by Krista Cairn
“You’ll get used to it,” she said. Not wanting to shift gears, lose her target, Simone fidgeted, looking at Mitch. He shook his head once. They’d lost the guy. Guys.
He pulled on her cuff then took her hand again. “He’ll be back,” he whispered.
It bothered her that he knew exactly where to find her, how to lay a trap she’d fall into. What was the point of the newest experiment?
“Are you feeling any different?” she asked, looking him over.
“No, same as always. You?” He assessed her as well. “You do look a little… well, I’m not sure.” He pulled out the Geiger counter and aimed it at her. “You normally read zeros, but…” he turned the device showing her it was red-lining.
“Maybe that’s you. It’s not exactly directionally. Just higher/lower readings, as you move.”
“Guess you’d better clear us, if we’re going back inside.” Winking, he pulled her into a hug. “In case Carol comes looking.”
It was okay with Simone. She’d started to make peace with how she felt about him.
Started wanting to be around him in more intimate ways. Not that she was going to confess.
Not yet.
Absorbing the excess radiation from him only took seconds, but she stood a moment, resting her head on his shoulder. If she was going to be admitting things, she was liking having him here, helping too. It was different than with others. They usually got in the way.
Danger created a level of awareness she usually found awkward.
“Okay, close your eyes.” She peeked around him to make sure the door to the restaurant was closed before pushing at the radiation, neutralizing it in what she’d started calling a Pulse. Imagining her pulse moving out from them in a wave, she stood very still, focused.
She still didn’t understand how this action was different from the one where she exploded the radiation out around her instead. So much was just instinct without understanding. It was like performing magic but not knowing how she did it. It was real, but felt fake.
Was it just an understanding of how it felt to do the two different things, and then replicating that sensation, or was it in her mind, where she made the conscious to do one or the other?
The Geiger counter was down to zeros a minute before ambient radiation started leaking back into their space. “Sunshower.” He smiled. “That’s a good nickname for you.”
“Nicknames? We’re already at the nickname stage?” She laughed. The immediate need to chase the bad guy had passed and he was joking now. Pet names sounded dorky when she heard people use them, but the way he said it gave her a cozy, cherished feeling.
“Well, starburst is already trademarked, when it comes to sweet things.”
She laughed. “Flirt.”
“Only with you.” He kissed her forehead.
“I think we have enough names, anyway.”
“We still have one more name change after this,” he hinted.
Suddenly flustered, Simone turned away. “We should check for technology inside.
They may have installed things while Carol was away.” She went to the back door, opening it.
“Couldn’t they do that after closing?”
“Carol lives on the second floor and the alarms down here are ear-splittingly loud.”
“There’s a guy I know who can check it out. He does checks for security incursions, like listening devices, or tiny spy cameras. He’s really good at it.”
“You know a guy. How long have you lived here? I have a private detective friend, and even I don’t know a guy.”
“See, I’m useful,” he joked.
She rolled her eyes and kept walking.
Karen was out front, helping Carol now. Where was she earlier? Bathroom maybe.
“Hey, Karen,” she walked up and leaned on the counter. “Thanks for coming back.
How’s business?”
“Surprisingly good. Rene had put a sign up saying we’d be closed for a week. When people ask why, I jokingly say she was run off by mobsters. They think I’m kidding and order a coffee. If they press, I say unplanned vacation. That way when she starts talking about ranch life, they think she went to a dude ranch or something for a break.”
“Nice.” Simone laughed. “Where is the old guy?”
“Don’t worry about the old guy,” she leaned in to whisper. “How’s life with the new guy?” “A little too much like a fairytale. Too good to last.” Simone whispered before glancing back. He looked patiently bored. She pulled him over to stand at the counter with them. “Have you met Mitch yet?”
“Not formally.” Karen smiled. “Good to meet you.” She nodded.
“Likewise.” He nodded back.
“So,” Karen stood up and continued, “I suppose you’ve heard about me and Neil, right?” “No, I keep forgetting my phone, so I’m out of the loop.”
“Oh, well, we’ve been hanging out a lot together. I think it’s starting to get serious.”
“Um, congrats?” Simone said.
“Not yet, but he’s fun to be around, I’ll say that.”
Simone supposed she missed him being around, but then again, not really. It was weird. Something in her heart had shifted, she thought, glancing at Mitch.
“I know how that is,” Mitch said. Smiling at Simone, he snuck his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.
Simone’s eyes went wide then she blushed, looking down at her hands.
“Oh, geez, really?” Karen grinned.
“I… um… well, starting.” Simone said, barely above a whisper.
“Okay, we’ll talk later. Soon.” Karen said in a fake whisper as a customer cleared their throat behind them.
As they walked out, Simone was still blushing. Public declarations of affection were not something she’d been a part of, until just then. It was… different.
“Let’s get back to my place.” She said, “I’m starved.” She didn’t know what else to say. They should get back on task, but she really was hungry.
“Me too,” Mitch agreed.
Did her place have food left, after all the people coming and going there? “Um, I haven’t shopped in a while. We may have to get creative.”
“I’m good in the kitchen.”
