by R. J. Ross
“Oh, please, Jack,” I drawl, “I don’t need to be branded--I’ll be faithful, regardless.”
“It’s not you I don’t trust,” he says. “Just think of me when you see it, okay?” He reaches up and pushes my hair behind my ear, leaning down and kissing me again.
“I prefer the rose,” I tell him.
“Okay, we’ll compromise,” he says, touching the necklace again. A rose appears above a much smaller version of his symbol.
“I can accept that,” I say, amused. I give him one more hug before grabbing Emily and Ditto. “Enough teasing your boyfriend, we need to go,” I tell them as they let out a laugh.
“Bye Trent!” Ditto says, waving happily as I drag them off.
“Bye,” Emily says, looking a bit sadder than her doppelganger. “If you get lonely, we’ll send Repeat, okay?”
“Please don’t,” Trent says dryly. Repeat is Emily’s second doppelganger, but she’s a bit harder to get along with than Ditto is. “Send Ditto, instead.”
“Love you, too, Trent!” Ditto says, grinning from ear to ear. We go into our apartment, heading for our rooms to lie down.
***
It feels like my alarm clock goes off the moment I close my eyes. I crawl out of my bed, heading to the bathroom to get cleaned up and dressed. We don’t bother with food as we grab our stuff and head out the door in close to perfect silence. Only Liz looks awake. Taurus meets us at the door, his gigantic thing of luggage already on his back. He takes our stuff without being asked, and we head down the stairs. A limo waits for us in the parking lot.
“Um, Taurus?” I ask, finally speaking, “did you tell your dad about this?”
“How’d you guess?” he drawls with amusement. “He wanted to send the helicopter.”
“I think I should have gotten a different wig,” Liz says, messing with the mop of brown hair she’s wearing. It’s one we all picked out for her, but she doesn’t look happy. It’s rather hard not to be noticed, though, when you’ve got white hair and look about twenty. She’s not, she’s thirty, but super genes mean you live a very long time and look young the entire time.
“I prefer your real hair,” Taurus says as the driver gets out and holds the door open for us. We slip in and he puts our bags in the trunk. Taurus and Liz are across from each other, leaving Emily sitting next to Liz and me sitting by Taurus.
“I prefer my own hair, too,” she says, scratching her head. “This one feels scratchy. Are we sure I can’t get away with a baseball hat?”
“No,” Emily and I say. I get on my knees on the chair and reach up, undoing the pony tail that’s holding Taurus’s hair up. “And you have to keep your hair down,” I tell him. “It’s too obvious in a pony tail.” He lets me do whatever I want, looking amused. I pull back and look at him, and then say honestly, “You still look like a professional football player or something.”
“Can’t really change that,” he admits. “If people ask, we’ll tell them I play on the weekends, or something.”
“Or you could play college football!” Emily offers.
“He has an established cover story,” Liz says, taking the wig off and looking inside, “he’s a contractual construction worker. We all have covers like that.”
“What’s yours, Liz?” Emily asks.
“I’m an electrician,” she says, grinning at Emily. “It helps that we’re ‘working’ in fields that we understand. The problem is when someone actually gets our ‘work’ phone numbers. The Hall has been told to forward them to us. I’ve had to hook up a few generators in the past.”
I start laughing, unable to help myself. The image of Liz going in as an electrician--it’s far too easy to imagine. “What’s really bad is when they ask when the male electrician will show up,” she drawls, rolling her eyes. “As if a woman can’t shock herself just as easily as a man can.”
“You can fix my electricity any time you feel like it,” Taurus says.
She just looks at him with a raised eyebrow. He gives her a shameless grin. “I’ve patched a few holes, myself,” he admits, changing the subject. “I supposedly specialize in dry-walling and flooring. They even put me through a college course when I first started out, so I could sound professional.”
“So what are our covers?” I ask, looking over at Emily.
“High school students,” Emily says. “It’s pretty obvious, right?”
