by Hayes, Drew
“I’d say you had a very real chance, a choice, and you made the most of it.” From a pouch on his belt, Jack of All produced a handkerchief and offered it to Doreen. “How about we sit for a little while before we go to the police? Adrestia will make sure no one bothers us.”
Laughing despite herself, Doreen accepted the swatch of fabric. “Keep a lot of these on you?”
“Always. If I’m called to a scene that ends in tears instead of blood, that’s a good day,” Jack of All told her. “So thanks, for making this day better than it already was.”
With a pause to wipe her face, Doreen looked up into the eyes of the unusual man. “You’re kind of strange, for a Hero, aren’t you?”
“Probably. Wish you’d gotten someone different?”
Doreen was shaking her head before she even realized it. “No. Not one bit. I think you were exactly the Hero I needed.”
* * *
Senator Campbell rounded a corner, nimbly sidestepping a reporter whose mouth opened to ask a question or try and elicit a sound bite. Before she could utter a syllable, he was through a door and into a private section of the building, leaving her with nothing save for a sense of wonder at how gracefully he could slip away. Playing with the media was all well and good when he had time, but today’s schedule was tight. On top of dealing with a few holdouts on the Powered-subsidization bill, he’d also had to field calls, do two public appearances, and now was heading into the last of his meetings. All of that before his actual important event this afternoon, and that was one he couldn’t move around. Even if he’d been inclined, which he wasn’t, there was no way he would incur that level of Alice’s wrath. This last meeting had a firm time limit. Luckily, it was at least with someone he could trust to cut to the heart of things.
“Eliza!” He opened his arms as he slid through the door, embracing the curly-haired woman who still looked out of place in suits rather than faded jeans. “So good of you to make the trip. I trust Ms. Pips sends her love along with a few thinly-veiled threats?”
“More or less,” Eliza confirmed. She hugged Nick back, then settled into one of the overstuffed chairs set in this private, windowless room. Their meetings weren’t technically illegal; as a representative for a business owner in Nick’s state, it was perfectly acceptable for her to speak with her senator. That said, it did make everyone’s lives run more smoothly when they didn’t have to deal with photographs popping up on the news.
Nick doubled checked the room before sitting down, making sure nothing had been moved or disturbed to indicate a bug was present. He’d never found one before in here, yet some habits refused to die. “How’s Jerome doing? Last I heard he was being groomed for the new head of casino security.” The job actually came with far more responsibilities than tossing out drunks and card cheats on their ears, but publicly this was the title Ms. Pips had given her top enforcer.
“He’s well, training is coming along nicely. In truth, I suspect he’s already at the point where he could take on the job, but Ms. Pips is holding him back for now. It wouldn’t surprise me if Jerome gets his promotion on the same day I get mine, that way she can take some of our current staff for her retirement security.”
With Gerry passed and Nick in politics, there had been a short list of people to take over for Ms. Pips when the time came. Gerry was a man who loved a backup plan, though, and it was no coincidence that he’d taken in and helped train another exceptional candidate – someone who could make the tough choices, but still had decency in them to temper their actions. Nick liked to think that this was exactly how Gerry had hoped things would go all along: him free, and Eliza taking over Ms. Pips office. Of course, Ms. Pips wasn’t out yet, and Eliza still had a way left to go before she would be trusted with that kind of inheritance.
“She likes to do that, start people off with underlings they know and trust. Says keeping the old guard can create fractured loyalty. If you’d like my advice – and I know you don’t but listen anyway – you may want to start getting proactive with finding future department heads. The sooner she knows you’ve got a good staff to lean on, the sooner she’ll think it’s time to hand over the reins.”
“I’ll keep it under advisement,” Eliza replied, her tone cool. The woman had grown by leaps and bounds under Ms. Pips’ direct tutelage; soon she was going to be dangerous on a level even Nick would have to fear. He could hardly wait to have their first meeting after that: it would prove to be all kinds of entertaining. “In the meantime, I’m here with some concerns from Ms. Pips about proposed laws and how they might impact the Las Vegas gambling industry.”
