What had I done?

It didn’t matter that I’d lost control, that I was Brainwave’s slave and completely under her power: I was the one who’d blasted the captain so that not even ashes remained. Whatever blame they cared to lay on me I was more than willing to accept. A good man had paid the ultimate price because I’d allowed myself to be compromised.

Never again, I told myself. Even if it meant being locked away in the Chamber for the next ten years: never again.

Back at the MMCD headquarters I sat in a plexiglas box and awaited my fate. The lieutenant had told me that was where I was to stay with an inhibitor bracelet fastened to my neck until they were certain I was no longer a threat. Because of our history they didn’t want to treat me like a criminal: funny, it didn’t stop me from feeling like one.

Encased in the transparent cell next door, Brainwave leaned back and rested her shaved head against the wall. She looked at me, bored, like a spoiled child who expected a zoo animal to perform like they were in a circus.

“Will you lighten up?” she scoffed. “You’re really killing the mood in here.”

I shot her a look that said ‘I’ll kill you next.’ Why not? I’d done it once already, no reason to stop then, especially when my intended victim was oh so deserving.

“You always this chipper after a kill?”

The murderous psychic grinned. “Don’t look at me, Glimmer Girl. This one is all on you. It was only a matter of time before someone got hurt because of you…”

“Shut up.”

“You’re like a loaded gun waiting to go off.”

“You were the one who pulled the trigger,” I raged, slamming my fists impotently against the barrier.

“Maybe so,” she reasoned coyly, “but you were the best weapon I ever had. God’s honest truth. Pity I can’t use you again for ten to twenty.”

She was baiting me. Whatever. I didn’t have time for her games, even if it seemed like time was going to be all I had for years to come. There were better things I could be doing like… I dunno… pacing? Back and forth until the MMCD brought in Betty and her fellow escapees.

Brainwave smiled. “My Mama’s coming for me you know. And my sisters, too.”

I scoffed. “You really think so?”

“They wouldn’t just leave me,” she said and flattened herself on the wide bench beneath her.

Gods, even while she was locked up she was cocky. She really did believe that her adopted mother would come for her and that she wasn’t just a distraction for Betty’s getaway.

“It’s so sad that you believe that.” I muttered.

“Do you really doubt, Glimmer Girl?”

“Yeah,” I told her. “I’ve never put much stock into honor among thieves, or even hostage taking killers.”

Brainwave huffed and kicked her feet up high. “That’s your problem then: that you’ve clearly underestimated the influence of familial bonds, but you never really were the sentimental type… were you, KC?”

My blood froze. She knew!? Of course she did. She was a psychic when she didn’t have the inhibitor on, and she’d had more than enough chance to pluck a pair of initials from my head, and more.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me,” she continued. “I promise not to tell a single soul. There really is honor among thieves and all that, or should I say honor among murderers?”

I wanted to reach out and throttle her, though even without the layer of glass dividing us I doubted I’d try.

Suddenly we were cut short when Lieutenant Danvers stormed into the block. She marched right up to the door of my cell. Both she and the two other armored cops escorting her were in a foul, impatient mood, and understandably so. I had a lot to answer for in their eyes.

“Glimmer Girl,” she addressed me plainly as I stood, her stone glare then pressing me to the wall. “Why did you want Salvatore Ramirez dead?”

I blinked for a moment, unsure if it was a real question. “I… uh,” I managed to plead pathetically. It failed to satisfy.

“Let me repeat myself,” she growled. “Why… did you want… Salvatore Ramirez… dead?”

“I… I didn’t! I swear! I… I’ve always looked up to and respected Captain Ramirez!”

“Never once thinking you’d want to blast him into kingdom come?”

Heavy with guilt I tried to remain standing. Is that really what they thought? “It was an accident, I swear! I would never do anything like that!”

“Never?”

I shook and gulped heavily. “I wanted to shave off his moustache once. Does that count?”

Lieutenant Danvers turned away with, I don’t know, relief maybe? I could only puzzle at her expression before it hardened again at the sight of Brainwave.

“You,” she barked at the horizontal criminal, not even granting her so much as a name. “Tell me where Betty took Captain Ramirez before we place you in isolation.”

“Eat me,” the supercriminal murmured.

“You know a lot of things have been known to happen in isolation, especially to those who go out of their way to hurt cops. Captain Ramirez has a lot of friends around here. Who knows what might happen to you alone behind closed doors?”