“She’s right,” Liz says, “and I’m legally your foster mom, it’s on all of our paperwork, complete with your grandfather's signature, Aub. The only one that will get the strange looks will be Devon,” she declares all too cheerfully.
“You’re a single foster mom, so it’s obvious enough,” Taurus says, “I’m your male companion.”
“He means boyfriend,” Emily says evilly.
“Yep,” I agree.
“My own daughters!” Liz says dramatically. “We’re not even on the plane and they’re already making boyfriend jokes. Listen up, the only reason I didn’t make Nico come instead is because he and Father are constantly arguing. I want this trip to be nice and peaceful. Devon is perfect for that--he’s a Superior fan-boy.”
“I won’t call it fan-boy’ing, exactly,” Taurus says in protest, “I just admire the things he did in the past. Just because he wasn’t that stellar of a father doesn’t mean he wasn’t admirable as a cape. I’d like to hear the stories how they really went, from him. How many people do you know get a chance to even ask?”
“Plenty,” Liz says dryly, “almost everyone I know.”
“You’re exaggerating, and you know it,” he says.
“I said ‘almost,’” she says. “The girls will keep Tatiana busy, you’ll keep Dad busy, and I’ll have a nice, peaceful vacation. Maybe make a few snowmen!”
“Is it night time or day time up there?” I ask.
“Right now it’s day time--and will be for several months,” Liz says. “I brought sleeping masks!”
“Wait, what?” Taurus asks.
“They live in the Arctic Circle,” I say. “That means for some six months a year you can always see the sun. For the other six, it’s always night.”
“Close to around that long, at least,” Liz says. “Not that I’ve actually been that high. But we’ll be landing in an airport below the Arctic Circle. Tatiana and Dad will meet us there and show us how to get to their base. There’s a good chance we’ll have to fly in, considering.”
A strange look crosses Taurus’s face. “So when you say ‘fly in’ you don’t mean a helicopter, do you?”
“Don’t worry, Dad can carry you,” Liz says cheerfully.
“I’d rather he not,” Taurus drawls. “I’ll run. I’m pretty invulnerable to weather in my were-form.”
“Don’t blame us if you get lost,” Liz says. He gives her a dark look.
“Keep your phone on,” he says, stubbornly.
“See, I keep telling people that he’s bull-headed,” she says as the limo pulls to a stop. “Aubrey, did you call your granddad and tell him where you were going?” she asks me as we get out.
“Yeah,” I say. My granddad is my only living blood relative. “He wants signatures from everyone--including you,” I tell her with amusement. “He’ll probably want pictures, too, actually.”
“I don’t know if we can get Dad’s, but we’ll see,” she says as we head to the back of the limo to get our things. They’re already being wheeled away by the time we get there.
“Dad,” Taurus says. We all turn, seeing the well dressed owner of HTV standing on the curb, watching us with amusement. He holds out his arms and Emily and I rush forward for a hug. I love Andre, he’s such a great guy.
“And when were you planning on telling me goodbye?” he demands, picking us both up easily. He’s a Minotaur shape-shifter, just like his son. “Here I was planning on taking everyone out to the movies this weekend.”
“Can we do it when we get back?” Emily asks, looking up at him with huge blue eyes.
“How can I sa
y no to that?” he asks as she gives him an impish grin. My sister is adorable, have I mentioned that yet? She abuses it shamelessly.
“You can come with us!” I offer. “We’ll sneak you in with the luggage.” He laughs loudly, and I grin, hugging him more tightly before stepping back. “Thank you for the limo,” I tell him, “and for waking up so early to see us off. We really appreciate it.”
“She’s got great manners,” Taurus says, dropping a hand on my shoulder and tugging me into his side. I reach up and grab his hand as I lean against him, my head not quite to his chest. I tilt my head to listen to his heartbeat, instinctively checking his blood pressure and heart rate. His huge hand comes down, covering my eyes in a casual movement. “Well, other than her habit of checking people’s health in public,” he drawls.
