by Milo James
A rumble vibrated deep in my chest, shaking my insides.
We turned to the bank. To the alley. A trench coat on the ground. A purple costume with silver piping. Long flowing locks of golden hair. Acoustic Calamity.
I'd never encountered Acoustic Calamity before, but I'd studied the Conference's archives. Called her power to mind: Sound Manipulation.
Her hands were cupped around her mouth and pressed to the brick wall of the bank as the world shook around them. The woman could make everyone in a seven block radius deaf in a heartbeat. This was her attempt at subtlety.
The bricks turned to dust under her focused voice. As she pushed through the wall into the bank, I darted across the street. The bank's alarm would've already alerted the police. I had to subdue her before they arrived and she popped the eardrums of every officer on the Nevils Borough payroll.
I pressed against the cracked bricks next to the gaping hole in the wall. Glanced back but didn't see Glint. Hoped he'd listened and left town. More likely he was moving in on Acoustic Calamity on his own, concealed terms.
The lobby was empty. With quick, silent steps I made my way to the back of the bank.
Acoustic Calamity stood before the vault, considering the dense metal. She didn't notice me sneaking down the hall as she cupped her hands around her mouth again, pressing her face close to the vault door. I stumbled when the quaking shook the ground. Rattled my bones.
I decided against my knife. If I could get an arm around Acoustic Calamity's neck, or could overpower her and compress her chest . . . Well, Sound Manipulation isn't much use when you can't draw a breath.
I crept up behind, raising my arms to snake them around her body. Just when I coiled to pounce, the vibration of the building paused. Acoustic Calamity stopped to draw a deep breath. She glanced back over her shoulder casually, as though she knew I wouldn't have arrived on the scene yet.
I threw herself at her. Clutched her windpipe closed as I tried to leverage her legs out from under her.
Acoustic Calamity stumbled backwards, but kept her feet on the ground. Just as I was beginning to wonder why she was defending herself with only one hand, I saw the stun gun.
Too late.
The muscles in my abdomen contracted. Breath filled my lungs in a whoosh. I lost my grip on Acoustic Calamity's neck and tripped backwards, falling to the ground.
She bent over me, taking a deep, menacing breath.
A single, electric-blue line of light cut between us, cleanly slicing off several blonde locks of hair that had spilled over Acoustic Calamity's shoulder. A laser. Glint and his Light Manipulation.
I gritted my teeth. Lunged. A shoulder tackle and we tumbled down in a heap of gold and purple. I clamped both hands around her neck, blocking off my enemy's powers. Pinned her shoulders to the floor with my knees.
As if on cue, sirens echoed down the street. Glint materialized beside me as I worked to keep the suffocating villain under control. Acoustic Calamity gave one last wrenching twist before surrendering.
After Acoustic Calamity was secured, I disengaged from the officers on the scene. I had to travel to the detention center again and the prospect of another long, sleepless night followed by a shift at the diner made me anxious to be rid of Glint. I didn't need him snooping around my town.
I found him on the roof of Nevils' Auto Loan, across the street from the bank, the same place I'd found him before.
"See?" I said, "I've got everything under control."
He appraised me. "It looked sketchy there for a minute."
"I don't have time to deal with you. If you have a problem with the way I manage my Borough then file a complaint with the Conference."
I spun on my heel to leave, but then he was beside me, gripping my arm, turning me to face him. "Remy, please just talk to me for a second."
I pulled away from him but stayed, crossing my arms over my chest. "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"
"I went to see the Laudable Ladybug."
My second partner, after Glint, though it had been seven years since we'd worked together. "How is she?"
"She saw the fight. She was worried."
"Right. Everybody's so worried. After years of no one caring how I got on, now everyone's concerned."
"Us not caring? You're the one who walked out on Lady. Hurt her feelings, I think."
That was true. Lady had gotten too close and nearly found out about Conley on more than one occasion.
I said, "Aren't you the one who taught me that you can't trust anyone? Even your partner? She wanted to know my identity, so I asked to be reassigned."
"You asked to go solo. That's not something that healers do."
"I'm not a normal healer."
"Maybe. Or maybe you're hiding something other than your identity."
The sounds of police investigation on the street below faded into nothing. My stomach did odd loopty-loops. Did he know? It wouldn't be hard to figure out. The child looked little like me–I figured if Glint got one good look at Conley, he would see his own face.
He asked, "Are you sick? Were you afraid that if the Conference found out you'd get benched? Is that what you're hiding from me?"
"Me hiding secrets from you?" I almost laughed I was so relieved. "I'm the one who showed you my face. I trusted you. You're the one who wouldn't so much as look me in the eye.
"Well, you were right. It's safer not to let anyone know who I am. And the easiest way to do that is by working alone."
His hands clenched, his posture tensed, but he didn't deny it. I might've been the one who walked away, but he was the one who had ended our relationship.
"Why are you even here?" I asked.
His voice was quiet. "I was worried about you."
Worried. Because of one stupid broadcast and yet never concerned all those years I managed to stay out of the headlines.