“The usual strong arm tactics, I suppose,” she sighed casually. “You meta-crime types really have a lot to learn about protocol.”

I was confused. “Wait, what’s going on here?” I asked. “I thought Captain Ramirez was…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish, even if it weren’t true which I suspected, nay hoped was the case.

Danvers scoffed and bore down on the neutered psychic. “Sorry to leave you in suspense, Glimmer Girl, but we’ve only just had a chance to re-read Brainwave’s dossier. Though her MO is dominating the wills of others it does come with certain limitations.”

“What kind of limitations?”

Brainwave grinned at me as though she were the Cheshire Cat. “She means that I can’t make a person kill on command unless they’re already predisposed to murder. Sorry, GG, it must have slipped my mind, but it turns out that you were too tame to be my executioner after all.”

I… I was speechless! I was innocent! The burden of the greatest sin was lifted off my chest and with it a newfound appreciation for my freedom. Oh, thank the gods, I hadn’t killed anyone, and a good man was out there, still alive.

But where was Captain Ramirez? That was the question that still lingered in the room: one which Lieutenant Danvers was determined to find out.

* * * *

It had been a short while since they’d heard the raging sirens behind them. Were they safe? Betty and what remained of her clan poured out of their vehicle and into the cool, dry atmosphere of their refuge. It hadn’t been easy to move a SWAT van from one side of the town to the other, but with luck on their side they managed to pull through.

Bad Penny ran to the passenger side door to intercept the feral cyborg clawing at the window. “Sit,” she told her little sister before reaching in and grabbing her by the collar. “You behave or you don’t get a treat tonight, okay?”

From the rear hatch their mother watched and smiled. It was good to see her girls together even if one of them was currently detained. Not that it mattered: it was only a matter of time before they made their move to set her free again, then their unit would be complete once more.

Pawing her way along the length of the truck she considered each of the mirrors and the glass panels. “Which one was it again?” she called out to the daughter with a far better memory than hers.

“Passenger side mirror,” Penny said distractedly while her fussy sibling rolled around in need of attention.

Betty wasted no time in breaking the reflective pane from its casing and smashed it on the cold concrete below her boot. From it there came a bright flash as the thing inside jumped to take back its original shape.

Captain Ramirez shook on the ground where he crawled clumsily away from his captor. He was nothing against her earth-shattering might or wrecking ball momentum, and though he saw no cruelty or menace in her eyes he was wary all the same.

“What the hell did…” he coughed. Little did any of them realize but it had been some time since he’d last drawn breath.

The withered old gangster smiled and lumbered past him. “’S a good question, Sally. All I know is that Glimmer Girl shot you into a mirror and that we’ve been holding you there. I’m not sure of the science of it. Would probably go over my head anyway. Doesn’t matter. You comfortable?”

Fuelled by panic and adrenaline the cop reached instinctively for his spare pistol and brandished it furiously at the three villains. They were less than impressed.

“You really think you’re going to hit us with that?” Betty laughed. “Penny?”

“First two shots hit the wall, third, fourth and fifth are planted into the wooden crate, sixth hits one of the lights and ricochets,” the middle child explained lazily. Bullets were something of a hobby of hers.

Ramirez laughed bitterly. Of course it was useless, he should have known better. He dropped the gun and propped himself upright.

“What do you want with me?” he asked, to the point as usual.

Betty smiled, her beluga lips cracking as they stretched to either side of her face. “You and me got a lot of history, Sally. We got a few things we need to talk about. Most times you wouldn’t even give me the time of day, right? An’ there’s no way you’re gonna come see me in lock-up or the Chamber, so I figure maybe I should call in while you were at work.”

“Yeah, well, you got me,” he spat. “If you need to talk, talk. Don’t let me stand in your way.”

His tone was unsurprising: it was the way most hardasses talked when they couldn’t stand to show fear. With the flick of her mallet sized finger Betty sent the captain flying across the room to crash into a stack of pipes. That would be enough to soften him up and quiet his yap.

“Mother of God,” Ramirez swore as Bad Penny ran to drag him back. He quickly regretted opening his mouth: now he couldn’t defend himself even if he tried.

“You’ve got to me careful, Mommy,” Betty’s daughter moped. “Regular people break easy, remember?”

“He can take it,” Betty grizzled. “He’s seen worse. You’re a tough old SOB, aren’t ya, Sally?”

The captain trembled uncontrollably. Something had popped in his shoulder, probably dislocated or sprained. At least it didn’t hurt when he laid still like he was. The only other torture he’d have to endure was his captor’s incessant yammering.