“Oh--oh crud,” I stutter, blushing brightly. “Sorry, Taurus, it’s just been about a week--“ I say as he starts to laugh. “The shape-shifting puts a lot of strain on your heart,” I tell him, going into bossy-mode instinctively. “You’ve got a really good heart, but I still want to make sure it’s not being strained too much!” Speaking of which, I should check Andre, too, shouldn’t I? I start forward, my hand already going out, only to be pulled back by Taurus.
“At least wait until we’re somewhere private,” he says quietly, turning and looking at the other people filtering into the KCI Airport. It’s pretty crowded for this early in the morning, but then again, this airport is always crowded. We’re getting a few curious looks, but not as many as I would have expected. For the most part, the people look a bit like zombies. I can actually pick up on their problems as they walk past me--stress, high blood pressure, headaches everywhere. It’s actually a bit overwhelming, honestly. It’s been a while since I was out in public and not surrounded by exceptionally healthy supers for the most part. Even in the ER the problems are spread out by rooms.
I blink as sunglasses are slipped over my eyes. I shoot Liz a thankful smile. “This is actually quite fascinating,” Andre says, moving closer to me and leaning down slightly to look at my eyes. A hat is placed on my head even as he reaches down and takes my hand.
“Dad, there’s a reason I told her to wait--“ Taurus starts out.
I can’t help it, I scan him. “You need to lay off the meat,” I tell him seriously. “Eat more fruits and vegetables! And you need more exercise--both versions. It’ll bring down your stress. I’m sure that if you called Mastermental he’d be more than happy to give you something your other self can do as a workout! Since we’re taking both Liz and Ta--Devon, he might even put you in the field,” I tell him cheekily. “Or you could help out with reconstruction! They can always use some brute strength.”
“She’s pretty bossy, isn’t she?” he says to Taurus with a little grin.
“Consider it the doctor’s orders,” Taurus says. “She’s the best around.”
“And let more people carry the load of the company!” I tell Andre, on a roll. “You can’t micro-manage, it’s hard on your heart, and you’re the same as your son! I don’t want you over-straining it!”
“Time to go in, Aubrey,” Taurus says with amusement.
“I’m not done lecturing your dad,” I tell him with a hint of a pout.
“You can call him when we get there.”
“Oh, good idea! I’ll also call Mastermental and make sure he does what I suggested,” I say as I’m dragged away. I glance over my shoulder at the still stunned looking Andre and blow him a kiss. "I only do this because I love you!” I say.
He starts laughing.
“Bye, Grandpa!” Emily says, giving him one last hug before chasing after us. She’s decided on what she wants to call people, lately, and there’s no point in arguing it. It’s actually only Liz that even bothers to try once in a while--usually over her calling Taurus “Dad.” The change shocked me a bit the first time I heard it, but now I’m pretty used to it. I’m actually wondering if I should start calling them that, too.
We head through the check-in, going through all the procedures. Liz is detained as she tries to go through the machine, much to my worry. The fact that the lights start to flicker when she steps to her side and raises her arms might have something to do with it. I can practically imagine what they’re seeing on that screen. “If you could follow me, ma’am,” the female security officer says, leading her into a secluded section. A second later I hear a loud yelp of shock and a profuse amount of apologizing--from the security lady, not Liz. Taurus actually snorts with laughter. Well, he does until they call him into the secluded area after he’s scanned, as well. I can practically imagine the awkwardness of trying to pat him down. In fact I hear them talking quietly when I listen closely enough.
“Really, I appreciate the hard work you do for our country,” Taurus says in a bland tone. “I’m not sure what you’re looking for, though. If there’s a problem with my size or race, or hair--“
“No, sir, of course not,” the man checking him says. “We’re just expected to do this with this type of hair and... your type.”
“With construction workers?”
“No, of course not! With your type.”
“I’m Baptist,” Taurus says dryly, “not that I’ve been to church in years. Is that a problem?”
“Not that type, either,” the man says. I’m trying not to laugh, because I’ve finally caught on. “The same type as your lady friend from earlier,” he whispers.
