by R. J. Ross
“He will be,” the old man says, ignoring the hand offered as he looks at the teen on the bed. “I’m moving him to my own hospital.”
“What?” she asks, looking stunned as she lets her hand drop. “Sir, in addition to my MD I also have a PhD in genetics--I’m fully equipped to handle this situation. If you take him from this hospital you’re risking his life--”
“That’s good to know, but I feel confident in my decision,” he says, pulling out a phone from his pocket and making a call. “Get him ready to be moved,” he orders her before walking away.
***
*Missouri*
The look on Ken’s face is a mixture of hesitation and determination. He keeps glancing over at me as if he wants to say something, but Nico has already taken over. “Okay, kids, this is a trial period only--Tony here is going to be working as the school janitor. That means you should treat him with respect, since if you make a mess he’s the one that has to clean it up--and if he doesn’t clean it up, you’re the one that has to--”
“Does this include the broken walls in the training area?” Jack asks.
“No, those are still yours, Jack. If you learned to actually go OVER the things, we’d be having a different conversation,” Nico drawls. “Tony is--” he hesitates, looking over at me.
“He’s my dad,” I say reluctantly. Almost everyone in the area, both the adults and the kids, turns to look at me in shock. “Yeah, my dad’s a norm. Don’t make that big of a deal of it, okay?”
“But--” Carla says, still stuck on “confused” according to her expression. She looks at the rest of the group, then leans up, cupping her hands around her mouth to whisper in my ear, “shouldn’t you go say hello to him? When did you last see him?”
I’m pretty sure half of the group heard her even with the hand-cupping thing, because I see them looking at me with the same expression. I blink, though, as a heavy hand lands on my shoulder. I can’t help but glance up at Flint as he moves to my side.
“Everyone has their own circumstances, right?” he asks the group, looking at each of them in turn. They shrug and nod a bit slowly. I look over at Dad, who I expect to be staring at me, but--
He’s staring at Flint, instead, his face pale white.
***
“Is there a problem?” Ken asks, making Tony look over at him. “You don’t look very well.”
“It’s fine,” Tony lies through his teeth. He looks back at the man standing next to his son, wondering if that’s a sign from God that he should just go back to prison. Memories of the past are rushing through his mind, one in particular.
When they’d been dating, Pamela had tended to disappear for days on end, not calling, not answering his calls, not writing, nothing, only to show up as if nothing had happened. Whenever he’d asked what was happening, she would blow him off saying she went to visit her brother for a bit. She’d never introduced him to her brother, but one day he’d caught sight of her at a local restaurant, standing with a tall redhead man that looked a lot like her.
He’d stared at the man, the tall, lean looking male that matched her like a set of dolls. A cold ball had developed in his gut as he realized that he’d been right about his girlfriend. There was no way she was normal. It was proved when he followed along behind them, watching as the man argued with Pamela for a long moment--and his hair caught on fire. Neither of them seemed to even notice the sudden flames. It was only when he heard the man shout that Tony stopped staring at the fire. “You’re wasting your LIFE, Pamela! On a norm! I talked with Century, he’s willing to take you back if you apologize--”
“I’m not going back,” Pamela said, “get used to the idea, Flint. I’ve found a normal life and I’m going to live it.”
“You’re so much more than normal, Pam,” Flint had said urgently. “You’ll get bored, you’ll start hating the guy you think you love--”
“Go home, Flint. Go find a perfect little super girl and settle down, and stop sticking your nose in my life!” Pamela said.
“Fine,” Flint said coldly. “But this is it. I’m not bailing you out anymore, little sister.” Then he walked away, saying, “Until you come crawling back to the game, you and I have nothing to do with one another. It’s for the best.”
He’d taken off, leaving Pamela leaning against the wall of the nearest building, crying. Tony had just stood there, hidden in the shadows as he tried to figure out what he’d just seen.
He moves before realizing, crossing the field and grabbing the hand on Vinny’s shoulder, shoving it off. “You disowned his mother,” he grits out, staring the taller man in the face, “you have no right to the son.” The shocked look on both Flint’s and Vinny’s faces is ignored as he grabs his son’s arm and pulls him away from the man.