Opening her hand to her daughter Betty received two long cigars, one of which she offered to her prisoner. She paid him no mind when he refused and continued to light up.

“I’ve been working this town for ‘bout thirty years now,” she began, “robbing banks, money laundering, and a whole lotta other strong-arm stuff that I could talk about all night. It’s my career, my life. People always expected that kinda thing of me and now I been doing it for so long I don’t know nothin’ else, so I keep doing it. I ain’t trying to justify any of it or nothin’, just asking what else a mutated freak like me is good for, you know?”

A large hand hushed the distressed Penny behind her: she so hated to hear her adopted mother speak about herself as a monster. At least she could hurt anyone else for talking that way.

Ramirez coughed. “Regrets?”

Betty shrugged. “I did the best I could. Even though I know I would’ve straightened out if that truck hadn’t changed me I took my best shot, did alright in the end. If nothin’ else I got my girls, gave them more’n what they had. That counts for somethin’ right? If I’m completely honest… they’re the only thing I’ve ever been proud of.”

They stewed in the lingering pause. Ramirez cocked his head painfully and softened his accusing gaze, careful not to press his luck.

“What’s the… point of this?”

“I’m getting’ to it, I’m gettin’ to it,” she waved impatiently. “Can’t you let a dying old woman reflect a minute? I’ve had a long life, I got a lot to think about.”

“No comment.”

Bad Penny sprung to her feet but was gestured to stay back. ‘Sit still while mama is talking’ was sometimes a hard rule to follow.

Betty frowned and leaned forward. “You think you’re so much better’n me, don’t ya? You’re a smug prick, always have been. I get that, I really do, but shut up a minute because I’m tryin’ to tell ya something I’ve been holding on to for a long time.”

“Just say it…”

She frowned a moment, cognizant of the fact that he could hear her but wasn’t really listening, though that didn’t matter: what was important was that the words were said.

“I’m sorry,” Betty murmured, “for your dead wife, your dead kids, your sister, your mom and your dad… what happened wasn’t fair. Nobody should ever have to live through that, least of all a guy as good as you. Yeah, you’re a complete ass, but you’re heart’s in the right place and you stay true to it.”

The burning in the captain’s eyes said it all. She’d crossed a line and there was no going back.

“See, that look is why I held back all this time,” she continued. “It was never my place to say anything like that, even though I wasn’t there an’ wasn’t the one who did it. You blame me like you blame all of ‘em and really that’s only fair.”

“Where do you get off!?” he hissed. “You #$%&ing… aaarrrrggghhhh!”

Betty grunted. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say. I might not’ve got my hands dirty that one time, but there were plenty of other times I did, right? Yeah, I get that too. I’m guilty as sin, I know it. Hell, we were the Society of Sin. It was our thing. We called it freedom when it was just evil for its own sake ‘cause it was easy, but it was still wrong.”

She positioned herself closer, making sure she loomed over Ramirez so that her wide shadow completely encompassed his form.

“You probably got files on all of us, right? Psych reports n’all that? Haven’t read ‘em so I don’t know how close they are to the truth, but I thought I should tell you some things anyway. You ready?”

He grunted. Ready or not, what did it matter?

“Back in those days I didn’t have anything to lose. I’d do most anything for some kind of recognition, respect, it even let an ugly broad like me get a few guys up to my room, can you believe it? We left scars on the world, but that didn’t matter because we got what we wanted, and you know I might have still been with the Society if I didn’t see how it treated some of its own people.”

“What people?”

Bad Penny stepped forward sorrowfully leading her little sister on a chain.

“You know she never even got a name,” Betty lamented as she patted Beast Grrrl’s short, tangled mane.

The feral cyborg squirmed about aware only of the dark mood on the room. She sniffed about her mother curiously in search of a comfortable place to rest until the metaphorical storm could finally blow over.

“I wanted to call her ‘Rosie’ after my aunt who raised me back in Brooklyn, but she won’t take to it. Nobody knows who her parents are, they left her to die with a pack of dogs. She was barely alive when the Red Wraith found her: she didn’t know how to speak or even how to use the bathroom. So what do they do instead of treating her like a human being? They tweak her out on robot parts and fight her to the death night after night! What is that, Sally? I know a lot of monsters, but what was done to her goes way past that!”