“Right. Right, of course.”
Guarded, she approached the apartment again. The gnome stood, undisturbed. She needed better security than looking to see if someone had her gnome key. She pulled the key out of her pocket and let them in.
Chapter 23 // Okay, Go!
Inside, Simone walked to the living room and dropped down onto the couch. She needed time to process, but wasn’t sure she’d get it. Between Justin, Hemlock, the alley trap, and everything else, she wanted to stop thinking for a minute. Just a moment of peace.
She let herself fall over sideways, thinking about how nice a nap would be right now.
Just a nice, short nap.
Someone knocked on the front door. She started getting up to answer, but Mitch beat her to it, opening it just a crack.
“We’re not home,” he said.
“Good, we’re not here to visit,” a genial male voice said.
“Wait, that’s Kyun Soo,” she jumped up. There would be a group out there, if she guessed right. “Let them in.”
A moment later eight people stood with her in the living room. She gave Jenna a hug, knowing that if Kyun was there, Jenna would be.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Jenna chuckled. “Consider this your introductory meeting to the Zenith team. Bring your boyfriend in. He’s a part of this too.”
“Zenith? You’re kidding, right?”
“Nope, but you have to show these guys what you can do before they’ll believe me.
A bunch of meat heads, these ones.”
Simone laughed. They all stood a foot taller than her, looking heroic and suave. They were a team of specialists the city used to patrol the dangerous parts of the city at night, helping it become less dangerous.
/> Mitch stood at the edge of the room so Simone went over and dragged him into the group. “This is Mitch,” she said. “These are the most awesome people I’ve ever met.” She was a little star struck, so maybe she was over-selling, but he had to understand. “Every one of them is exceptional in their own way.”
“That’s why we’re here. You are also exceptional, and word is spreading about the grey ghost.”
Simone stared from one to the next, blinking, wondering if she had fallen asleep on the couch. This had to be a dream, right? Then the name sank in.
“The what ghost?” she spat out.
“Grey. We can call you something else when we leak news reports.”
“I’m still a bit stunned - they always shade your faces in the papers, or on TV. This is really the Zenith team?”
A variety of nods, laughs, and affirmatives rippled through the group.
“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Mitch asked.
“He’s new,” Simone said in mock whisper before turning to him. “They’re a special task force that keeps the worst of the crime centers under control. They’re why there’s no mafia or big gangs here.”
“That’s cool,” he agreed.
“I’ll go through introductions later, but some of us have to head out soon, so,” Jenna faced Simone. “Do you want to explain or show?”
“Show with explanation later. It’s hard to get until you see,” Mitch said.
“You too, Mitch.” Simone still held his hand, then realized she had to let go. “Oops.”
“What do you want to see?”
“Defensive first.” A tall, dark haired man said. Paul, if Simone remembered right.
“Cool.” She jittered a minute, working up her courage.
“Deep breath. Go easy,” Mitch leaned down and whispered. She nodded.
She took a deep breath and pushed all the light around her away, ghosting. Then she walked through everyone except Mitch.
“Wait until you see Mitch,” she said.
“You may want to shield your eyes,” he said.
He nodded and started gathering light until he was bright enough to look like a blur.
“He can go much brighter, but you get the point. But watch. Here’s the thing you want to see.” Simone said, turning to Mitch.
“Go easy on them,” he winked at her.
Reaching for his hand, she pulled all the light from him, into her ghosted form until they were both a luminous blur, then she pushed all the light out in a gentle burst, causing a few in the group to lose their balance.
“See, true super powers. They’re among us.” Jenna’s grin was unstoppable.
The others nodded, looking back and forth amongst themselves.
“And, so, you two are like a set?” A tall, thin, dark-haired woman asked.
“This is Marissa. She and Phil patrol the south east.” Jenna introduced them.
“Working as a team is kind of new to us, but we’re discovering interesting things when we combine our abilities,” Simone said. “We do okay on our own, but that last thing you saw… that’s new.”
“Are you stable?” The man standing nearest to Phil asked.
“And that’s Nick and Petra, North West patrol,” Jenna said.
Simone hesitated. Mitch stepped in. “We’re not sure if what we’re experiencing is new, or old things we didn’t know we could do.”
“We keep getting lured into traps. We can’t tell if they’re to test us, or change us, or both,” Simone said, a little sheepish.
“Yesterday’s trap was definitely meant to harm you,” Mitch looked stern.
“You’re the one who caught the serial killer last week, right?” Another man added.
“You’re the Grey Ghost.”
“That’s Lane. He’s with Sherly in the North West,” Jenna said.
The two waved instead of nodding their greeting, instantly making Simone like them.
“That was me, yes.”
“Who are you after now?” Sherly asked. She was the shortest of the group, with medium blonde hair and fire red lips. “We saw you running around earlier.”
“We’re trying to track down the guy that changed us.”
“What exactly is it that you do?” Jenna wondered. “I mean, what’s your ‘origin story’?” “This is fun, but if we’re playing twenty questions, let’s sit in the kitchen or backyard, if the kitchen is small.”
