"I don't get why any of this is happening." Nile dropped her sword in frustration. A sword. She was using a fucking sword. And really, didn't that just capture how fucked up this whole situation was.
"Can't help you with that, kid," Andy said, "I wish I could."
"Nicky says it's our fate," said Nile. "He thinks we keep living so we can do more good than we could in a single lifetime."
Andy grinned. "That's Nicky. And Joe probably gave you a poem to make sense of it."
"Yeah," Nile nodded, chuckling. "I think he really thought that'd work."
*
Andy grabbed a bottle of water from the side of the training ground. Nile picked up her discarded sword and followed, unwilling to let the topic drop. "But you've been around the longest, Andy. What do you think?"
Andy shrugged her shoulder, efficiently wiping the sweat from her face at the same time. "I think it doesn't matter. I've spent years asking that question. And now," she said, holding her side where her wound was still healing, "of the centuries I've been the earth, those are the only ones I regret. Would having an answer change any of this? No."
*
It was a non-answer, Nile knew, yet it stuck with her. She'd grown up with Marcus' superheroes and their origin stories: A radioactive spider bite. An evil scientist's experiment. Hell, even just being pissed off enough at the world to don a mask and a cape. Hers wasn't as clear … but maybe Andy was right, maybe that didn't matter.
The next time they sparred, Nile told her so. Characteristically, Andy just shrugged. "You need to cover your left side. You're asking for an inside attack."
So Nile lifted her fucking sword, switched off her mind, and did exactly what Andy said.