“Had a feeling you might be.” Nick checked his watch, which was calibrated precisely. “You’ve got exactly one hour and two minutes before I need to be out of here. Make it count.”
* * *
The secure room was quiet save for the sound of pages turning. One by one, the accounts were reread, double checked for any inconsistencies or issues. No one wanted to find such a thing, but the far worse option would be missing a problem and having someone else discover it. Thoroughness and transparency were paramount in the new DVA, an organization which had voluntarily subjected itself to much greater levels of oversight and investigation after the Charles Adair scandal. Finally, the last page was turned, and the three men on one end of the table looked to the lone fellow on the other side.
“By all accounts, Phillip Adair has completed another community service project with no attempts at escape, efforts to rebel against his overseers, or violations of the conduct code he was given,” Graham DeSoto announced. “Gentlemen, did you see anything I missed?”
“No, sir. Another fine effort from our model prisoner.” Blaine tried to keep his voice neutral, but after all these years it was hard not to let a little snark through. Still, having these sessions was important; he was among those who pushed for them. The records and tapes from them were going to be made public, with only specific details about the work redacted. It was only fair to let the country know the results of these assessments if they were asking the public to put their trust in a criminal.
The last holdout skimmed through the pages one last time. He was the most thorough of the lot, always digging as deep as possible. It could be annoying at times, but his dedication to finding the smallest of mistakes also helped solidify the public’s trust in this process. After all, if not even Ralph Chapman could find an issue, then there was almost certainly nothing there to uncover.
“There are no problems that I can see,” Ralph said, at last looking up from the file. “He was able to help reconstruct the neighborhood clinic in exceptional time, and adhered to every rule upon him while doing so. It is my judgment that Phillip Adair has continued to honor his sentence and proves that he is an asset to the country and the DVA.”
Graham nodded. “Very well then. As another operation has concluded without issue, Phillip Adair is dismissed back to his monitored living facility with his family.” The community had been Graham’s idea. In the wake of the scandal, when they discovered that corruption had wormed its way into the minds and pockets of both the DVA and the Lamont Corporation, countless supposed facts had been overturned. Many perceived guilty of crimes were proven to be patsies, yet some had evaded arrest and committed actual crimes in their attempts to prove their innocence or stay free. It was a convoluted mess. The DVA couldn’t send the message that Heroes were above the law, but at the same time, it wasn’t right to throw people who’d been framed into prison.
Instead, they had created a community of former Heroes, tightly monitored and guarded, far from any other town or populace. There, former Heroes could have a semblance of a normal life while serving their time by helping the DVA whenever a particular power proved useful. It wasn’t a perfect system, and already a few of its participants had been booted to regular prison, but it was a compromise people could live with. In a few months, when he made the move to Sizemore, Phil would be one of the first of those former Heroes to be allowed to leave t
he community. True, he’d still be monitored and watched by Heroes, but it was proof that there was a path forward, for those willing to do the work.
“Mr. Adair, do you have any questions before we adjourn?” Graham wasn’t expecting anything, so he was surprised to see Phil slowly raise his hand.
“I just wanted to make sure my afternoon trip is still approved. I put in the paperwork a few weeks ago, but since I had to work a job today, I’m hoping it didn’t muddle things up.”
Graham knit his brow. What trip was Phil talking about? Opening his phone, Graham scanned through emails until he found the right one. A gruff laugh escaped the old man’s lips as he set it back down. “Oh, that trip. Yes, Mr. Adair, you are still approved. If nothing else, we can’t say there wouldn’t be enough Heroes there to keep an eye on you.”
* * *
From the outside, it looked like nothing more than a high-end pizza parlor and arcade. That was predominantly because it was, in fact, a high-end pizza parlor and arcade.