“Oooooh. Right. Want to see my card for that?” Taurus says as I choke on a laugh. “Since the cat’s out of the bag.”
“If you would, please? It’d save us both a lot of time.” There’s the rustling sound of them moving and Taurus comes out, looking dryly amused.
“You should get your school cards out,” he says silently as he walks over to the rope separating him from me and Emily, “Liz almost shorted out both of their machines. They know what we are.”
“Is that going to be a problem?” I ask.
“Shouldn’t be,” he says, “since Mastermental tends to have ‘arrangements’ with the larger transportation providers. I’d think this place was at the top of the list.”
“Ma’am,” the same woman that talked to Liz says as I step into the machine and spread out my arms, getting scanned. “If you could come with me--“
I go to the items that had just been scanned and dig through my purse, pulling out my wallet and showing her my school ID. It’s specialized, complete with a tiny hologram of me that appears if I press my finger to my picture. The woman looks shocked for a moment before motioning me through. I glance back to see Emily getting scanned and flashing her own card. She doesn’t bother with the hologram.
We head in, grabbing our things from the scanner and joining Taurus and Liz--who’s messing with her wig again. She gives up quickly and we head to the corner furthest away from the norms. Taurus automatically sits down in the seat closest to them, his long legs stretching out in front of him. He’s like a wall between curious onlookers and the rest of us.
“I think we should teleport to get home,” Emily says quietly as she digs through her backpack and pulls out her phone, “we’re just a tiny bit too obvious.”
“It would have been fine if they hadn’t been so nosy,” Liz complains, crossing her arms as well.
“It’s fine,” Taurus says, covering a yawn with his hand. “It’s all going to be just fine.” He drapes an arm over the back of Liz’s chair, but she’s still so irritated by the body search that she doesn’t even seem to notice. “Why don’t you turn your bracelet on, Liz?” he asks silently. “We’ll be in pretty tight quarters soon.”
“Oh, yeah, good idea,” Liz says, bringing up her sleeve and touching the stone on her bracelet. It starts to glow, but she covers it up by slipping the sleeve over it.
I dig out my phone, bringing up the email from last night. For a long moment I just stare at it--long enough to get a curious look from the others. I close the window. I’ll email her when I get to the Arctic, I tell myself
, when I have the privacy to write properly. A phone text seems lacking right now.
***
“Time to get up,” I hear Taurus say. I wake up slowly, realizing that someone’s leaning on me and I, in turn, am leaning against someone else. I’m not even that surprised to see a head of bright red hair under my chin.
“Wake up, Emily,” I say as she snuggles closer. I look up at Liz, who has her arms wrapped around us and is using Taurus as her backrest. She’s still sound asleep, as well. I poke Emily when words don’t work, and she wakes up. She looks up at me sleepily, grinning slightly.
“Mornin’,” she says happily, hugging me briefly before jumping to her feet. “Are we ready to board the plane?”
“Yeah,” I say, feeling once again that now-familiar shock. I know what happened to Emily. I know all about the two sisters and how they abused Emily when she lived with them--and it still stuns me how much she trusts me, even though I’m in the exact same position they were. She’s never looked at me as if I were a threat; in fact she’s constantly telling me how much she loves me. I swore the first time she told me that, that I would be the best big sister in the world. It's easier said than done, but I've been trying my best.
As a group we get up, heading for the line and boarding the plane. This flight takes almost ten hours, I think as we enter first class and sit down. I’m so glad that Nico booked us the best seats. Taurus puts all of our carry-ons in the luggage rack overhead and sits down next to Liz. Emily and I are already in our seats, watching the luggage head for the plane.
“You ever try flying?” Emily asks.
“Jack’s taken me out a few times,” I say, smiling at the memories. “It’s a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, it is,” she says. “Sometimes I’m jealous of Trent.”
I laugh at her. “You’ve got an amazing ability, too, you know. Sometimes I’m jealous of everyone in the school,” I say. “I can’t do anything really amazing--“