Super Girls (Cape High Book 13) (28 page)

“I’M COMING DAD!” he hears his daughter shout from below. He looks down, focusing on the ground below—and on his precious little girl with what looks like a hand-made rocket launcher. “Sorry it took so long, but I’m ready now!” she adds.

He heads down.

***

So it took me a while to find a pipe large enough for the rocket I made, so sue me. I watch in confusion as Dad comes down alone. “Where did Mother go?” I ask, looking around.

“She got away,” he says grimly. “We need to get back to Cape High,” he goes on, walking over and picking me up. He stops, though, looking at Rochester. “You’re certain you can’t fly?”

“Dad? Why do we need to fly?” I ask.

“She stole my teleportation watch,” he says.

“What?” I demand.

“Stupid move on my behalf, I’ll admit, but we don’t have time to argue—sorry, Rochester, you get carried,” he says, grabbing Rochester’s wrist and taking to the air.

“How do you ALWAYS get your stupid watches stolen?” I demand as we race back to Kansas City. At least it’s a short trip. Poor Rochester is freaking out a little. You can tell by the way he just climbed Dad’s arm and is hanging from his bicep.

“I’m thinking I should make one big com-bracelet that only releases with my voice, but I’ll build that later,” Dad says.

I go silent for a long, long moment, before saying, “Yeah, I could see that. Or maybe an eye scanner,” I decide.

“Wait—how many watches do you got?” Rochester asks, daring to look over at me. He’s been staring down at the ground so intently this whole time. Maybe we should have asked him how he feels about heights, huh?

“There was a time travel one—”

“Which my daughter from the future was running around with,” I supply. “She’s going to be a handful,” I add.

“Did you expect anything less with Max as her dad?” Dad asks simply. “Of course, you know you don’t HAVE to wind up with Max—”

“Dad!” I say.

“The future isn’t set in stone, is all I’m saying.”

“I liked what little I heard about that future,” I say. “But anyway, there was a time travel watch, a teleportation watch—”

“And an illusion watch,” Dad says.

“An illusion watch?” I ask.

“I made it for Justin so he could go out in public.”

“I want to see the blueprints!” I say excitedly.

“If I drop you, think you’d fly again?” Dad asks me as we see Kansas City on the horizon. “Your brother is still ground-bound, you’ll be able to shove it in his face if we get it on camera now.”

“Shouldn’t we be more worried about Mother havin’ the teleportation watch?” Rochester asks.

“She should be more worried than we are,” Dad says with a satisfied smirk.

“Why’s that?”

“She’s got my tech on her--I can find her ANYWHERE, now.”

“Oh,” Rochester says.

“Want a phone?” Dad offers.

“What, not gonna offer me the leash an’ collar alternative first?” Rochester asks dryly.

“But it DOES get you free phone service for life,” I say.

“It might be worth it,” Rochester says after a long moment of debate.

***

His dad was gone when he woke up, leaving Cisco in a place where he doesn’t know ANYONE, and isn’t certain what his powers will do if he touches someone. Will they react? Will he have another freak-out moment like he had with the cop? He digs through the little travel bag and pulls out a pair of gloves. “School is starting, kitten!” he hears the Russian woman call from the door. “I let you sleep through the training hour,” she adds before walking away.

He pulls the gloves on, wondering what his dad saw when he touched Tatiana. It was probably something violent, or too adult for him, or something. A part of him REALLY wants to touch her to find out. He turns, only to yelp like a puppy as a head comes through the door—LITERALLY through the door. It’s still closed.

“Hiiii,” Skye says, stepping the rest of the way through. “You okay?”

“I—um, I’m fine,” he stutters slightly, suddenly grateful that he dressed already. “Shouldn’t you, um, go through the door without going THROUGH the door?” he asks.

“What would be the point?” she asks blankly. “It's time for my class, so you've got to come, okay?"

“Um… okay?” he says, looking at her blankly. She gives him a brilliant grin, hopping to her feet—a foot off the ground.