Normally, the building would be teeming with children, however today a sign hung on the front door cordially informing potential customers that the building had been rented out for a private event. This would ultimately inconvenience very few people, as there was both a competing chain down the block and limited demand to come here on a weekday afternoon. If someone had managed to make it inside, they wouldn’t have been surprised by all the decorations: Hero-themed with pictures of many famous Heroes past and present dotting the landscape. That said, if the intruder were keenly observant, they might have been somewhat taken aback by how many of the arriving guests matched the exact height and build of the Heroes on the decorations.
Nick and Alice had arrived first, going over everything to make sure it was both ready and secure. Only once they were sure the site hadn’t been compromised did they give the signal for the others to arrive.
Some came via teleportation, some by the mundane method of driving an actual car, but they quickly began to congregate inside. The most important person to show up wasn’t any of the Heroes, though. It was a five-year-old with sandy brown hair and blazing green eyes who barreled into Nick and Alice’s legs with a hug the moment he was through the door. They were standing there, waiting for him under the oversized banner that simply read “Happy Birthday Chance Gerry Campbell.”
“It’s so cool! Thank you Mom, thank you Dad.” Decorum and politeness were lessons both Nick and Alice saw the value in, and their son had taken to it with the kind of ease one would expect, given his bloodline.
“You’re welcome,” Alice told him. “It’s a big day. You only turn five once.”
“She’s right,” Nick agreed. “So why don’t you take Leia and start winning some prize tickets while we wait for the others? No time to spare!”
Chance looked over his shoulder to another child, this one clad in sneakers, a miniature brown trench coat, and a small red tie. “Come on Leia, let’s go beat some skeeball!”
“Aw man, Dad wouldn’t let me bring my screwdriver. We could have made this easy.” Nevertheless, Leia was off like a shot on Chance’s heels as her father walked over to greet Nick and Alice.
“Thanks again for babysitting, Alex.” Nick shook his friend’s hand firmly. The guy had been a lifesaver today.
Alex waved it off. “Please, you two watch Leia all the time, and she’s always happy to have Chance over.”
Turning, Alice watched the tails of the coat vanish around a corner. “Still in her Doctor Who phase, I see.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” The pinched expression in Alex’s face said more than the tired tone of his voice. “I’ve shown that girl every film in the catalogue – even the prequels on the off chance she connected with the childish humor – but she refuses to believe that it’s the better sci-fi series. Hopefully when she’s older, it will click.”
“The mighty Hero known as Knockoff can stop dangerous criminals and save countless people, but he can’t get his daughter into Star Wars. I’m not sure if that says more about you or Star Wars.” Nick patted him gently on the shoulder. “Look at it this way, at least you don’t have to worry about Leia taking after you and getting time lord powers. No Super has time travel.”
There was a laugh from Alex, but they both noticed a worried expression in his eyes. “Yeah, that’s true. The most we’ve got is a few limited time manipulation abilities like Shutterbug. Not going to be an issue either way, because she will eventually turn to the light side, I’m sure of it.” He started to walk off, following the kids, although not before they heard him mumbling under his breath, “Still I wish I could figure out how she made her toybox bigger on… never mind, not going to worry about it today.”
Before either of the couple think about that too hard, more guests began piling in. Angela and Chad were next, bringing a long present that Angela swore wasn’t any sort of weapon, this time. Will and Jill weren’t far behind, both clearly coming from work. Will still had pieces of his Technomancer outfit poking out from under his clothes, and Jill hadn’t even bothered to change out of her suit. It was all Alice could do not to accidentally call the woman Miss Tech, as she was used to addressing her when they were on the job. In the wake of the Charles Adair fallout, there had been talk of dissolving the Lamont Company that Jill now worked for; however, it was decided that Heroes did still need support. Only now, it was monitored and overseen, to make sure no off-the-books schemes took hold again. As the twins made their way into the pizza parlor, Will paused by the skeeball machine to slip Alex’s daughter a small cylindrical silver device with a blue tip, an item she quickly squirreled away inside her miniature trench coat.
