by R. J. Ross
***
“He went from hotel to condo to penthouse lofts,” she says with an irritated expression on her face. Doris, Ariel, and I start laughing our heads off, because it’s SO easy to picture. “You might think it’s funny, but somewhere along the line he figured out that I would cover the bill. He started ordering the most expensive thing on the menu and telling them—TELLING them to send the bill to Marigold.”
“That does sound like something Rocco would do,” Century admits, a little grin pulling on his lips. I’ve moved off his lap and am sitting on his desk, since he doesn’t seem like he’s planning on running. Sitting on his lap makes him too close. He might do something terrible if I get too comfortable—like—well, I don’t really want to know what goes through that mind of his.
“He went back to his mother’s, once,” she goes on, her voice turning serious. “It didn’t go so well, and she wound up calling me again. So he ran.”
We fall silent, and I feel the urge to cry. “I don’t like her,” I decide.
“She had her own circumstances,” Marigold says. “It’s difficult, dealing with our kind. A lot of humans don’t know how to—or don’t even want to try. But the boy kept running, and I kept chasing. It was frustrating.”
“You still shouldn’t have threatened him with the Cape Cells!” I say, glaring at her.
A little smirk pulls at her lips. “I wouldn’t have left him in there long,” she says.
“But you would have put him there?”
“He spent three years making a laughing stock out of me,” she says. “That boy is trouble.”
“Did you ever fear him, though?” Doris asks quietly.
Marigold snorts. “He’s not a demon, regardless of what his mom said. He’s just a smart mouthed brat. He’s South Branch, now, right?”
“He’s mine and Central’s,” Century agrees, “but we’re in negotiations to let him travel to other branches. He’s not the type you limit to one branch.”
“I’m glad,” she says, shocking us all.
“About what?”
“About how the boy’s life is going, now,” she says. “You say you’re his aunt, now?” she asks me.
“I am! And I’m going to take care of him!” I say a bit rashly. “He’s my precious, adorable, good-looking nephew!”
She looks at me, a tiny snort escaping her. “You’re Skystep, right?”
“That’s right,” I say, sensing I’m about to be insulted.
“Do your best,” she says, to my surprise. “If anyone can track him down, it’s probably you.”
“Rocco hasn’t been running,” Ariel says. “He even came to our party!”
“But… considering what she just told us, do we really want to go meet his mother?” Doris asks me. I frown, looking down at Century’s desk since I need to think. I pick up a random piece of paper, staring at it for a moment before realizing what it’s about.
“I want to meet her,” I say, firmly. “Send us her address or Century gets it!”
“Fine,” Marigold says. “Although I have no interest in whether Century ‘gets it,’ or not, since it’s none of my business what you two do together—“
“Marigold,” Century says, but he sounds a bit amused, so I glare at him.
“There, it’s sent to Century’s email,” she says, typing quickly for a second. “You also have permission to enter my territory for two days. If you stay longer than that, I will find out. Century, I’m leaving this to you to handle—if it gets out that our type is terrorizing norms, I won’t be happy.”
“I planned on it,” Century says.
“I won’t terrorize anyone!” I say.
“If at all possible, can you do it while in disguise?” she says before hanging up. I stick my tongue out at the monitor.
“I’m going to go clothes shopping!” I say, hopping to my feet and racing out. I need the PERFECT disguise!
***
“So,” Century says as he looks at the two women still in his office. “Did you really have to make her hold me down?”
“It’s called fan-service!” Ariel says.
“But don’t get any big ideas,” Doris says, staring at him. “We’ll let you flirt with her, but when the day is done, Skye still comes back to us.”
“She’s ours!” Ariel agrees, sitting on the desk in front of him. “You can like her and date her and stuff, but you can’t keep her, got it?”
“So you’re saying…” he says, “you don’t mind if I flirt with her.”
“Oh, SHE does, but we’re okay with it, as long as you don’t break her heart. If you break her heart, well…” Doris says, glancing at Ariel, “you won’t like what we do.”
