by R. J. Ross
"I have brought a super child," Tatiana announces. "I do not know where she comes from, but she is one of us. Until we can return her to her parents, I will be taking care of her."
"Wait, wait, wait," Blackjack says, getting up from where he was lounging on a couch. "You can't just bring in some random super! Kid or not, we need to know what she's after, right?" Yes, he's Blackjack, he looks exactly as he does in my time. Heroes don't age like normal people. They just stay the same for who knows how long. Well, outwardly, at least.
"Are you out to destroy all of civilization, kitten?" Tatia asks me in a bland tone.
"Um, no?" I offer.
"Good enough for me!" she says cheerfully. "I really doubt she could do so when surrounded by half of the Hall and playing with our children. Who has the daycare shift today?"
"Sparky does," a woman that looks a lot like Falconess says. She's strapping on her uniform, which shows a lot more flesh than the Falconess I know. "She's in the kitchen making sandwiches."
"Sparky," Tatia says, her expression going dark. She puts Nicolas down, who promptly toddles over to the blonde boy sitting next to the playpen playing with Legos. "Kitten, I ask that you behave yourself for Sparky, regardless of... her personality."
"Now, now, Tatia, Sparky isn't that bad. She just hates you," Falconess says as she straps on her cowl.
"The feeling is mutual," Tatia mutters under her breath. She gets a look from the room that says every single one of them heard that comment, and has nothing to say in response. I don't know who Sparky is. I don't remember a super hero named Sparky from, well, anywhere.
Falconess walks over to the playpen, picking up the little blonde and kissing her on the cheek. "You be good for Sparky, okay, Missy?" she says in a loving tone. She gets a brilliant almost toothless smile and laughs before putting the baby back into the playpen. She reaches down and pats both the blonde boy and Nico on the head. "You two be good, as well."
"'Kay," the blonde boy says, holding out a large Lego to Nico, who looks at it curiously for a moment before grabbing another to knock them together. The blonde boy looks familiar, sort of.
"Go on, kitten. The two you'll be helping with are Kenny and Missy," Tatia tells me, gently pushing me forward. "You do not mind, do you?" she asks almost belatedly.
So I’ll be helping. Okay, I can handle helping out a lot better than being treated like a baby. I have absolutely no experience whatsoever with kids, though. Maybe I should mention--I look up, but Tatia's already left, leaving me with Nicolas's bag sitting on the floor next to my leg. Blackjack is watching me, so I look right back, not about to back down. Sure he's WAY more powerful than I am, and an illusionist and--well, you know. He's Blackjack. But Tatia’s words are echoing in my mind. I'm not going to falter in the face of a little disapproval, even if it's from a super.
Nicolas gets to his feet and heads over to me, reaching up to grab my skirt and tug. I've got no choice but to follow, I tell myself as he pulls me over to the toys in the corner. Kenny looks at me and I swear I've seen those blue eyes--
That short blonde haircut, those bright blue eyes--
"America's Son?" I whisper, automatically getting on my knees as Nicolas tugs again. Kenny grins at me.
"Hi," he says. He looks about five. "Nicolas, stop pulling," he scolds the other boy.
Nicolas says something that almost makes sense, then looks at my skirt for a moment. He goes up on tiptoe, sticking his hand into my pocket and starting to pull out my phone. I pull it out of his hand before he manages. "No, you can't," I tell him. "That's not for little boys."
"If it's a problem, perhaps you should put it somewhere high. Nicolas has a habit of finding technology like that," Falconess suggests, but she has a curious expression on her face. I think she saw it. "Blackjack, you and I are on North duty."
"I'm not sure we should leave a complete stranger--" he starts out.
"She'll be fine," Falconess says "I like to think that Sparky can handle a single thirteen year old."
Blackjack seems a lot more uptight in this time, doesn't he? I look over at him, wondering if I should say anything. He's not going to feel comfortable leaving me here, even if none of the kids are his--
"Is Banshee coming in, or did she have night duty?" Falconess asks curiously.