“Okay!” she says, grabbing his hand and hauling him off of his feet. He doesn’t even have time to yelp before they’re going straight through the door. They start down the hall, but Skye pulls to a stop as Tatiana calls out.

“You will NOT skip breakfast!”

“Whoops,” Skye says, turning and going through the hall wall into the large kitchen. Cisco barely has time to take in the sight of Superior sitting at the head of the table before he’s plopped down in a chair. “Breakfast time!” Skye says, reaching up and messing up his hair. He goes still as an image flashes through his mind of—

“Wall wide video games?” he says blankly.

“You like them, too?” Skye asks, dropping down next to him and taking the plate Tatiana brings her. “They’re ALL OVER the dorm walls if you use your phone!" she says, digging in. “I played all night!” she says shamelessly. “Thank you, Mom!” she adds as she drenches her pancakes with so much syrup that he’s positive she’ll get cavities.

“My son tends to add things that don’t need to be there,” Superior says, looking up from his newspaper at them. “You’re that Rochester’s son, right?”

“Cisco,” Cisco says, looking at him cautiously.

“You can’t fly, either, can you?”

“No, sir. I’m still coming into my powers, actually,” he admits, wondering why this apparent family breakfast suddenly terrifies him. “But I doubt I’ll fly, even when I’m grown.”

“But what WILL you be able to do?” Superior asks, looking far too interested for Cisco’s taste.

“Um, well… play any musical instrument that’s been played by someone else?” Cisco offers. “I think I’m going to pick up a lot of stuff just by touching people or things. Dad does. Well, except singing. Regardless of how good you pick up the skills, if you don’t have the pipes, you don’t have the pipes,” he says, repeating something Rochester’s old band had said far too often.

“That extends to fighting, though, doesn’t it?” Superior asks, folding up his newspaper and leaning forward with a slight smile on his face. “Not talents, but skills,” he sums up.

“Um… I guess?” Cisco says hesitantly. He slowly digs into the food he’s given, wondering what Superior is thinking.

“Who are our best fighters here?” Superior asks Tatiana.

“Trent is here between missions!” Tatiana says. “But if he does not pick up the tank strength, I am not sure that the moves will work,” she adds thoughtfully.

“Freddy’s pretty good! Falconess has been coming to train him,” Skye says. “We can try him!”

“He’ll be a lot lighter on his feet than Cisco is right now, but it’s a decent idea,” Superior says.

“What?” Cisco asks, looking at them blankly.

“Freddy’s a wall-climber!” Skye says, finishing off her food in record time. “You’ll like him!” she adds. “Can I go get him?” she asks Tatiana and Superior.

“Sure,” Superior says, standing. “Meet us in the gym, we’ll try this there.”

“But—I’m only NOW coming into my powers,” Cisco says.

“We only have you for a short time, kitten,” Tatiana says. “Do not worry, it will be enjoyable!”

Cisco says nothing, just downs his glass of milk and stands, since Superior is watching him patiently. “Okay, let’s try it,” he says, squaring his shoulders and looking at the two supers.

“Let’s have him touch Trent, first,” Superior says as they head across campus to one of the school buildings.

“But we did not ask for the entire school to—” Tatiana stops as they step into the gym, looking around. “Oh, never mind! They have all come for us, on their own!” she says, smiling brilliantly as the small school group parts for them to walk through.

“Now the real question is,” Superior says, looking over the group thoughtfully, “how long do the stolen skills last?”

“We will be finding out!” Tatiana says far too cheerfully. “It will give us an idea of just how dangerous his father is, no?”

“Dangerous?” Cisco asks blankly. “But Dad always says he’s second rate, at best, a B-class.”

“Oh, yes, according to the scale,” Tatiana says, waving it off. “But with certain abilities, it is not the letter that is mattering. It is how you use them.”

“A good example of that is Shadowman,” Superior says, his expression dark.

“Who?” Cisco asks.

