by H. L. Burke
“Napping,” Prism replied. “She didn’t really sleep on the plane ride. Ear pressure was bothering her, I think.”
“Aww, poor baby.” Fade’s face formed an exaggerated pout. “So, what are we doing for lunch?”
“I was waiting for you boys to get in, so I hadn’t started yet.” Prism walked to the fridge, opened the door, and peered in. “No one has any food allergies, right?”
“I’m a vegetarian!” Laleh burst out.
Jake shot her a glance, making no attempt to hide his skepticism.
She flushed. “Not full on vegan. I’ll eat dairy if it’s ethically sourced.”
“I’ll eat anything,” Jake said.
“Me too!” Marco added.
“Grilled cheese it is.” Prism pulled a bag of shredded cheese from the fridge. “Fade, can you grab the hot plate?”
“Sure.” Fade nudged Marco out of the way and pulled out the requested appliance.
Prism opened the freezer. “If you guys can wait another ten minutes, I can thaw some tomato soup to go with it.”
Fade put his hand beside his mouth and stage whispered at Marco. “She’d never had her own full kitchen before. The moment we moved into this place, she started stockpiling soup. I think we’ll be eating it for years.”
Prism gave him a long-suffering look. “You know you like it.”
Jake squirmed. This was all far too cozy. Even the other two teens seemed to be in a good mood. The feeling of not belonging crept up on him, and the desire to run quickened his pulse.
“Would one of you set the table for me?” Prism asked.
“I will,” Jake exclaimed, wanting to escape the room.
“I can help too.” Laleh slipped off her barstool. “Just let me take care of my backpack.”
“You can put it upstairs, if you want,” Prism said.
Laleh picked a purple backpack off the floor and cradled it close to her chest. “No, thanks. I want it near me for now.”
Jake narrowed his eyes at her. Kinda weird.
Laleh walked into the dining room and placed the backpack on the floor next to one of the chairs. She then returned and took a stack of bowls from Prism. Next Prism passed Jake some plates with five spoons sitting on top.
Jake watched Laleh for a second as she put a bowl on top of the first placemat before he imitated her, placing the first plate beside the first bowl.
“Plate goes under the bowl,” Laleh said.
He paused. “Does it matter?”
“That’s just how it’s done,” Laleh replied.
Jake put the next plate beside the next bowl too.
Laleh groaned and came back to fix it.
Jack snickered to himself then moved to the next setting. As he did, he brushed against her backpack. It wobbled.
“Don’t touch that!” Laleh slid the chair back and steadied her backpack.
“Don’t be a freak.” He plopped the remaining plates and spoons on the table and turned to stomp away. As he did, a rustling plus a barely perceptible squeak caught his attention. He zeroed in on Laleh’s backpack. “What are you hiding in there?”
“Nothing.” She took a step away from him.
It didn’t take a smuggler to see that Laleh had something in that backpack she didn’t want anyone to know about. Curiosity piqued, Jake stood over her for a moment before he darted forward and snatched the backpack from her hands.
“Don’t!” she cried out.
Jake held it over his head, securely out of her reach, and smirked at her. “Why? What’s in here?”
“Give it back!” Laleh wailed.
“What’s going on in there?” Fade’s harsh voice snapped Jake’s attention momentarily in the direction of the kitchen. Laleh grabbed his shoulder, and a painful zap of electricity shot through his torso. His whole body went numb, leaving him unable to resist as Laleh pulled the backpack from his grasp. He inhaled sharply then collapsed on the floor. Laleh loomed over him as his vision swam, her face dark and sparks playing about her fingertips. His muscles tingled painfully as feeling returned to his extremities.
“Ouch,” Jake heard himself whimper.
“What the heck?” Prism all but shrieked.
Footsteps pounded against the hardwood floors, and in a moment everyone stood around Jake.
Laleh quailed back, clutching her bag. “He ... he took my bag. He was bullying me!”