“What?” Vinny and Flint ask blankly.
“You won’t get anywhere NEAR my son,” Tony says, not answering that question as he steps between the two, “not until you apologize to my dead wife.”
***
What in the hell is going on right now? I look from Dad to Flint and back again, confused. “What, exactly, are you saying?” Flint asks in a quiet tone, one that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand. I get the feeling that he’s started to figure something out. “Are you telling me that--” he looks at me again.
“Pamela,” Dad says. “We’ve never met, but I know what you did to her. If you think I’m going to let you do whatever you feel like with her son, you’re mistaken, super or not.”
“Pamela,” Flint repeats quietly, “of course.” He lets out a laugh, a rough, bitter laugh that makes me stare at him. “This really is a little world, isn’t it? I should have realized the boy was from the Pyrotechnique line--he’s too powerful to be a new line.”
He looks at me, a torn expression on his face. I’m still reeling from the idea that Flint is my uncle--I never knew I had family on my mom’s side. “How did she die?” Flint asks Dad abruptly. “She should have outlived you twice over.”
“She...” Dad says, looking away. “It’s none of your business,” he says abruptly. “You disowned her.”
“I don’t think this is exactly the place to air all of your grievances,” Ken says, walking over and stepping into the area between the two men. “I’m sure we can talk this out like adults, without bothering the children.” He looks over at me and I see a hint of regret on his face.
“It has nothing to do with me,” I mutter, starting to walk away. I don’t know how my mom died, Dad’s never told me--and that Flint’s my uncle doesn’t seem to matter since Dad’s right. If he disowned his own sister, he’ll probably disown me, too.
“Vinny,” Flint says sharply, “it has everything to do with you. You’re coming with us.”
I look at them again, letting out a heavy sigh as we head into the dorm building. I’m not looking forward to this. I look at Dad, wondering why I suddenly don’t feel so angry at him. There’s a dark expression on his face as he looks at Flint, and I see his hands clenched at his sides.
Maybe he’s willing to fight Flint for me, like he is about Mom? I never thought Dad would fight for anyone. It might be that I underestimated him.
I follow silently as we head through the dorm to Banshee’s office. Ken closes the door and turns to look at each of us in turn. “First,” he says, turning to me, “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you before I did this.”
I look at Dad and shrug. “Yeah, I coulda used a heads up,” I say a bit dryly, “but it’s done.”
“I knew you would say that,” Ken says with a slight smile and a shake of his head. He turns to look at Flint, next, stepping forward with an offered hand. “Nice to meet you, Flameblaster. I’m America’s Son--you can call me Ken. I’ve been following your career, it’s impressive.”
“Thank you,” Flint says, taking the hand that’s offered. “I can say the same.”
“And Tony, welcome to your new home,” Ken goes on, turning to Dad with another held out hand. Dad hesitates before shaking the off
ered hand. “Now, why don’t we get straight to the point,” Ken goes on. “I’m not sure exactly what’s going on between you both, but I’d like to hear the full story.” He sits on the table, motioning to Flint. “Let’s start with what you know, shall we?”
He exudes this peaceful aura or something, I think as I drop down in the chair in front of the desk. The adults can either fight over the desk chair or stand, I decide, since they’ll be the ones doing all the talking and it’s their fault we’re in here in the first place. I yawn, kicking one leg over one of the armrests and leaning back.
“I...” Flint starts out, looking at me for a moment. “My parents had two children before they died in 1984. The problem with our type...” he slows down, hesitating. “Sometimes the fire control... backfires,” he admits. “Mom and Dad went in to try and take out the flames in a forest fire. Mom was an animal speaker--she usually could get the animals out safely. But the fire had gotten too large, and when Dad tried to control the entire thing--”
“It didn’t work,” Dad says.
“Yeah,” Flint admits. “Since then I’ve been working with national parks and other areas that are at a high risk, but I can’t get all of them to cooperate.”