Hershel and Mary arrived soon after, the former hauling a hefty present that both Nick and Alice immediately deduced had some kind of workout equipment in it. He apologized as soon as he set it down. “Sorry, it was Roy’s turn to pick, and he keeps insisting on giving Chance an early start. Says he wants to see the little guy show up to freshman year and smoke the… um, poop, out of the first day fights.”
“Chance hasn’t shown any powers yet,” Nick reminded him. “And even if he does, there’s no guarantee he’ll go Hero.”
In reply, Hershel looked around the room at the Hero-themed decorations, as well as the array of actual Heroes munching on pizza and helping themselves to a beer in their downtime. “Oh yeah, clearly he has no interest in our line of work.”
“Hush, you two; save it for when he’s older. Right now I want to hear all about the next one.” Mary hugged Alice tightly, but made sure not to put too much pressure on her stomach. “Have you found out the sex yet?”
“Nope, decided to wait this time. Make it a surprise. Also, this way Nick can’t start campaigning for a pun of a name before the baby is even born,” Alice replied. She knew why he’d done it, Nick was the kind of man who hid his sentimentality at all times, even in a middle name rather than a first one.
Nick didn’t even bother looking ashamed. “Hey, you’re the one that lost the bet. And we both know it’s grown on you.”
“I love our son. The name is loved by consequence of being attached to him. But don’t expect to get your way again, mister. I’m the one birthing this baby, I’m not betting away the naming rights… again.”
Hershel wrapped an arm around Mary, who hugged him right back as they looked at each other. “We should probably get on top of having one of our own, otherwise all of our friends’ kids will be too old and ours won’t have a playmate.”
In reply, Mary only smiled. It was still a little too early to tell him; there had been false positives before and this certainly wasn’t the time or place for such an announcement. Tomorrow, though, she’d be able to see a doctor and get real confirmation. For today, she would simply refrain from the bar as usual.
The couple headed off to greet their friends. Soon more came in behind them. Thomas showed up with Violet, to the surprise of no one, despite their insistence that they were only rooming together for convenience. O
f course, it didn’t take training in Subtlety to notice that Citrine and Plummet always worked alongside one another in costume as well. Neither Nick nor Alice tried to understand the dynamics of that relationship, the two seemed happy and that was all they wanted for their friends.
Lucinda and her wife weren’t far behind. Despite the way they’d initially met, Lucinda had become a good friend over the years, as had most of the competitors from Intramurals. There was nothing like fighting an army before graduation to bond people together; even Conrad had eventually become tolerable after some time in the field. More fellow Heroes piled in, men and women they’d met on the job who had wormed their way into Nick and Alice’s life.
Mr. Numbers and Mr. Transport – or Luke and Henry as the group now called them – popped into the room a few feet away from a pinball game. With them was Sally Daniels, who was holding Henry’s hand despite the fact that physical contact wasn’t necessary for teleporting. The two were still going strong, and while they’d never married, they had clearly found happiness in one another’s company.
There was no mistaking the next fellow to come through the doors, his size was a dead giveaway even if they hadn’t known his face. “About time, Owen,” Alice chided. “Mary was here forever ago, I thought you two were coming together.”
“That was the plan, but Hexcellent needed a hand with some tough crooks. Didn’t want Hershel to have to change to and from Roy, so I just handled it. Funny thing, I feel like she probably could have dealt with it on her own… and she seemed a little disappointed that I’m the one who showed up.”
“Has Roy still not figured out that she’s into him? She and Spyda broke up years ago, back during her internship,” Nick said. “Given that man’s ego, it seems like he would walk around with the baseline assumption that every woman was instantly in love with him.”
Owen shrugged. “I don’t think he’s ever made the jump from platonic to romantic before. He always starts and stays as one or the other. We Daniels men are not always the best at expressing ourselves emotionally.”