"She should be in soon," Blackjack says, glancing at a chalkboard hanging on the wall. A chalkboard? Seriously? That's how they keep track of who's doing what? I stare at it for a moment, wondering if any of them have legible writing. It doesn't look like it. "She had evening duty with Marigold last night, but she signed up for afternoon today. I think she's got a date planned for tonight."
Banshee dates? Blackjack's uptight? This time period is almost as confusing as the last one I was in!
"Another norm?" Falconess asks. "We should really talk to her about that habit."
"Hey, now, that's elitism," Blackjack complains. "Norms are people, too." They head out the door, with Blackjack glancing back at me once before stepping out the door.
“Don’t worry,” Flaconess says as she stops to look back at me, “whatever is going on, we’ll fix it. We’re heroes, remember? It’s what we do.”
I nod, hoping that she's right, but with Superior in Russia--or whatever they call it these days, and Grandpa Nico still at the drooling stage and called Nicolas, I'm not sure how. Kenny holds out a Lego to me, distracting me from my thoughts. "I don't--" I start out. But I don't what? Play with babies? I mean, they're a lot younger than I am now, but when I'm in my time, they're both legends! Who else would be able to say that they've hung out with America's Son and Technico before the world even knew their names?
Well, you know, other than everyone that works here?
"I've got sandwiches!" I almost jump out of my skin as the door behind me opens and a woman says that. I twist where I'm sitting, looking up at the woman that's holding a tray of food--
"Great-aunt Liz?" I ask, stunned. She has long silver white hair that's piled on top of her head, and a pair of bellbottom jeans on, with a pink camisole, but that's great-aunt Liz's face.
"Who?" she asks.
"I--um--sorry, you reminded me of someone," I stutter. This must be Sparky. She looks like--but Liz is--I look from Nicolas to Sparky, then back again, my mind whirling. Grandpa Nico and Great-aunt Liz always just claim to be brother and sister. They don't make a big deal of the half--to the point where I forget about it more often than not--
But if Tatia is here, how does this lady become Liz's mom? What happens to Tatia? I... am thinking too much, because Sparky is looking at me with a frown. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" she asks.
"Um... I came with Tatia," I say.
"Another of those USSR spies, I bet," Sparky says darkly, putting the platter of food down and bringing up her hands. "What's your name, where do you come from?" she demands. "Tell me now or I'll take you down, child or not. You look old enough to have come into your powers!"
"I haven't!" I say, getting to my feet, only to blink as tiny arms wrap around my calves, pick me up, and put me down again behind Nicolas.
"Nicolas doesn't like you yelling," Kenny says, getting up and moving beside Nicolas. That two year old--he just picked me up like I weighed nothing. He DOES have his powers! Or at least some of them! Wow, he must be a complete PAIN to babysit. "Stop yelling at Kitten," Kenny goes on.
"She's a stranger," Sparky says. "You don't even know her real name! This isn't a daycare, kids, this is a secret base for super heroes--"
"No!" Nicolas says. Shouldn't he be hiding or confused right now? He seems pretty aware of what's going on for being so young! Not that I know anything about two year olds, really... maybe his intelligence is part of his powers? I don't know, and honestly considering what's going on, it doesn't matter.
"My name is Noelle," I say, stepping forward so I'm in front of the two little boys. I can't let them protect me, they could be hurt, right? And like I mentioned earlier, if Nicolas dies I'm not ever going to
be born. "I'm from the future. I'm not here to do anything bad."
She blinks. "Oh! Well that makes more sense," she says, picking up the platter again. "Come on, kids, time for a snack," she says as she heads for the small table in the corner. Nicolas relaxes and reaches up, grabbing my skirt to tug me over to the table. Kenny gives me a grin.
"The future?" he asks. "What's it like?"
"Um... well this place is a lot bigger?" I offer. It's not like that sort of information is dangerous, I hope. I can't give him the same spiel that I gave Morgan about messing up the future. He's five.
"I'm a superhero," he says, sticking his chest out.
"Uh huh," I agree. Well, I mean, he IS. He's a great super. Besides, I'm not sure what he'd say if I disagreed.