Ramirez just stared at the ceiling. As tragic as the story was he couldn’t be shocked. He already knew the tale but couldn’t bring himself to think that Betty’s influence was necessarily ‘better’. All the same he told her “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” Betty sobbed bitterly, “yeah, I bet you are. Everyone is ‘cept the people responsible. That’s the real crying shame. People tell you that’s just how the story goes, but you can’t accept that. You can never accept that.”

Lumbering away Betty shook her head and shrugged. “I don’t know if you are sorry or not, but I’ll take what I can get. I’m bettin’ you feel about the same so let’s call it even, huh? In the meantime me and the girls’ve got a vacation in the works. Who knows where we’ll end up?”

Penny frowned solemnly and muttered “Mommy” silently as she rubbed her giant shoulders. None of this was easy for any of them in a world they’d been rejected from.

Ramirez sighed. “How long?”

She considered him for a moment and grinned. A hint of concern? Maybe, or perhaps he was just wanting to remain informed. “Three months,” she told him, “maybe a year, maybe more. My system’s so mutated doctors don’t know what’s going on even while damn lung cancer eats away at me.”

“I’m sorry,” Ramirez repeated, this time more genuinely, though he still couldn’t bring himself to look at her as he said it.

“There’s nothing more important than family, Sally,” she choked. “I get that. I’m sorry you lost yours. I’m about to lose mine too, that’s the only reason I’m not sitting quietly in a prison cell today. I just figured… with all our scrapes that you could use an explanation.”

Against the cold concrete Ramirez lay quietly as Betty and her two made their way to the exit. “Is that it?” he muttered.

Betty nodded, strangely disappointed. “Yeah, that’s it. We’re done. Forever. Your MMCD friends will be here soon. Tell ‘em not to follow me, or don’t, it doesn’t matter. You won’t ever see me again, Sally. Goodbye.”

The door echoed as it slammed shut, bringing an end to a saga for one but leaving the other completely unchanged.

* * * *

“Let’s move!”

It hadn’t taken very long to get Brainwave to talk. If anything she seemed eager to share what she knew. Yeah, that wasn’t suspicious at all, but with Captain Ramirez still alive and captive to a band of rabid meta-criminals Danvers and her team had grown hungry for the chance to do something about it.

Still clamped inside my cell with my powers negated I pleaded for a second chance. “Take me with you,” I told them, but Danvers wasn’t interested.

“Sorry, Glimmer Girl. You’re still not safe. Who knows what might happen if we let you out?”

“But Brainwave is still in here,” I argued. “I’d have total control. What could go wrong?”

The lieutenant frowned and leaned against the glass. “Maybe you haven’t dealt with as many telepaths as we have, but who knows what she might have slipped into your head before we got the cuffs on. Any word or action might trigger some nasty hidden command buried in your subconscious.”

She was right, of course. That didn’t mean I had to like it. Crashing back into the corner I moped while the MMCD stormed out. All I could do was wait for things to blow over safely in confinement next to the evil woman who weaponized me in the first place.

Brainwave beamed victoriously and kneeled at the closest point she could reach. “I guess that makes it just you and me, right, KC?”

Save for the few lingering officers outside whose job it was to keep watch over us the floor was completely empty. They could have at least stuck me in another cell where the bad guy couldn’t rub knowing my secret identity in my face.

“You don’t get to call me that,” I told her.

“That’s a shame,” she sighed almost sarcastically. “I wasn’t going to tell anyone, you know. The fact is I rather like you. You’ve done a lot to come this far in life. What a shame it would be for some catty villain to let your name slip and bring the house of cards that is your life come tumbling down.”

“Are you going to try and blackmail me or something?”

Tapping her chin thoughtfully Brainwave let out a tiny snort. “The thought had occurred to me, but you really have nothing to offer save your help, but I’m guessing that’s not on the table now, is it?”

“You read my mind,” I chided.

“That,” she said, “is the whole point.”

Sick of the sound of her voice I turned away. What was I going to do? My psychic foe had stolen my secret identity right from out of my head and no amount of punching was guaranteed to fix that. That, of course, was assuming I ever got the chance. Trapped in a cell with an inhibitor collar blocking my powers my options were severely limited.

I sighed. My life as I knew it was gone. In other words “I’m doomed.”

After a long wait Brainwave pressed herself against the glass and wriggled up and down in search of something outside the cell block. “Hey, KC,” she asked somewhat anxiously, “can you see the clock from where you are?”

My mouth stayed firmly shut. She wasn’t getting anything out of me, not ever again.