“Then come to me about it! Don’t zap him senseless!” Prism scolded. She knelt. “Jake, can you hear me okay?”
“Uh-huh.” He managed a curt nod.
“I didn’t zap him too much,” Laleh sulked.
Jake peeled himself off the floor, glaring at her. “Certainly felt like enough.”
“You shouldn’t have zapped him at all!” Prism glanced at Fade. “I hate to do this, but can you fetch me a disruptor cuff from my emergency kit.”
Fade left the room.
Jake’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that.
Laleh seemed to shrink. “I’m sorry. I just ... I didn’t ...”
“It doesn’t matter what you intended. Super abilities need to be used responsibly, and shocking someone near unconscious due to some petty playground spat is not responsible.”
Marco’s shoulders drooped. “That’s what I did, though. At the detention center. I didn’t mean to, but I did.”
Prism’s face softened. “I believe you when you say you didn’t mean to do that, Marco. From everything in your file, it seems like you just haven’t learned to control your powers yet, not that you’re using them maliciously.”
“But since I can’t control them, maybe I should have a disruptor too?” he mumbled.
Jake gawped at the younger boy. Was he seriously requesting a disruptor cuff?
“I’m not going to force you into one,” Prism said, placing her hand on Marco’s shoulder. “I also won’t stop you from having one, if you want.”
“I think I’d better. Since I started the fire in my mom’s apartment, I’ve been having nightmares where I wake up and my bed’s on fire because it’s happened again.” Marco shuddered. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“All right. If it will make you feel safer,” Prism soothed. “Why don’t you go after Fade and let him know?”
Marco scurried from the room. As soon as he was gone, Prism’s expression turned to stone.
“As for you two, you are both on thin ice right now.”
Jake stood and held his hands in front of his face. “I didn’t do anything!”
“Yes, you did!” Laleh snapped. “You started it. I was just defending myself and my property.”
“Oh, neither of you is off the hook.” Prism gave a bitter laugh. “Both of you are going to sit down and eat your meal in silence. If I see so much as a dirty look pass between you, you’ll both be confined to your room for the rest of the day.”
Jake’s chest heated. “Don’t bother. I’ll go lock myself up for you right now.”
Before Prism could speak again, he stormed out of the room and up the stairs. He wasn’t a child to be put in a timeout. He’d taken care of himself for years now, done actual work with an actual gang, fought superheroes even. This was BS.
When he got to the top of the stairs, he found himself in a hallway with several doors opening off it. He hesitated. Which was his room? He opened the first door and found a bathroom. Good to know where that was. He tried the next door. A set of bunk beds lined either wall, four beds in total. This had to be it. He started to step in but then remembered that there was a girls’ room and a boys’ room. How could he be sure which was which? The room’s decor didn’t offer any clues: wood panel walls, red flannel blankets, no artwork, just a large window looking out over the forest beyond.
He swallowed. Maybe the next room would be pink and have flowers and sparkles or whatever girls liked splattered all over the walls so he could rule it out. He tried the next door and found an identical room to the first sleeping area.
Crap.
He tightened his hold on the door knob. He could just pick a room, but after their conflict, if Laleh found him in her room, she might tell Prism and they might assume he was up to no good in there. Why hadn’t they labeled the doors? Like with those bathroom signs?
Footsteps tapped up the stairs behind him, and he jerked away from the door.
Prism approached, carrying a paper plate with a golden toasted sandwich on it. Jake’s stomach growled.
“Oh, good. You found your room.” She gestured towards the door he stood in front of. “We haven’t really decorated. We figured we could do that when we got a sense of who would be staying here.” She passed him the plate. “Did you find the bathroom too?”
He nodded, staring down at the food. It didn’t seem like a trap, but why was she bringing it to him after he’d stormed out? A stunt like that would’ve had him fending for himself with the gang ... not that he couldn’t handle doing so.