"And Nicolas's a superhero," he decides for me. "And Missy! Missy's a superhero, too! And we wear capes and masks and save people!”
"Um..."
"We SAVE PEOPLE," he repeats, looking me in the eye and daring me to disagree.
"Nicolas doesn't wear a cape," I decide to go with.
He frowns and looks at Nicolas, like he's been betrayed. "Why no cape?" he asks the two year old, who's busy eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich square. Nicolas doesn't reply. "You haveta wear a cape--it's superhero!"
"Maybe when you're older you can talk him into it," Sparky says, pulling Missy out of her playpen and giving her a bottle.
"Missy doesn't wear a cape, either," I have to say, even if it earns me a look from Kenny.
"Of course--she's got wings," he says, as if I just said something extremely stupid. "Like her mommy."
"That's right," I agree.
"I'm gonna be big and strong like Daddy," he goes on proudly. "And I'll be able to fly!"
"You sure will, Kenny," Sparky says, but she's looking at me with a curious expression that makes me worried. Talking with little kids is one thing--Kenny obviously has the future plotted out already and is just using me to confirm the facts. Sparky, on the other hand, wants to know things.
For some reason I don't think that's a very good idea. Probably because I've never heard of her in my life, even if she DOES look exactly like Great-aunt Liz.
I grab one of the sandwiches off the platter and shove it into my mouth.
***
"It's like being put through a blender on high," Superior mutters as soon as he has his balance back. "In reverse."
"Obviously I didn't create the watch with shocks," the adult Nico says, torn between getting irritated with his father for complaining and agreeing. "How the girl handles so many jumps, I've got no idea. Either way..." He looks right, then left, then at his father. "We're in the middle of downtown Kansas City and three hobos are staring at us. How, exactly, do we explain this one?"
Superior looks at the three men sitting on the corner, raising an eyebrow. "Don't worry about it."
"Why not?" Nico asks.
"Because obviously I'm an evil clone of Superior and you're the mad scientist that created me. We're both in badly done disguises," Superior says. "They won't say a word--because it could get them killed in a scene too gory NOT to be put in a comic book." The hobos on the corner are nodding.
"That's right, we know how these things go," one particularly dirty looking fellow says. "Give 'em hell, Anti-Superior," he adds, waving a fist in the air.
"Duly noted," Superior drawls, walking right past them. Nico has no choice but to follow, although he does glance back a few times.
"Seriously?" he asks once they're a block away.
"In our time comic book artists tend to take liberties--and rely on clichés a lot," Superior explains.
"And that's changed, how?" Nico says.
"In this age they haven't become true clichés yet," Superior says. "Working on it, sure, but not to the point people won't believe they happen."
"I see," Nico says. "So I should have worn more black."
"No, the bell-bottoms are terrifying enough, I would say," Superior tells him. "I hated them even when they were fashionable."
Nico snorts, looking down at the pants in question. "We need to find Noelle--get her, get out. The last thing we need is to change history--" He stops, seeing a look on his father's face. "No," he says. He knows that look, he's seen it in the mirror a million times. "Absolutely not."
"She's alive here," Superior says. "You can't stop me from saving her, Nico."
"So this is why you were so intent on coming back," Nico says. "You wanted to save Mom. But you can't, Superior. If you do that--"
"If I do that, you have your mother all your life, I have the woman I love, everyone's happy--"
"Liz is never born," Nico says flatly. "I'm not letting you do that to me--to us. You already ruined our childhood by never being around, I'm not letting you take my little sister away from me as well."
"She'll be Tatia's daughter," Superior says.
"No she won't. You might have a daughter with her, but she won't be LIZ. Sure, I never liked Sparky, but she gave me my little sister--I won't let you take her from me."
"I don't remember you being in the position to tell me anything," Superior says coldly before taking to the air. Nico watches as he flies away and lets out a sharp curse. There goes his plan to keep from being seen. Not to mention the one to find Noelle and go back to their own time.
He really, really wishes that Superior hadn't skipped his own funeral.