“We’ll tell her mommy!” Ariel says, her bubbly smile somehow more intimidating than Doris’s glare. “And if that’s not enough, we tell her big brother.”
“Not her father?” Century asks.
“I’m sure he’ll find out,” Doris says, looming over him.
“You seem to be a bit mistaken here, darlin’s,” he says, leaning back in his chair, “What I feel for Skye is in no way improper—“
Doris snorts, waving a hand before he can go on. “You can keep telling yourself that, but I didn’t see you shoving her off, now did I?”
They all look up as a foot comes through the roof. “Hey, girls! I came up with the PERFECT disguise!” Skye says as she fully enters the room. “We’re going to go as his teachers, doing a home visit!” She’s got three ugly dresses hanging over her shoulder. “If she even asks, I’m SURE Nico will back us up!”
“That’s… actually not the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Doris says. “On the other hand, those dresses definitely ARE.”
“They’re ugly,” Ariel agrees, nodding. “If my teacher dressed like that, I would never listen.”
“You don’t listen even now,” Doris says as they each grab one of Skye’s arms and tug her towards the wall. Doris shifts into her monster form, because otherwise they’ll just be dragging her after they leave the building.
“Well, then YOU two pick the dresses!” Skye says as they phase through the wall.
Century sits back, picking up the piece of paper that Skye had looked at earlier, a little sigh escaping him as he realizes what had motivated her. It’s a report from the black suits about how the first Coyote family training session had gone. Ever since she was adopted into the Superior’s family, she’s decided that family can’t fail. The fact that Lance and his grandfather are starting to become acquainted must have reinforced it in her mind.
She might be a genius, if her adopted father is right, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t naive. In fact, of the three of them, only Doris seems to have the best grasp on reality, and she still has trouble operating a microwave. He stands, tapping on the intercom system. “Tell Voltdrain that I’ll be out of our territory for the next day or two, would you?”
“Yes, sir,” the black suit on the other end of the line says. “Can I ask where you’re going?”
“I’m going to try and keep my three darlin’s from getting their hearts broken,” he says before walking away. He needs to get some civilian clothes ready.
***
*The East Branch*
We’re in business suits! Ariel and I are wearing skirts and everything, but Doris has pants on. I stare at her, pointedly, and she glances down.
“I don’t do skirts,” she says. “Besides, none of the teachers at your brother’s school wear skirts, anyway.”
“She doesn’t know that!” I say, stepping forward and almost falling on my face. I never realized how hard it is to walk in pencil skirts before.
“You’re floating, Skye,” Ariel says, sauntering down the hall of the apartment building in her heels and skirt. She looks sort of wrong in that outfit, even with her hair piled on her head and a pair of fake glasses on the tip of her nose.
“You know,” Doris says, looking from her to me, “for once, I think Skye pulls a disguise off better than you do.�
��
“What do you mean?” Ariel asks.
“You look like a pretend nerd, but she looks totally real,” Doris says with an evil little grin. “I mean, can’t you picture her tripping and dropping all of her books?”
“She’s not carrying books,” Ariel says.
“It’s the image, Ariel, not the reality,” Doris says. “Is he still following us?” she asks more quietly.
I touch my finger to my chin and focus. “Yep! He’s outside the building. He’s so annoying.”
“Well, just ignore him,” Doris says. “We’re going to pull this off—“ she reaches over and tugs me down so my feet are on the floor, “just fine.”
“It’s room 306, right?” Ariel asks. “Is that it?”
“Yep!” I say, grinning at her. The grin falls and I take a deep breath, straightening the jacket of my suit. “Okay, girls, think serious thoughts.”
“Isn’t she the one that never thinks serious thoughts?” Doris asks Ariel.
“I try not to think at all, it makes following her a lot easier,” Ariel says.
“That… is actually true,” Doris says.