"Okay," I said. "You were worried. Now you see–I'm fine. Go back to your new partner." I could see that my words stung, but I had more important things to worry about than my ex-boyfriend's feelings.
"Remy–"
"Take off your mask."
He froze, uncertain. I must've caught him off-guard, because he'd never hesitated before. The answer had always been no. His hands clenched and opened, clenched and opened.
Was he actually considering it?
"Please, Remy just–"
"Go, Glint. I don't need you."
When I walked away this time, he didn't try to stop me.
~
Conley was late.
A week after Acoustic Calamity, my injuries were healed but Conley was still sullen. It was too dangerous for him to be out alone, so during summer break he was stuck with our neighbor, Ms. Ruth, while his friends were off to summer camp. I compromised by letting him walk by himself to the diner for lunch every day.
I checked the clock on the wall again. Asked if the cute old couple in my section needed coffee refills without really seeing them. Ran my thumb back and forth over the familiar groove in the coffee pot's handle as I refilled the mugs at a table of off-duty cops I knew, but who didn't recognize me in civvies.
I wandered into Julie's section and refilled the mug of a man sitting alone without bothering to ask if he wanted more. I checked the side-street outside the diner's window. Conley waited at the crosswalk for traffic to clear.
"You're late," I chided when he entered.
"Sorry, Mom."
I crossed the diner to guide him toward my section, happy to feel his small shoulders beneath my fingers.
"Can I have some chocolate milk?"
"Did you finish your reading assignment?"
"No."
"If you work on it right now, I'll score you some chocolate milk."
"Thanks." He unzipped his backpack.
I maneuvered around the diner's long counter to fish a bottle of chocolate milk out of the cooler.
Julie was speaking to someone. There was something about the pitch of her voice that drew my
attention.
When I turned to see what had startled her, a man was rushing out the door. One of the off-duty police officers eyed the diner's still swinging door, but seemed to lose interest when Julie lifted a twenty-dollar bill from beneath the coffee mug.
How could I have been so distracted? I hadn't even looked at the man's face when I filled his cup.
I ran to the door, Conley's milk in hand, and stepped onto the sidewalk. The man was jogging. Already up the block. His head of short-cropped, dark hair ducked down as he turned the corner, out of view.
Something familiar about his movements . . .
No. It couldn't be, but–he was Glint's height and Glint's build. Conley was on the sidewalk next to me now, his face creased in confusion.
"What's going on?" he asked.
I looked down at the son who looked so very little like me.
~
Every night for the next two weeks I gave Glint the slip.
I understood his abilities the way few people did. On my home turf, he had no chance of finding me when I didn't want to be found. He seemed to give up. At least, I hoped he'd given up.
The summer months passed with little activity. Taking down Acoustic Calamity had repaired the damage to my reputation. No more villains challenged my small Borough. No more heroes visited to question my abilities.
Conley had calmed down too. I hadn't offered him a reason when I'd told him he wasn't allowed to eat at the diner anymore. Taking away his bit of independence should've caused an epic struggle, but he'd recovered after a couple of days.
I came home early one August night to spend a few hours helping Conley finish his summer assignments before school started again.
Only Conley wasn't there.
Ms. Ruth should have been in our apartment with him, but I found the gray-haired neighbor at home, in the apartment next door.
"Wait. What did he say?" I asked.
The woman weaved her arthritis-swollen fingers together just to untwine them again. "He said that you found a scholarship for the day camp at that park."
"How long has this been going on?"
"Weeks. Almost two months. I thought you knew. We have breakfast when you leave for work and I wait with him at your apartment after he gets back. I'm so sorry."
I waved away her apology. It wasn't her fault–it was my responsibility to take care of Conley. "When does he normally come back?"
"Any minute now."
"Thank you, Ms. Ruth." I shouldered the door into my own apartment. How long had he been gone today? Seven hours? A little longer? How far away could he travel and still make it back? I considered all of the communities surrounding Nevils Borough. The drugs in Meilanville. The gangs in Wilstin Borough. Maybe he really had gone to day camp.
The lock on the front door jiggled.
I charged across the room and flung the door open. Conley stood in the hall, eyes wide, eyebrows high, keys clutched in his small fist. He was a mess, covered in dust and dirt smears. His shorts revealed freshly skinned knees and his old shoes were covered in mud.
"Inside. Now."
Jaw set, he shuffled in.
I yanked one of the kitchen chairs out from under the table, turning it towards him. "Sit."
I paced between the front door and the kitchen sink, the small space doing little to contain my agitation. Everything was okay. He was home safe now. I just needed to figure out what was going on and handle it.
"Are you okay?"
He hesitated. "Uh. Yes?"
"You're not hurt?"
Conley's shoulders slumped forward, a guilty look played across his features. "No, Mom, I'm fine."
I knelt in front of him, running my fingers lightly over his skinned knees, pulling my power to his scrapes. They faded and light pain blossomed on my knees, my pants adhering to the fresh stickiness of missing skin.
I stood and leaned against the kitchen counter. "Wanna tell me where you've been?"
No answer.
"If you tell me now, I promise I won't lose my temper."
"Okay," he said, "I was with a hero named Glint–"
"What?"