“We labeled one of the drawers in the bathroom with your name. It should have a toothbrush, toothpaste, and other toiletries. If you need anything, just let me know.” She turned away before saying over her shoulder, “If you change your mind, you can still join us in the dining room.”
Jake entered the room and sat down on the bottom right bunk. A warm, buttery scent rose from the sandwich, and his mouth watered. A pair of sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt lay at the foot of the bunk, folded, with a handwritten note that said, Jake, for you to sleep in. Let me know if they’re too small.
It all seemed too nice, too homey. It wasn’t real, though. Everything here was a lie, meant to trick him into betraying his true family.
This place is weird. These people are weird. I need to get out of here. I need to go home.
Chapter Eight
Fade stood over Ruby’s crib, one hand on her back, extending his powers into her tiny body. His daughter smiled in her sleep, and he smiled in turn.
He wasn’t sure why his powers helped Ruby settle in for the night. Maybe there was something about the lightening of her body or the way it softened her surroundings that she liked ... or maybe it was just the familiarity of him, her father. Either way, their bedtime routine had shifted from Prism nursing her to sleep to Fade holding her then carefully transferring her to her crib. He often lingered for a while afterwards, finding the quiet of the nursery and his sleeping child soothing after long days wrestling with DOSA’s bureaucracy, fixing things around the camp, or in this case excessive time spent in various forms of transportation.
Finally he withdrew, flipping on the baby monitor, switching off the regular lights, and turning on the “cloud light” that Prism had bought off Etsy. The fluffy night light shone a gentle blue before slipping to purple, then pink, casting the room in gentle twilight.
“Sleep sweet, Ru-Ru,” he whispered.
He walked out of the nursery, easing the door shut behind him. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time.
9:15 p.m.
He sighed. In the past the night would’ve just been starting, but now he couldn’t wait to hit the hay. Of course, he couldn’t let himself do that until he was sure the teens were secure for the night. Especially Jake. Even with the disruptor cuff, Fade could tell the boy was looking for the first opportunity to bolt back to his gang.
He strode down the hall. The living room was dark, but light seeped from the kitchen. He followed the light to find Prism leaning over the kitchen island, scrolling on a tablet.
“Where are the kids?” Fade asked.
“I told them curfew was at nine.” Prism wrinkled her nose. “They made a show of grumbling about it, but I could tell all three were exhausted.”
“Exhausted or just pretending to be so we stop watching them so closely?” Fade frowned.
“Either way, it doesn’t matter.” She minimized what she was working on and pulled up another app, this one DOSA registered. “I’ve got their disruptors tracking.” She slid the tablet across the island to Fade, exhibiting a basic map of the cabin and its surroundings. A dot pulsed in one of the upper rooms and a larger dot, representing two trackers close together, in the other. “I’m not naive about Jake’s desire to escape. We’ll know if he breaks the perimeter I set.”
Fade rubbed the back of his neck. “And the other two?”
Prism sighed. “I’m not sure. I feel like they are less of a flight risk than Jake, but based on Marco’s unpredictability, I feel safer now that he has a disruptor too, just so he doesn’t accidentally set something on fire ... Laleh, I only put her in one to prove a point, but if we have the two boys in cuffs, it doesn’t seem fair that she isn’t.” Her shoulders hunched towards her ears. “I know it’s necessary, but I hate treating them like criminals. They’re just kids—”
“And also criminals—well, not Marco, but Jake definitely and even if her parents smoothed things over, what Laleh did was technically a crime.”
“I suppose.” Prism massaged her forehead as if it hurt. Her usually bright eyes dimmed slightly, her inner turmoil painting shadows on her face that Fade could read like a book. He slipped around the island and drew her into a hug.
“I know you want to show them love and kindness, but you know from your work with adults that turning people around also takes structure and discipline.” He kissed the top of her head.
She rested her cheek against his chest for a long moment before withdrawing.
He turned to the fridge. “I’m going to have a beer before bed. You want anything?”