“A shadow walker.” Superior waves a green haired boy forward. “Freddy, come here, we need your help.” Cisco watches the boy with the lizard haircut head forward, his eyes lighting up.

“AWESOME hair!” he says. “Who did it for you?”

“Dragon,” Freddy says with a grin.

“Oh, wow—can he do mine?” Cisco asks, forgetting about the Shadowman comment completely.

***

“Shut up,” Shadowman says, shoving the newest healer catch into the corner. “That’s enough whining, it’s not like I killed you,” he ignores the man’s complaints and looks around. “She’s not even here,” he says, his scowl growing darker.

The healer is a young man—probably a little over twenty. He doubts the guy had even been on Technico’s list. He looks down at the heavy-set male, taking in the beard and ancient cartoon t-shirt complete with stains. “When was the last time you actually went out in public?” he asks. “Do you even have a job?”

“I’m going to college,” the man says in a surly tone. “Online.”

“Right,” Shadowman drawls. “A perfectly useful healing skill, and you’re spending your entire life holed up in your parents’ basement, staring at a computer screen.”

“Like your opinion means anything to me,” the man says, scoffing.

“Listen up, boy—”

“I have a name. It’s Allen.”

“Do you really think I care?” Shadowman asks. “You healers are really starting to piss me off,” he says, looming over the man. “Do you know what you could do with your abilities? That one—she’s an ACCOUNTANT,” he says, waving at the tiny, thin woman sitting in the opposite corner. She doesn’t stick out in an empty room, much less a crowd. “She’s got the ability to heal cancer at the tips of her fingers, and she spends all her time crunching numbers. You’re all MORONS!”

“We can all see how good trying to stick out is doing us,” Allen drawls. “We didn’t ask to be outed—I WASN’T outed, so how did you find me?” he asks, suddenly confused.

“I can find anyone with powers,” Shadowman says, waving it off. “Family ability.” It was easier to go after the adults, he’s decided. The adults are less likely to bring Technico’s attention, they are less likely to be noticed as missing, and they still count as work. Once Mother truly starts trusting him—

Well, that’s when he attacks, he promises himself. Taking her out will be a privilege.

A tiny sound makes him look up, staring blankly at Mother as she appears out of nowhere. “Oh, this IS fun,” she says, looking at the watch on her wrist. It’s far too big for her. “Shadowman, sweetie, what have you brought me this time?” she asks, looking at Allen.

“A college kid,” Shadowman drawls.

“He kidnapped me!” Allen accuses, pointing a finger.

“Well of course he did,” Mother says, waving a hand. “I told him to.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m collecting healers, of course,” Mother says, turning back to the watch she’s wearing. “Oh, would you look at this—he left all of his destinations!” she says, tapping on the watch.

“Is that Herold’s?” Shadowman asks.

“Oh no, of course not. Herold doesn’t ever make such interesting toys. This is Technico’s,” she says, dropping down on a nearby chair and crossing her legs. “A teleportation watch. I really can’t trust him to keep it, though.”

“Why’s that?” Shadowman asks.

“Because he says if you destroy it, you create a black hole,” she explains. “That’s apparently how Superior got taken out in the past. So I took it.” She looks at him, a mild expression on her face. "Well, it ALMOST took him out," she says, silently calling him out on his comment about Superior being dead.

He stares at her, and then looks at the watch for a long, long moment. If she hasn’t figured it out, he’s not going to tell her, he decides blandly. And he's not about to touch the fact she caught him lying. “That’s nice. I’ll just be going now,” he adds, starting to slip through the floor.

The door opens before he manages to get away and he looks over as Herold walks in. “Mom, I think—” he stops, looking at the two healers and then at Shadowman. “What have you been doing?” he asks.

“Oh, not much,” Mother says, hiding her wrist behind her back like a guilty child. Herold looks at her, clearly catching that something is going on, but he ignores it. “How’s your day been, sweetie?” she asks, trying to change the subject. She pulls her hand out from behind her, and the watch is gone. “Shadowman, weren’t you going back to work?” she demands.