Wearing The Cape: Villains Inc. (22 page)

“
Thank
you, you know we appreciate it.”

He smiled back. “Can’t complain. I was there for the Paulina Street incident—we like you fine where you are.”

“
No
.” I groaned, rolling my eyes.

“Ma’am?” He winked. “We like the uniform change, too.
Lookin
’
fine
.”

“Rat! I blush, Gabe!” Laughing despite the heat in my cheeks, I waved to his partner beside the far column and went inside, feeling better.

We upgraded the Dome’s security after the Ring attacked Whittier Base. The ground floor used to be almost entirely open to the public, with only an armored guard (Platoon) inside the main entrance to spot incoming threats and an observer at the reception desk, usually Tom (also Platoon), to ride herd over the traffic in the Atrium. Now we had an extra station just inside the doors, where a second pair of guards (still Platoon) handed out visitor badges to everyone entering. The monitored badge station gave each visitor an unobtrusive biometric scan, matching them against our known-threat database, and the radio-tagged badges tracked visitors’ movements throughout the Dome. Heat-sensitive, the badges couldn’t be removed without tripping an alarm, and they triggered an alert if the wearer went where he wasn’t supposed to or stayed in one spot too long. Green badges meant public access. Gold badges meant secure access; wearers could take the elevator down to the secure lobby, where Bob cleared them or shut down the exits until they’d been “contained.” Paranoid, much?

Astra,
Notes From a Life.

Dane arrived between tours, got a green badge, and headed for the almost empty museum. They gave me the heads-up when he arrived, and I found him in the new First Sentinels Exhibit, staring at the life-sized wax figures that stood watch from behind glass at the center of the room. Shelly closed the doors and locked us in.

He turned when he heard the latch.

“Mr.
Dorweiler
,” I said, pitching my voice lower. “Thank you for coming.” I held out my hand.

His eyes widened. “Excuse me? I’m here to meet… Crap on a cracker!”

Laughter burbled out of me. Using both hands, I peeled off the mask with its attached wig and ran my fingers through my bob.

“Dane? Dane? Hope to Dane? Yoo-hoo…” I got control of the laugh, but couldn’t stop grinning.

“
Damnit
Hope, you can’t—. No way—. Well, hell!”

“Uh huh. C’mon.”

Taking his hand, I pulled him over to the padded bench in front of the Blackout wall. I adjusted my cape as he cautiously sat beside me, scowling ferociously.

“
Damnit
, Hope, I didn’t buy it for a moment—
Annabeth
would have been going nuts—but I was worried!”

I flushed, remembering my cover story for disappearing for training last September. I’d hated the returning-cancer-scare excuse for my “leaving” just before the start of our freshman year.

“And when you came back and got that apartment here in the Loop instead of moving on-campus, I wondered… But you’re all still as thick as thieves at school. This explains a lot. Didn’t you trust me?”

My breath hitched and my flush burned hotter. “I don’t know; it felt like, the fewer people knew the less real it was?” I played with my cape, unable to meet his eyes.

“It was our first real fight, you know,” he said bitterly. “Me and
Annabeth
.”

My stomach sank.
Annabeth
was a cheerful ditz, Dane such a big good-natured goof, that I’d always wondered how they ever decided anything or if they just agreed to whatever the other one wanted. Damn it,
Annabeth
shared
everything
. I owed her an apology for not letting her share this, but now what could I say? The silence stretched, got painful.

“I’m
sorr
—” I started.

“Look—” He stopped and grunted, mussed his male-model curls.

“Pass,” he said. “We can talk about the foul some other time.”

I nodded, relieved. “So what can I do to help? Shouldn’t you be talking to Julie or Megan?”

“Megan would make unhelpful jokes and Julie would try and argue me into staying. I don’t need an argument, I need
help
. I can’t lose
Annabeth
. And I can’t lose this opportunity. You know what it means to me.”

I nodded. I did—I’d been thinking about it all morning. Dane was only ever
intense
about one thing: The Game. As devoted as he was to
Annabeth
, it always seemed like when he was off the soccer field he was just marking time. She couldn’t go with him, and he couldn’t stay. I sighed. He’d been my second teen crush—and there was no way he ever going to learn
that
—and the thought of the two of them not together made me physically ill.

His shoulders slumped when I didn’t say anything. “I was hoping… Hell, you’ve always been the smart one.”

“What? You’re confusing me with Julie.”

“Nope. Julie decides what you’re all going to do, but half the time you’re the one who suggests ways and means. Especially when it gets tricky.”

“No, we just…” I sighed. “We all talk, and it happens. God, I miss it.”

“So let’s talk. There has to be
something
.”

I sighed again, chewing on a lock of hair. “Okay, so you have two objectives, right? Play professional soccer and keep
Annabeth
.”

“Right.”