Suddenly the foundations of the building shook. In our cells Brainwave and I were rocked to the floor, leveled by the mighty tremor that brought something crashing down outside. Any questions I might have had regarding what the hell was going on were answered quickly when the mammoth form of Betty Bruiser came crashing through the door.

“Mama,” Brainwave grinned.

The matriarch’s fingers pressed deep into the plexiglas, warping it until it finally cracked into her oversized fist. With one more pull the entire cell wall came free, making a clear path for the pair to escape through the debris.

“Penny’s waiting downstairs with the truck,” she murmured to her daughter. “We’ll work out a way to unclamp you later.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” I spat and threw myself impotently at the wall. We all knew it was an empty threat, but years of heroism had made it habit.

Brainwave rolled her eyes carelessly. “She can’t do anything to stop us, Mama. They’ve got her in one of those collars you hate so much.”

“Not for very much longer if I have anything to say about it,” I told them.

Slowing by my cell Betty gave pause. Something about me trapped and squirming brought a smile to her face: not surprising for a wretch like her. “Well how about that? A hero in a cage. I tell ya, honey, ya don’t see that every day.”

She laughed as I bashed at the glass then walked away as if I were nothing. Damn these collars! I had to do something!

“Hey!” I screamed out to the dusty cloud filling the hallway. Someone had to be out there. I called again, “hey! Someone want to get me out of this thing!?”

Time was running out. At a guess I only had about thirty seconds before Betty and Brainwave would disappear completely. I had to move, but someone had to deliver my get out of jail free card first.

Through the haze one of the desk jockeys managed to stumble into the block. With his lungs violently expelling thick dust he was barely able to stand, but fought long enough to reach the control panel in the corner of the room. He pulled down the main switch with a heavy clunk.

“Go,” he coughed.

Raw primatter erupted through my veins as I took hard light form. It was good to be back in business, and not a second too soon. Shooting through the cell doors I bounced out the office window and into the streets as fast as my thoughts could process.

Scanning the area made for bleak watching. It was peak hour and finding a single van in a sea of traffic was going to be like playing Where’s Waldo: Hell edition. Perhaps then it was fortunate for me that they hadn’t yet left the car park.

I landed gently on the ground outside the tollgates. The van before me stopped. Bad Penny eyed me viciously from behind the wheel, daring me to make some kind of move.

“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time,” I laughed at the van. “None of you are going anywhere!”

The engine roared, but I stood my ground. Tapped and exhausted as I might have been I could stand to take a few blows from a mere family wagon. A front bulbar was nothing even on my worst days.

Brainwave stepped out of the side door, the light on her collar still blinking active. What did she think she was doing? She couldn’t do anything against me.

“What do you think you’re doing, KC?” she queried flatly.

“Taking you back up to your cell,” I threatened. “Your mother and sisters too. Haven’t you caused enough damage for one day?”

As Betty Bruiser stepped out the van was visibly relieved of her weight. Her thick, bottom lip bore down on me stiffly, impatiently demanding I remove myself from her path. “Don’t make us hurt you, Casey. All we want is to get outta here and find a new home. We don’t want to cause any more trouble, ‘specially with you.”

“I got this, Mama,” Brainwave whispered back. “Listen, Glimmer Girl, I’ve been inside your mind. I understand how you feel, and you know just as well as I that sometimes justice and the law don’t see eye to eye.”

Yeah, right. I wasn’t going to fall for that. “You kidding me? There’s no justice in what the four of you do,” I told them.

Brainwave shook her head most disappointedly. “Maybe, maybe not, but I ask you, where is that justice in watching your mother die? Where is the justice in separating her from her family in her final months?”

I watched Betty shift uncomfortably. It had to be a bluff, right?

“All we ask is that you give us some time,” the eldest pleaded. “Let us see this through our way, then you can lock us up and throw away the key. It won’t matter then.”

We’d come to a moral impasse. A part of me wished I’d blown their gas tank while I had the chance, then I would never have had to think about it, but alas life was never supposed to be that easy. I wanted to do the good and moral thing, after all who doesn’t, but what that was suddenly wasn’t so clear.

Finally I made a decision.

“The system might not be perfect,” I reasoned, “but I don’t think it’s so cruel that it would rob a dying woman of her family. No dice, ladies.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Betty growled. No sooner had she shook her head in frustration that she charged like a bull, forcing us both to career into open traffic and plowing into the side of a nearby office building.

I reformed to witness the scene where hundreds of vehicles sat blocked by wreckage. Many of them had been abandoned while the smart commuters ran for cover. The others gathered nearby to take pictures with their camera phones.