I look at the door and try to calm my nerves. I can’t even argue that comment, because right now I wish I hadn’t followed me. This is Rocco’s mom. If… if I do something wrong, won’t it hurt him? He doesn’t seem like he has anything against her, even after what all she did. But… but Rocco’s really accepting, right? He’s such a great kid…
I feel tears threaten as I think of what my nephew has been through. The hand that had risen to knock on the door falls. Maybe I shouldn’t do this. Maybe things are better left alone. Maybe—
A large hand reaches past my head, knocking twice on the door. I look up, staring at Century in shock, not even reacting as his hand drops on my shoulder. “What—but—I…”
He’s wearing a suit, I notice, and instead of his usual bolo tie, he has an actual tie on. He looks really, really good, not that I will EVER tell him that. He gives me a little smirk, and I suddenly wonder if he can read minds. If so—I totally think that Vinny should wear shorts and a short cape and follow Flameblaster around with some sort of stupid sidekick phrase, like… holy (fill in the blank), Flameblaster!
“Are you going to back down after coming this far?” Century asks me. Okay, guess he’s still not psychic. Too bad, I had some great ideas for Voltdrain’s uniform, too.
The door opens slowly, and a large African American man looks back at us with a strange expression on his face. “Sorry, I’m not lookin’ to convert.”
“Convert to what?” Ariel asks.
“He thinks we’re a religious group,” Doris explains.
“No, sir, we’re not here to convert you,” Century says, “we’re here to speak to Gwenda Stiltz?”
“Do you have a problem with my wife?” he asks.
“You’re… married to Gwenda Stiltz?” I ask.
“What’s it to you?”
“Who is it, Johnnie?” a woman yells from inside.
“Some of those door-to-door religious people!”
“Tell them I’m not interested!”
“We’re not door-to-door anything, ma’am, we’re here from your son’s school,” Century calls out.
The man in front of us freezes, looking shocked. “You have the wrong place,” he says, starting to close the door. I reach up, touching it, but he must assume I’m a norm because he keeps trying to shut it. He looks a bit shocked when he can’t budge it. “Gwenda doesn’t have any kids.”
“Is that what she told you?” I demand.
“I… let him assume it,” I hear a woman say. She steps forward, pushing Johnnie out of the way. “I knew this would happen sooner or later. What’s he done, this time?”
“Your son is already part of two Halls, ma’am,” Century says, his expression not showing the shock that I’m feeling. I mean, I should have seen it coming, right? Marigold told us, but—
“Halls?” Johnnie repeats. “What do you mean, Halls?”
“Johnnie, aren’t you late for work?” Gwenda asks.
“I’m off today.”
“Well, go out and get a beer or something, this has nothing to do with you.”
“You have a son, and you never told me—and those two ladies are floating a foot off the floor!” he says, motioning to me and Ariel. Doris discreetly reaches out and drags both of us down to floor level again. “What are you hiding from me, Gwenda?”
“I—“ she takes a deep breath, running a hand over her face before glaring at us. “You might as well come in.”
We walk into the small apartment, and I look around. There’s no trace of Rocco. There aren’t any pictures on the wall, there isn’t even the news reporting on supers on the television. I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does.
“I already told the Hall leader that she can do whatever she wants with him, so I don’t see why you’re here,” Gwenda says, turning to face us. “He’s better off, and so am I.”
“You’re his mother,” I say. The look on her face makes me feel like I just said something stupid.
“Who are you?” she demands. “Why are you so interested in Rocco, anyway?”
“This is his aunt,” Century says, placing a hand on my shoulder, “on his father’s side.”
“Well that one’s obvious. It sure isn’t on my side.” She looks at me, her eyes going to the floor, pointedly. “So you’re like him, huh?”
I feel something I haven’t felt for a long while—rage. My hands clench into fists at my sides and I start to take a step forward, only to be grabbed by Ariel and Doris in a group hug.
“Breathe, Skye,” Doris murmurs. “Breathe.”