“And if you turn down this offer, you’re not likely to get another one unless you have an amazing college career. So let’s define ‘keep
Annabeth
.’ Talk to me, Dane.”

“Well…”

“Still be
Danabeth
?”

“Yes!”

And I saw it, like staring at an optical puzzle for hours and suddenly have it turn into a pretty flower because you squinted just right. It was simple. Not easy, but simple. I suppressed an eye-rolling, Shelly-style
duh
.

“Dane, I know you’ve always thought the Bees were inseparable, but didn’t you ever think about
eventually
? Like
eventually
you’re going to move in together? Trade rings? Have a basket of babies? Real adult stuff?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“What you’ve got going now won’t work for this, not long distance with no goal in sight.” I stood up and paced. “If you’re leaving town,
Annabeth
needs to know what she’s waiting for, so get down on one knee. Set a date for next year. Then go off and give the Red Bulls the most amazing rookie year they’ve ever seen while racking up frequent-flyer miles. If you can’t convince the Chicago Fire to take you after that and come home, well,
Annabeth
can go to school in New Jersey next year. Or one of you can get on a plane every weekend.”

I held my breath and waited for his stunned look to pass. A wide grin slowly split his face.

“You think she’ll go for it?”

Well, duh.
“I’ve only known her for three years and she’s still surprising me, but if you don’t think she’s already
Annabeth
Dorweiler
in her head, then
you’ve
taken too many hits from that ball.”

He stood up. “I’ve got Gram’s engagement ring, and I know
Annabeth’s
ring-size.”

Yes!
“So go. Woo. Score one for the team. We can talk about my foul later.”

“The ref ignored it. So, Astra, huh?”

“Apparently.”

“What’s it like?”

A huge sigh. “I used to have time to at least
think
about boys,” I said wistfully.

He looked at Atlas’ figure, posed in his first, cheesy costume. “Is it true about…”

“Yeah. Everything but the scandalous bits.”

“I’m sorry.” He was bouncing to go, but he stopped himself. “Hope…” Grabbing my face, he kissed me hard. “I knew I could depend on you. Thanks.” He was gone before I could catch my breath.

“Woo-
hoo
!” Shelly said, popping in beside me. “You know that’s on Dome video, right? Blackmail!”

“To your grave, Shell,” I said. “To your second grave.”

“Well, duh.”

By the time I’d gotten my mask back on and exited the museum, The Dane had left the building; now that he’d seen the goal, he was driving for it. I waved to Tom at the reception desk, and then stared at the visitor talking to him. I’d only seen the man once, on video, but he
couldn’t
be here.

“Shelly?” I whispered. “Call a security situation, Atrium, reception desk, quiet.”

“
Done,
” she confirmed through my
earbug
. “
What
—”

“That’s Mr. Moffat.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the guards stiffen, but Tom didn’t react as I walked up to the desk. The atrium was nearly empty. Good.

“Afternoon, Tom.” I nodded to our dead visitor. “Can I help you,
Mr
….?”

“
Kitsune
. Kit-SOO-
neh
,” he said, grinning cheerfully and offering his hand. “I was hoping to speak to Blackstone, but I don’t have an appointment.”

We shook. Warm grip, pulse, all good. And nothing was going to start up here. I made myself smile back. “I’m afraid they gave you the wrong badge. Tom, may we have a gold one?”
Can I take this obvious but unknown superhuman downstairs?

“Of course, ma’am,” he said, handing our guest a new one and accepting the one he’d clipped to his tie.

“Thanks Tom. If you could let Blackstone know we’re coming, I’d appreciate it.”

“Of course. Have a nice day.”

I walked Mr.
Kitsune
to the elevators, ushered him, in and hit the Lobby button.
 
“Shelly,” I said as the doors closed. “Lockdown, please.”

“
Going down
.” We dropped fast as I counted to five and Mr.
Kitsune’s
eyes widened. Our hard-stop brought him to his knees, and the shaft rang as the titanium hatch above us slammed shut. Extending a hand, I helped him up.

“Lockdown, Mr.
Kitsune
, means we’re at the bottom of the shaft, sealed in and not going anywhere without authorization from upstairs. You’re not getting an inch closer to Blackstone until I’m happy, and I’m pretty sure the worst bit is this damn elevator music.” I didn’t mention all of the ways the elevator could neutralize its occupants—some of which could incapacitate
me
.

He nodded. “I can see that, and it’s not ‘mister
.
’
Kitsune
is Japanese for fox or fox-spirit.” His face changed, and for a second she was the woman who walked out of the vault. Then she was a younger, red-headed girl with bright almond eyes. “And aren’t you worried that I’m an inch away from
you
?”

“Nope.
Barlow’s Guide to
Superhumans
: physical
shapeshifting
is almost always a solitary power. You can bleed on me if you’re really determined.”