“Get out of here!” I ordered them. “Now!”

The tank-like matriarch ran at me again with the force of an avalanche with her stiffened shoulder leading the way. I narrowly managed to avoid her blow and decided that blasting away from an aerial vantage would probably be smarter.

For a split second I turned my attention to Brainwave and Penny. They were up to something, they always were, but at least they hadn’t let Beast Grrrl off her leash.

“Mama! The police will be here any minute!” Brainwave screamed.

I almost missed sight of the car flying toward me. It caught me off guard and sent me crashing back down to street level. My body shattered with miniature holograms flying in all directions, then pulled back together just in time for my powers to fizzle out. At least I was in one piece. With any luck I’d survive long enough for a thirty second recharge.

“Mama!” Brainwave called again before throwing herself into Betty’s path. “We have to go!”

“Get out of the way, Brainwave! She’s charging up!”

The psychic turned and eyed me with the focus of an airborne predator. “Don’t worry about her, Mama. I’ve got this all taken care of.”

I could feel the charge burst through me. One split second later I would be back in hard light form to finish these two off, but that was not to be. Suddenly the collar clicked. The light upon it started blinking red. My powers had been dampened.

From the driver’s seat of the van Bad Penny waved. This had to be her doing. Because of her I was now a sitting duck.

My head swam as Brainwave’s fist connected with a painful uppercut. Leaving the ground my body collapsed heavily on the pavement. It was a hard blow that left me reeling: she may have been a neutered psychic without her powers, but damn did she know how to land a punch.

“Listen,” Brainwave said as she knelt at my side, “forget about us. You’ve got bigger problems. Go live your life, KC, and let us have ours.”

That was that. As I struggled to bring myself back to her feet Brainwave and Betty piled back in the van and disappeared into the city. I couldn’t stop them, and I doubted the incoming sirens would have either.

I spat on the pavement while the awed spectators stood stunned. At least there was no blood: the bad taste left in my mouth must have been something else.

* * * *

Captain Ramirez soon returned beaten and battered. Despite his condition he wanted to survey the damage done to his base of operations. What he saw did not please him one bit. The city, he said, was going to put up a fight footing the bill for this one.

“Probably get a call from the commissioner,” he railed. “The mayor, the police union… maybe TASK as well sticking their nose into our business as per usual.”

Lieutenant Danvers simply nodded in time. Her superior carried some heavy responsibilities on his shoulders, even broken as they were. It wasn’t easy and she respected him for tackling it with such enthusiasm: hell, we all did.

I sat and listened idly as the tech officer tinkered with the microcircuitry within the collar. Whatever Penny had done had fused it on tight. Damn her. By that time it was evening and I was going to have a hell of a time explaining to my parents why I needed to violate parole on the very first day.

“My Mom’s going to kill me,” I muttered to the surprised looking techie. “What? I have a life outside this costume, you know.”

“Guess I never really thought about it,” he said and turned diligently back to his job. He genuinely didn’t seem all that interested, which was a good thing I suppose since I wasn’t going to give him any details anyway.

Watching the captain pacing back and forth I breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t dead, and I wasn’t the one that killed him. On any other day that seemed like something to be taken for granted.

“Hold still,” the techie grunted impatiently. I guessed he wasn’t hired for his politeness.

Poking his head in Captain Ramirez looked beyond me and to the micro tools plucking away at my bonds. “No luck so far, huh?” he muttered before making himself comfortable by the doorframe. His brown eyes flicked away from his underling so that they might dissect my nervous aura. “How’re you holding up?”

“Been a lot better,” I told him sheepishly, “but look at you. They must have really put you through the ringer.”

“Trust me I’ve had worse. I’ll live.” Of course he would. Tough old warhorse like him, nothing kept him down for too long.

Just seeing him standing there had me thinking, going over the same facts over and over again. He was still alive, but maybe he shouldn’t have been. I thought I’d killed him, and maybe I nearly did. We’d narrowly managed to avoid catastrophe this time, but at what cost? Could I ever really trust myself again after something like this? Suddenly it all seemed so big.

“Something’s bothering you,” the captain observed vocally.

Well duh. It was probably written all over my face. That kind of rollercoaster of emotion had a tendency to leave its mark.

“I shouldn’t have let them get away,” I huffed. “Not after they nearly…”

“They didn’t,” he interjected, “and they couldn’t have unless you wanted to. Believe me, kid, the only reason I’m standing here was because you didn’t want to see me blown away. I appreciate that, I really do.”