“That’s what happened to Pamela,” Dad admits. “There was a forest fire up north and it was spreading too fast--it reached some of the local homes. Pamela insisted on going up and seeing if she could do something. She wasn’t even in the Hall, but there aren’t that many fire types in the Hall, so she claimed that it was the least she could do--”
“I told her not to do things like that!” Flint snaps, slamming a fist down on the chair I’m sitting in. I practically get thrown out of it. “I cut her off from the family business for that exact reason--”
“You cut her off from the family because you’re a callous--” Dad starts out in an accusing tone. Flint turns on him, his hair lighting on fire.
“You have NO IDEA what you’re talking about!” Flint roars. I get to my feet, moving between him and Dad. I know, on some level, that it doesn’t matter when America’s Son is sitting right there, but my Dad is a norm. I never forget that fact, but Flint might have.
“Stop,” I say, looking him in the eyes and reaching up to place my hands on his shoulders. “He’s a norm. You could accidentally kill him.”
“The reason I disowned her is because she chose to live a normal life,” Flint says, taking a deep breath. His hair stops burning. “The relatives of capes are always in danger--they could be dragged into the hostage job at any moment. It’s best for everyone that wants to live a normal life to cut ties with the ones still in the game. Sure I wanted her to dump you and come back to the game--she was my partner. Two fire types are better than one, more than two are even better. One fire type alone, though, is likely to overreach their powers.”
“You say that now, but I heard what you told her. You said she would get bored of the normal life, and until she did you would have nothing to do with her!” Dad says angrily. “My son grew up without an uncle because of that--my wife died without a brother! But you’re just trying to justify your past rather than apologizing to my SON!”
“It’s fine,” I say, earning looks of shock from all around. “I didn’t have a dad for a while there, either.” Dad winces at that, looking away. “It seems to me,” I go on, since I’ve already started, “that nobody’s happy with this situation, so why don’t we do this? Flint, go back south, go back to your Hall, forget about me. It’s not like being an uncle really means much, right? Dad, if you really want to stay as a janitor, fine. But don’t expect me to play catch with you when you’ve got free time. I don’t. I’m about to become a working cape this weekend, which will definitely cut down on my cooking time,” I complain.
“I am NOT ditching you!” Flint says, turning on me, “you’re all I’ve got left.” Then he stops, looking a bit embarrassed that he’d just said that out loud. “I have no family. I regret what I did to your mom. I honestly believed that she would get tired of a norm life and come back within a few months, but she never did. And now...” I see a hint of a gleam in his eyes as his shoulders slump. “Now she’s gone. It went so fast,” he adds quietly, looking at his hands.
“I don’t want to play catch,” Dad says quietly, making me glance over at him. “I just... want to try and be there for you, Vinny,” he tells me. “Not that there’s much I can do for a working cape, as you say.”
“Even when you’re a working cape, you still need a family,” Ken says gently. “Isn’t that right, Vinny?”
I think of the zoo kids, my hands clenching at my sides as I bite back the usual retort about already having a family. Carla’s reaction is still too fresh in my mind to make me think they’d back me up--at least not unless I explained everything. I don’t feel like explaining anything. “I guess,” I say, simply because they’re all looking at me expectantly.
“Regardless, he can’t live in the dorms anymore,” Flint says. I jerk, looking at him in shock.
“What?” I ask.
“The flaming up while sleeping problem,” he reminds me. “We’ll need a place away from the dorms--”
“I refuse,” Dad says. “You’re not running off with my kid--”
“We can build a small place here,” Ken says. “I don’t believe the zoo kids would deal well with taking Vinny away--he was only gone for a few days and they were already threatening to burn the place down themselves.”
“Is that level of reliance healthy?” Flint asks, glancing at me.
“He’s their cook as well as their friend,” Ken says. “Honestly, I have to empathize with them, there. A good cook is something worth fighting to get back.”
I look at him dryly, the corner of my lips pulling up slightly at that statement. “This is why Jack and Trent are avoided at lunch time, you realize,” I have to point out.
