockdown.

There was an audible sound of the doors locking, steel bars sliding down from the inside, and steel window shutters coming down. The entire place was now locked up tight, until Caleb decided to unlock it.

Pulling up the team text message, he quickly typed out the excuse.

Lockdowns been triggered, looking for the source, will keep you all updated, eta 40 minutes.

After sending the group message, he sent out a second message to Marcus and Frank.

Message me when you guys are on your way, Eden is here, but I locked her out, Jakob is gonna try and pull her away, but be careful not to be seen.

Frank left the bookstore and was about to head across the street to the bakery when he saw that Marcus was already approaching him, with the cake box in hand.

”I got the cake!” His friend said with a smile. ”She likes chocolate right?”

Frank considered for a moment. His eyes flicked upwards as he tried remembering all the other birthday parties Eden had invited him to. He felt a sense of vertigo as his mind tried to recall her last birthday. Only a year had passed since her last birthday but for Frank, it felt like it had happened much longer ago. It felt like he was recalling an event from 3 years ago rather than a year. Dismissing the weird sense of time he nodded towards Marcus.

"Who doesn't like chocolate? I'm sure she will love it. Mind if I take a peek?"

Marcus passed him the box and he flipped open the top and saw the cake. It was a simple round thing with chocolate frosting covering the sponge and simple bold red lettering reading "Happy Birthday Eden!". He wondered if the cake was too simple but decided that she would rather have something nice than grand. At least he hoped she would.

He closed the lid and smiled. "It is perfect Marcus. Great work." Frank said as he handed the box back to him. They were walking back to their base when his phone buzzed.

Message me when you guys are on your way, Eden is here, but I locked her out, Jakob is gonna try and pull her away, but be careful not to be seen.

Frank quickly sent a text back, his fingers moved with unnatural precision.

Understood Caleb. Marcus and I are done grabbing the cake and will be there in about 8 minutes. How goes setting up the party room? Do you need us to grab you anything while we are still out?

He switched to the group chat and typed out another message.

Strange. There was a software update a few days ago. Try checking the logs on the main computer. I'll help take a look when I get back from patrol.

Hopefully, that would help sell the random lockdown just as Eden is coming back. The last thing they needed was for her to get suspicious and spoil the surprise.

Frank pocketed his phone as he waited for a reply. He looked at Marcus.

"We might have to sneak by Eden if she is still out in front of the base...We are better off taking a short detour and going in the back I think. What did you get her anyways? Just the cake or...?"