“She’s mean, but we don’t want you to kill her,” Ariel says.
“I’m not ‘like him’,” I say, staring at her and ignoring them, “I’m much, much more dangerous.”
“Skye!” Century says.
“How can you talk like that?” I demand. “You have a WONDERFUL, intelligent, and KIND kid that accepts everyone! How can you not accept him?!”
“Because…” she takes a breath and lets it out slowly, obviously debating on what she’s about to say, “because I could NEVER give him what he deserved,” she says. “I could never be the right mother for him! I could never do the right thing. If he had stayed here, he would have been taken in by the gang—they live just down the street. He would have been used, and there was no way I could stop him! He can walk through the shadows! How do you make a kid that can walk through the shadows obey curfew? ESPECIALLY when I work nights! He—he was already starting to get all buddy, buddy with Tepaco! He was a thirteen-year-old boy, hanging out with the biggest gang leader in the state!” She’s crying, I realize, stunned. Her husband wraps his arms around her, but the look on his face says he’s still several steps behind us.
“So… you’re sayin’ that my stepson is a super?” he says.
“Don’t be stupid, Johnnie! Of course he is! You’re staring at four of them right now!” she says in frustration. “I turned him over to Marigold, hoping that she would straighten him out before it was too late—I forced him on her. I wanted him out of this neighborhood before he became a super villain. I did the right thing, right? You said he’s part of two Halls, right?”
We go still, and Century clears his throat, tugging at his tie a bit sheepishly. “Well…”
“Rocco IS a super villain!” Ariel says cheerfully.
“I really expected Skye to be the one to say that,” Doris says.
“Rocco is one of our acting super villains,” Century says, a little smile pulling at his lips, “along with these three. I plan on him becoming quite the headliner.”
“What?” Gwenda says, staring at him, dumbfounded.
“His super name is Nightstep,” Doris says. “He’s going to specialize in showy burglaries—“
“And be our get-away driver!” Ariel says. “Oh, and drive our float for Mardi Gras!”
“You turned
my son into a super villain?”
“I think he’s going to be going up against Carla, right?” I say, looking at Century. “They’re in looooove! But he’s too dorky to tell her.”
“Carla is Hypersonic Rainbow,” Century explains.
“Oh, I’ve seen her!” Johnnie says. “She’s pretty cute.”
“But Ma’am,” Century says, “if you’re so concerned with where you’re living, we can arrange for you to move somewhere nicer. It’s the least I can do for the family of one of my boys.”
“You turned my son into a super villain!” Gwenda growls dangerously. “THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS TRYING TO AVOID!” She looks around before grabbing the nearest cup to throw at Century. He catches it, easily.
“Now, Ma’am, you don’t seem to understand—“
“My son is a good boy! He was just going down the wrong path because he was in a bad place!” She throws something else, but Century catches it as well.
“Now, Ma’am, I would explain if you would just calm down!”
“Villains get paid by the Hall,” Doris says, making Gwenda stop, “pretty well, too.”
“I don’t get paid!” I complain.
“That’s because he gave YOU a credit card with unlimited funds, and no pay-off due,” she tells me. “You’re the ‘darling’ of the South Branch, and everyone knows it. But he’s already offered these two a house, remember? It’s pretty obvious that Rocco’s official.”
“Who IS he, thinking he can come in and offer me some new place—“
“Century,” all three of us answer, dryly.
“He’s—seriously?”
“You’re Century?” Johnnie asks, his eyes lighting up. “I am a HUGE fan! Can I get your autograph? You’re my second favorite Hall Leader—I mean, you gotta know that Mastermental’s my man, right? THAT is a classy guy, Mastermental.”
The look on Century’s face has me laughing my head off. “You should see your face!” I say, rubbing it in.
“Everyone has the freedom to choose,” Century says, a bit grumpily.
“So... Rocco’s mommy loves him, too, right?” Ariel says. “Aren’t you glad, Skye?”