"You said you wouldn't lose your temper!"
Conley tried to shrink away as I launched off the kitchen counter and knelt down at his eye level, gripping the back of the chair in either hand. "I know what I said. What did you say?"
"I was with Glint. He's a hero. I can show you; he's on the affiliate roster of the Conference's webpage. Like you."
My hair fell across my shoulders as I bent my face away from his. Of course it was Glint. And I had feared Conley might've joined a gang. "Why were you with Glint? What did he want?"
Conley waited until I met his eyes to answer. "He's teaching me to be a hero."
I gripped the chair so tightly my hands shook. Forced myself to stand. "Go to your room."
"But–"
"I've heard enough. You're not going with him anywhere anymore. You're grounded."
~
With practiced grace, I moved from alley to rooftop to alcove. I made it easy for Glint to find me, standing in the open on the rooftop of Nevils' Auto Loan. I recognized the faint wavering of shadows even before he unveiled himself and stepped into the soft light cast by the streetlamps below.
His posture was tense, his hands open where I could see them, but he didn't expect an attack.
Head high, shoulders back, I strode toward him with purpose.
He managed only to say, "Remy–" before I grabbed his costume at the shoulder.
I pulled him forward, kicked his legs out from under him, and turned my hips to plant him on his back on the rough ground. Lightning-quick, I pinned his shoulders with my knees and wrapped my hands around his neck. I squeezed tight enough for him to understand that I was serious.
"How dare you call me that."
He was tall, strong. If he wanted to he could get out from under me, I had no doubt of that. Instead, he rested his fingertips against my forearm. "Please."
"No." I squeezed harder. "You don't get to show up in my town. You don't get to invade my life."
His hand wrapped gently around my wrist. "Okay." His voice was too calm. "Okay, I'm sorry."
I studied the black mask, the rise and fall of his features beneath. I'd once found it mysterious, charming. How I'd grown to hate that mask. I hated also that my anger wavered at his touch, at his familiar voice.
I released him. Put a few paces between us. Gulped the thick summer air.
Glint waited, his face turned toward the ground, his arms limp at his sides. He looked helpless.
"You shouldn't have come here," I said evenly.
"I was worried."
"It's time for you to leave."
"I can't," he said.
"Yes. You can. And you will. I have Conference sanctions over this neighborhood and I can take care of myself just fine–I've been doing it for years."
"And why is that, exactly?" He straightened, his chest puffing up as he challenged me. "It's clear that you can do this solo, but why did you choose to? Why did you push Ladybug away? Why have all of your old friends lost contact with you?"
"It's none of anybody's business what I do, so long as the job gets done."
He moved closer now, keeping to the light. It had always been so hard for him to be in the open. He didn't have any special toughness or healing. His best defense was staying hidden.
"I've seen what it's like for you to try to work alone. There's a good reason why you've isolated yourself." His tone took on a certain fragile quality as he asked, "You want to tell me what that reason is?"
I hugged my arms over my chest.
Glint took another step. Brushed the palms of his hands against my shoulders. "Were you ever going to tell me?"
"No. You . . . didn't want me. Didn't seem like you'd want him either."
Glint ran a single finger under my chin to force my gaze up toward his face. My lip quivered, but he couldn't see my eyes, my brow, any better than I could see
his. It was such a soulless exchange, even as the tears slipped from under my mask.
"You were the only thing I've ever really wanted. I was just too young and too afraid to tell you the truth."
I shuddered, a silent ripple I couldn't keep inside any more. He pulled me close, his warmth soaking through me. "You knew. That day, you told me to show you my face or find a new partner. You came to me looking for support and I blew it. I'm so sorry–"
I pulled away. Wiped at the tears. The fabric of my gloved fingers didn't absorb liquids well, and so I only managed to smear the wetness. "No. I should have told you."
He nodded his agreement at that.
It didn't change anything. He'd never trust me. Not then, not now. "What were you thinking? Training a child. Like I wouldn't find out."
He held his palms up. "He was already training. Out in the open, where anyone could see him using . . ."
"What?"
"Conley has powers."
"No. He doesn't."
"He's been trying to keep it a secret from you," he said.
Emphatically, "No–he doesn't."
Glint only watched me.
"He's nine years old. He's too young to manifest," I said.
"There is a precedent for manifesting in childhood."
"Right. Like el Capitán Universo or Mistress Omnipresence."
"Yes. Like them," he said.
A skeptical laugh trickled out, though it wasn't at all funny. "You think he has Prime level powers?"
Glint didn't shrink from the answer. "Yes."
If he was right, it would mean that my son had near-limitless potential. There would always be some villain, crisis, disaster that demanded his attention. He'd be beyond famous. He would never find peace.
"What am I going to do?"
Glint said, "I think given our situation we can get him help from the Conference."
"We?"
His fists balled. "I'm not asking anything from you except for you to let me help protect him."
"Does he know?"
"That I'm his father? No. But I couldn't leave once I figured i–"
Hot blood splattered across my face.
The synthetic fabric of Glint's costume took on an oily glimmer as blood saturated the area beneath his collarbone. He collapsed.