“But what about next time?”

“Then we tackle them head on, same as we always have,” he said. He was always so resolute.

“Simple as that?”

“Simple as that. I know you’re kicking yourself now, but as you get old and grizzled you start seeing the wider picture. It’s a fool’s errand to expect victory every step of the way even if that’s what you’re shooting for, especially doing what we do.”

“I guess,” I murmured. Truth was I didn’t want to think about it anymore: I just wanted to go home and… no, scratch that. Home was the last place I wanted to be. Going back would spell a hellish, stressful ending to a hellish, stressful day.

The collar clicked free. Finally, I could use my powers again. I didn’t have to linger anymore, I could go and… ugh, face the dragon.

“Go home,” Captain Ramirez ordered. “You’ve probably got folks who are worried sick about you. Don’t worry about the bad guys. The problem ones always come back. They always give you a second shot. That’s why we usually come out on top.”

Yeah, right. Worried sick: more like stewing in fury. As I flew off I wondered what kind of punishment was being lined up and whether or not I would have some sort of social life again before graduating college.

* * * *

The dark blue sedan in the front driveway confirmed what I’d feared: I was not the first one home. At least my Mom hadn’t made it back yet. I could avoid the wrath of the dragon for a little while longer.

Flying in through the bedroom window I was quick to peel away my tights. I couldn’t believe I was thinking it, but for once I didn’t want to be Glimmer Girl. Talk about the world going mad.

Out of the costume I was suddenly faced with a new and puzzling dilemma. Boy or girl? Kaira or Justin? I was obviously more comfortable as Kaira, and it wasn’t like I had to keep that part of me secret anymore, but Justin wouldn’t start anymore arguments.

After a short debate I made my call. “Back in the closet you go,” I told the loose t-shirt and cargo shorts and heaped them onto the golden/orange pile tossed carelessly to the floor. There was also a good chance they’d be living down there a good long while.

There was a knock at the door. Without waiting for an answer my Dad walked in, shocked to see me standing there in only a skirt while covering my chest with the nearest jacket I could grab. We stood in stunned silence before I finally managed to air my protest.

“Dad!”

“I, er,” he explained perhaps slightly more articulately than I would have done in his situation. “You know you could have just used the front door, right? You don’t have to… sneak around on me or anything.”

He wasn’t getting the message. Even as I was pushing him out he just wasn’t getting the message. Were all fathers this dim?

“Why are you covering up?” he pressed. “It’s not like you have breasts to hide or anything.”

“Get out!”

The door slammed. Silence fell save the fevered war drum pounding inside me. My skin pulsed and burned with confusion and panic not knowing how to navigate these new and tricky waters in which I was thoroughly overwhelmed. Gods, what was I supposed to do?

“So… I guess I’ll wait for you downstairs then,” he uttered nervously. A few hesitant seconds later I could hear his footsteps on the wooden panels moving progressively further away.

At least he didn’t scream or yell, I thought. That had to be a plus, right? On the other hand he probably wanted to talk and I was completely ill-prepared right that second. Whatever. It was an inevitability I was always going to have to face and in the end it was going to be completely worth it… or at least I hoped it would be.

When I finally made it downstairs to the kitchen he was there waiting for me with a box. “Thin crust pepperoni with extra cheese and a side order of ranch dressing,” he greeted me slyly.

“The very guiltiest of pleasures,” I told him, though I might have appreciated it more if he didn’t stare at me like I was from Mars or something. Scratch that, like something from Venus.

Pizza time was usually a special time in our family usually reserved for when an exploding drama had us licking our wounds. My Mom yelled, he probably heard about it, next thing I know there’s comfort food given as a peace offering and opening the lines of communication once more.

“Mom know about this?” I asked as I pulled free the first slice.

“Nope.”

“Let me guesh,” I muttered as I swallowed the first bite, “you got her those crab cakes she likes from the place that does the fish.”

“Yep.” he nodded knowingly. The truce he’d declared was completely without her knowing.

“So,” I murmured, deciding to push my luck, “does this mean I’m still grounded?”

“Oh yeah,” he chuckled weakly. “No TV, no internet, no going out, but we’ll see what we can do about getting you a suspended sentence with good behavior, okay kiddo?”

He reached to ruffle my hair but something gave him pause. Poor guy, he was trying to be the good cop and act like this whole thing wasn’t a problem, but I guess seeing me like this was always going to bother him at least a little bit.