CHAPTER TWO
This isn't doing anything for me, I think as I sit under a tree behind the Hall. It's a playground, of sorts. There's a giant tire swing in the middle, which Kenny is dominating, and somehow Nicolas has gotten a hold of someone's ancient looking satellite phone and has it in pieces all around him. I'm silently counting down until Sparky notices and freaks out. I'm just glad it isn't my phone--not that mine is of any use whatsoever in this time. The only people I know are either out saving the country, or still getting all their teeth in.
I miss Morgan, and Carla, and Justin, and even Vinny. It's sad, when I only knew them for a few weeks and they're still the closest I get to friends my own age. I wonder what they're doing right now. Are they worried about me? I bet not. I sigh and lean back against the tree, closing my eyes for a moment.
This isn't doing anything for me. I just wish I could get a hold of the Superior of this time. I mean, I don't even know if he'd be able to build a new time machine, much less one small enough to fit around my wrist! See, as far as I know he's got technopathic abilities, but I also know he's got a few others--there's a very good chance that Grandpa Nico has a more powerful version of technopathy, simply because he doesn't have other powers--well, other than the basic Superior powers, right? There's only room for so much power in a body--I guess. Honestly I have no clue. I've never really studied abilities. I wonder if there's some sort of database here that I could look at.
"NICOLAS!" Sparky yelps, right on time. "My phone!" she wails. Nicolas looks up with a guilty expression, still holding what looks like a motherboard to me. It sparks, lighting on fire for a second before sizzling to death. Sparky looks like she's about to cry, I think, trying not to feel amused. What? I hear horror stories about when Mom was a kid all the time! Televisions, computers, a toaster oven, she exploded them all.
Sparky storms over and snatches the dead motherboard out of his grasp, completely ignoring how he starts whining. "This is not for babies!" she tells him sharply, grabbing the other parts off of the ground.
"You didn't have to yell at him," I say, getting up and going over to Nicolas. "He's just doing what he was born to do--it's not his fault he hasn't figured it out yet!"
"Born to do?" she asks. "What do you mean, exactly?"
"Nicolas is a technopath!" I say rashly. "He's a genius! He's going to create things that change the WORLD!" She stares at me, and I can see her mind whirling.
"Well, he IS the son of Superior," she says slowly, coming closer to look at Nicolas. He just stares at her in return. "You'd expect him to grow up to greatness. Any child o
f Superior would."
What... exactly is she thinking? I can't help but feel a cold chill run down my spine. I mean, maybe I'm biased because of how Tatia doesn't like her, but there's something in her eyes that I'm positive I don't like. I turn, looking at Kenny, then down at Nicolas. "Why don't we go play with Kenny, Nicolas?" I ask. He heads for Kenny in response and I follow.
Kenny scoots over without a word and Nicolas climbs into the gigantic tire next to him. Kenny seems to have picked up on the tension, because he looks at me with a worried expression. I force a grin. "Want me to push you?" I ask.
"Yeah! Real high!" Kenny says. "Nicolas likes going real high," he adds.
"Um, okay," I say, getting behind them and pushing on the rubber tire. For a moment everything is fine, it swings back and forth and Kenny and Nicolas giggle--then I feel this sort of flash spark in my mind. My vision goes white. Something... something weird is happening--
"PUT THEM DOWN!" Sparky bellows. It's all I hear before I faint, falling to the ground with no grace at all.
***
"Kitten." The word seems faint, but something about the voice strikes me as familiar. I try to wake up, but it seems impossible. "Kitten, it is time to wake," the voice says with a gentle tone.
Tatia. I'm safe, Tatia is here. But she's not the voice I really, really want to hear the most. I feel a gentle hand pushing my hair away from my face. Slowly my eyes open.
"Tatia?" I say. "Is it morning?"
"No, kitten. It's the middle of the day," she says with a little smile. "You had a very busy time while I was gone, it seems."
"She's okay, right?" I hear Sparky ask. "Are her eyes dilated? I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden the boys and the tire swing were floating in the air--"
"She is fine," Tatia says, still gently brushing my hair out of my face. "She is coming into her powers."