Outside was a good choice. The fence was built for privacy, and if the sat far enough from the building, the landlady wouldn’t overhear.
“Sure, let’s go outside. It’s nice out.” Petra said.
Sitting on the grass outside calmed Simone down. Leaning against Mitch helped too.
It would be okay if she got talkative with this group, but she wouldn’t tell everything, like Mitch going supernova.
“I know it seems neat, and interesting, but the thing we showed you at the end - the ‘bump’, that can be far stronger. I can also negate radiation. Every detectable form of radiation.”
“But how?” Phil asked. “I’m good at theoretical physics, and have a good grip on DNA, but this still seems odd to me. There’s something missing.”
“He’s our geek,” Jenna said.
The group spent the next half hour talking through what happened and the theories that were still standing, as well as what the traps were.
“Wait, you two leveled those thugs in the theatre, didn’t you?” Sherly asked. “We tried to get those guys off the street so many times, it had become a joke. I think we need to thank you. The route is almost dull now.”
Simone nodded slowly. “Actually, I’m getting tired of being this guy’s play thing. I’m just about ready to do him in, as well.”
“Let us help.” Dean, the quietest one, said. He liked to stand on the edge of the group, listening, deeply thinking.
“You all are martial arts masters, right?” Simone asked. “I guess I should learn, too.”
“Can’t escape by wit and cleverness every time,” Mitch agreed.
“So, that means you’ll learn too,” Simone nudged him, smiling.
“I’m not that clever.”
“Just bright,” she made a face at him. A hope she hadn’t dared reach for seemed within grasp now. Maybe they wouldn’t be in this fight alone.
A couple of the others groaned at her pun.
“Mmm, so any of you planning to have kids someday need to stay away from the courier lanes until we get this solved.” Mitch said, causing Simone to blush on every visible part of her skin. “The area has been irradiated extensively. We’d go clear it, but they keep setting up new spots.”
“Hope you don’t mind, but when you got ‘bumped’ earlier, any harmful radiation you may have been exposed to was neutralized. You should all get a detector, like the one Mitch has.”
Simone caught herself before yawning but someone must have noticed. As a natural introvert, she must have reached her interaction limits. A couple of the others noticed and stood up.
“Thanks Simone, Mitch. For trusting us. We’ll do what we can to help, but honestly, this is way beyond anything we’ve experienced,” Marissa said. “And Jenna, why do you get all the cool friends?” she laughed.
“Just lucky, I guess.” Jenna smiled back. “Before we all head out, the reason I brought you all to meet Simone and Mitch is that they need eyes on the street. I’ll text you with what they need and their cellphone number. That’s as involved as we should be until we know more.”
“Count me in,” Phil said. The others all added their assent.
As they left, Jenna turned to smile at Simone. “So, what do you need? What should we be looking for?”
“First, how did you find out?” Simone said, a little guarded.
“Neil told Karen, then I saw what happened in the alley today. You guys are in over your head. Let us help.”
“What happened in the alley?” She didn’t remember doing anything. The flash from the window had pulled her away before
she could.
“Are you kidding? Mitch was practically florescent and you were a shadow. It only lasted a minute, but I’m sure of what I saw. You didn’t see that when you looked at each other?” Jenna wondered.
Simone hadn’t. She looked at Mitch. He shrugged.
“Hmm, maybe we should have your eyes checked. May need to wear shades, or something.” She suggested. “So, back to the question - how can we help?”
This was good, Simone realized. A little advance intelligence could give them an edge.
If she could find out where Justin went, who he met with, that would help.
“Oh… right.” Justin wasn’t normal. She hadn’t even told Mitch yet. “So, my brother Justin had a bit of a surprise for me yesterday. Turns out I wasn’t the only family member to survive the magic DNA drink. He has abilities a lot like Mitch. Not as strong, not as focused, but that means he may have variances we’re not ready for. And he’s working for the guy who did this to us.”
Mitch looked at her, a slight anger in his expression.
“And you need to know what he’s up to?” Jenna guessed.
“Right. His boss is still trying to create a human that can withstand high doses of long-term radiation.”
“What else?” Mitch asked.
“Nothing, really. I mean, except that he hid this from me pretty well. I didn’t even suspect.” She sighed.
She stood up. “I feel weird. I must need sleep.”
“Oh, right. Long day, right?” Jenna said as she stood. “Text me his pic. I’ll get the gang on it. Don’t you worry Simone. I’ve got your back. Besides, when will I get the chance for a superhero to owe me a favour ever again?” She joked and walked away.
It wasn’t dark out, but that wasn’t an issue lately. Sleep came fast and hard, and she’d been lucky to hit the pillow and not the floor these last few days.
“Hey, you’re wobbling,” Mitch put an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s get you to bed.”
“Tucking me into bed seems to be a full-time job.”
He locked the door behind them. “You get goofy when you’re tired, you know that?”
She nodded then let herself fall back on her bed. “I’m gonna sleep now. Make yourself comfortable where ever,” she mumbled as he turned her bedroom light out. As she curled up to sleep, she wondered where her cellphone was. She still hadn’t found it.