“So,” he began nervously.

“Dad, I didn’t mean for this to come down on you like this. It was a spur of the moment thing and I just really needed to get it out. Gods, please understand that I’m not doing this to hurt you…”

He looked me up and down and considered the strange young woman with more than a passing resemblance to his only son. “You know from where I’m sitting it doesn’t look like a spur of the moment thing,” he said. “I look at you and I don’t see a guy who just decided to be a woman overnight. You’ve had practice, you know what you’re doing. You’ve really thought about this… am I right?”

I nodded shamefully. There went a good chunk of the speech I’d been preparing for years.

“This is really huge,” he continued. “I mean… how long have you been holding onto this? How long have you known?”

“Since I was around six,” I told him. “All those times wearing Mom’s shoes and her jewelry, but I guess I didn’t know for sure until I was like ten or eleven, sometime around then. I didn’t ever think you’d understand, especially with how Mom is sometimes…”

“Your Mom’s just not used to this kind of thing, I guess. She works in an office, I’m a chemist. Odds are I saw a lot more trannies than she does day in and day out.”

I almost had to laugh. “You know ‘tranny’ is a bad word, right?” Gods, I was such a hypocrite.

He raised a curious eyebrow at me. “It is? How come?”

“Lots of reasons, I guess,” I explained dismissively. “All I know is that a lot of trans people will get really pissed if you call them that.”

“Yeah, I can see that, and every other woman on the planet too.”

We laughed and laughed, then laughed some more. The joke wasn’t that funny, but it was good to break the ice again. Hell, we’d smashed through an entire glacier. There was really progress being made.

“So is that the word I use?” he asked. “’Trans’?”

“As in transgender or transexual,” I told him, “but only tell it to the people who really need to know. I’m trying to keep a low profile at the moment.”

Something crossed his mind that had him frowning thoroughly. “I’m going to have to update my vocab with a long list of PC terminology, aren’t I?”

“Yep.”

“Damn,” he snapped, cursing his slight annoyance before smiling again. It was weird to see him so cool about everything, but I supposed that was just my Dad.

“There’s one thing I have to admit though,” he continued, his mood suddenly solemn. “All of this scares the living daylights out of me. It does feel a bit like I’m losing my son, but… that was never you to begin with, was it?”

There was no answer to that, at least not one that wasn’t too complicated for the moment.

“If I’m being completely honest I’m absolutely terrified for you, kiddo. There are a lot of people out there who aren’t going to understand this. Heck, I don’t understand it, and it’s really hard to just try and be cool about it, you know? But I’m trying for your sake.”

Suddenly I could feel an anchor of guilt weighing down on my chest, as if his confusion was somehow my fault. It was, wasn’t it? Telling myself otherwise was even harder. If only I was different then maybe none of this would have to be so messy, but things were the way they were and there was no changing that.

While my Mom was grieving inside a raging storm of denial my Dad was different. In place of sadness there was a hopeful grin and an eagerness to understand even if it was uncomfortable. At that moment I saw in him something brave and heroic, that spark I’d been trying to live up to this whole time.

“So,” he said finally, “does this mean we get to call you ‘Justine’?”

“Funny, you’re not the first person to ask me that,” I giggled. “Actually I’ve been going with Kaira. K-A-I-R-A.”

“’Kaira’?” he boggled. “Just ‘Kaira’?”

“Actually, Kaira Leigh,” I corrected him. “Kaira Leigh Cade. L-E-I-G-H.”

He mulled it over for a moment. The name tasted odd in his mouth. Too bad, he was going to have to get used to it sooner or later.

“You know before you were born your Mom wanted to call you ‘Caroline’,” he said. “I think she’s going to be disappointed.”

I smiled wide as the moon in the sky. It was like some kind of dream, especially after the years I’d been preparing for rejection. Thank the gods it was all for naught.

Without even thinking I sprung from my seat and wrapped my arms around him. “Thanks, Dad,” I told him and choked down the joyous tears seeping through the cracks.

Easing down he ran his hands down my back. Maybe he realized I wasn’t so different from his son after all.

“Always, kiddo,” he said. “That’s what families are for.”

* * * *

NEXT ISSUE: Taking some time away from her everyday life Glimmer Girl heads off on a camping trip with her teammates in the Young Sentinels. But all is not as it seems in these woods as the teen heroes find themselves face to face with a monster of incredible power! All this in the next issue of Shimmer: “Escape!”

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