“Why’s that?” Flint asks me curiously.
“They tend to eat off your plate if you’re not careful.”
“Ah, well, we Liberty boys are known for our appetites,” Ken admits. “But...” he hesitates, looking over at Tony, “I would suggest you live with them, but the entire reason we’re separating him from the group is because not all of them are fireproof. Of course, we’ll do our best to keep it from happening again, but it’s not worth the risk.”
“I see,” Dad says, looking from me to Flint and back. “I’m not fireproof, either. Well, I should be shown my duties, now, right?” he says, heading for the door.
“Dad--” I start out.
He looks at me. “It’s fine,” he says quietly. “I still haven’t forgiven myself for not being there, Vinny, so why should you?”
I look away, not able to say anything. That’s why I’ve been so angry with him all this time... but he’s a norm. Even if he had been there, what could he have done?
No, I think, my jaw tightening. He could have done the exact same thing that all the rest of the families failed to do. He could have gone to the Hall. He opens the door and walks out, leaving me standing there with Flint and Ken. They want to move me out of the dorms. I look at Ken, frowning slightly. “Why don’t we just get one of those bracelets like Morgan has?” I ask. “That’ll keep me from flaring up--”
“You need to have absolute control of your ability,” Flint says, “and relying on a piece of jewelry isn’t going to help with that.”
I just look at him, seeing just how strict a mentor he’s going to be. “Fine, but if I burn all your stuff it’s your own fault.”
“About that,” Ken says gently, “do you want to talk about it?”
I hesitate, just long enough for someone to knock on the door. “Yo, Dad? Mom says it’s time to get home,” I hear Jack call through the door. “You coming?”
“Yeah,” Ken says. “We’ll discuss it tomorrow,” he says to me, patting me on the shoulder as he leaves the room. “For tonight you can talk to Nico about where you’ll sleep.”
“Yeah,” I say, following after him. We
stop as we reach outside and I stare at the massive bonfire left unlit in the middle of the area. It’s got wooden logs laid in squares on top of one another. Surrounding it are other logs, with kids sitting on or leaning against them in a circle. Nico floats overhead.
“I thought it was a nice enough night to camp out,” he says as he notices me. “We’ll get your room rebuilt tomorrow.”
“Light it up, Vinny!” Lance calls to me. The rest of the group chimes in and I can’t help but grin slightly as I light my right hand on fire. I shove it forward, sending a fireball into the fire pit and watching it go up in flames. For a moment I just stare as the fire starts to spread, watching as the logs start to pop and crack.
It’s like a miniature forest fire, I think, my mind going back to how my mother had died. How my grandparents had died, as well, a little voice whispers. They hadn’t described how it had happened, but I can imagine it all too easily. They had probably lost control of their consciousness or something equally nasty--I blink as Jimmi moves to my side, holding out a bag of marshmallows. “Want one?”
“No thanks,” I say, pushing the bag away from me. “I’m good.”
I head for a mostly unoccupied log and sit down, using it as a backrest. I’m not that surprised when Flint comes over, sitting on the log next to me. “You realize,” he says quietly, “that her dad’s saved my life a million and one times with that ability.”
“I’m not looking for a girlfriend at the moment,” I say silently, watching her through the flames.
“You don’t look for anything, Vinny,” he mutters irritably. “I’ve only known you for a week, and even I picked up on that. You don’t want anything other than to cook, as far as I can tell. You’ve got so much potential--”
“To do what?” I demand. “Burn down the dorms? Dress up in tights for the enjoyment of norms? Or how about the new one? Die in a forest fire,” I say, turning on him. “It seems to be a really popular way to go, Flint. You could have mentioned that fact to me when we started this stupid game of mentors. I would have told you--” I stop, wondering why I don’t even know what I would have told him. It’s not like I can walk away from the zoo kids, denying that I’m a cape. Even if they weren’t here to keep me here, the fact that I COULD--and DID burn down my dorm room is proof that it’s not safe for me to try and fake it as a norm. People could die because of me.