She patted her stomach. “Oh, I want a nice glass of bold red wine or maybe a margarita, but I’ll take some hot peppermint tea.” She flipped on the stove burner beneath her teapot.
Fade pulled a brown bottle out of the fridge. “What were you working on?” He pointed towards the tablet.
“Oh, just looking up vegetarian recipes. It’s not an expertise of mine, and I hadn’t incorporated that into my meal plans.”
Fade shut the fridge. “You realize you don’t have to, right? In fact, maybe you shouldn’t.”
She avoided his gaze. “It’s not a big inconvenience. We’re cooking for three, not big batches, so having one meatless option on the side won’t be a lot of trouble—”
“That’s not the point.” Fade opened his beer and set it on the island. “Laleh is here because she acted out and lost privileges. Catering to her whims and desires isn’t going to teach her anything. She needs to learn there are consequences to her choices, and sometimes that means losing other freedoms that matter to her. Just sayin’.”
“On one hand, I get that, but on the other ... you didn’t meet her mother, Fade.” Prism’s lips pursed. “The reason Laleh is acting out is because she has had very little say in the way her life has been run up to this point.”
“That’s because she’s a kid,” Fade pointed out. “We aren’t letting Ruby set her own bedtime.”
“No, but we also aren’t dictating every aspect of her life including her future vocation.” Prism frowned. “Laleh already doesn’t want to be here. My goal for her doesn’t involve breaking her spirit and making her violate her principles just to prove a point.”
“Okay, but if she tries to wrap you around her little finger, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Fade snorted.
“I’m not going to let her run the place, but this is one battle I don’t want to fight, not yet anyway.” The teapot roiled, rattled, then whistled shrilly. Prism took it off the burner and got her favorite mug—the one with a cat wearing glasses on it—out of the cabinet. “I feel with Laleh I’m this close to getting through to her. I don’t want to take a step backwards by being arbitrarily tyrannical about little things like her diet.”
Fade shifted from foot to foot. Prism had a way of going all in with her charges, but when dealing with villains, that sometimes led to getting stabbed in the back. With the adult version of the SVR, it had been hard enough on her when she’d failed a charge, but with these kids—man, this could break her.
“What ar
e you going to do if we can’t get through to her? Or to Jake or Marco either for that matter?”
Prism’s posture stiffened. “I’m too early in my journey to start planning my defeat, Fade.”
“I’m not asking you to do that.” Fade came to her side and rested his hand on her upper back. “I know we already talked about the possibility that kids could drop out of the program, that you might not be able to save everyone you set your sights on ... but those were theoretical kids, not real flesh and blood ones that you’ve met and interacted with. Now that you know their names and faces, do you really think you can handle this? You know if one of them ends up in a holding cell, it’s going to break your heart.”
“It’s a risk I have to take ... because someone does.” Her eyes glistened with oncoming tears. “Every human you interact with is a risk. I could play it safe and keep them at arm’s length, not letting myself grow attached, but if I did, I wouldn’t be giving them my best. The one common thread I see in all three of these kids is that they need someone to love them unconditionally, to watch out for them. The reasons are different. Laleh’s mom has expectations that are crushing her while Marco—from the reports, it seems like his mom was just gone a lot, leaving him to essentially look after himself. Both of them need someone who respects them and cares for them.”
“And Jake?” Fade considered her.
Prism’s gaze dropped. “I haven’t spent as much time with him as you have. He’s going to be a hard one, though. I can tell already.”
“Some would say impossible,” Fade said.
“I don’t believe in impossible. I have to believe all three of these kids have a chance at having at least a normal, non-criminal life, but with their abilities, maybe they can actually be heroes.”
“It takes more than abilities to make a hero, Luce.” Fade shook his head.
“Oh, I know. Remember what my dad said about you?” Prism scrutinized Fade. “When no one else believed you could hack it in DOSA, he told me you had a good heart and a strong spine, and that was all it took to make a hero.” She glanced at the app with the pulsing dots. “Do you see that in them?”