Carrie Vaughn - Dreams of the Golden Age

Paulson sighed then, scratching his head and wincing like he had a problem he didn’t know what to do with. “Get in,” he said, opening the back door and guiding her inside, hand on the back of her head. She couldn’t even come up with a snappy one-liner to throw at him.

He closed the door on her and walked off to confer with the other officers. She perched on the seat, trying not to squish her cuffed hands, and sighed. This was bad. It was a disaster. But it looked like she would survive it without imploding. She just had to wait for it all to be over. The minutes dragged.

Finally, he hiked back to the car, and she perked up, donning her gritty persona. The glaring one.

He opened the back door and leaned on it, opposite hand on his hip, just studying her. He seemed tired.

“What exactly is it you kids think you’re doing? Besides messing up entire blocks of already broken-down neighborhoods?”

On reflection, that was a really good question. “Save the world” seemed a bit grandiose. “Petty competition between rivals” was probably closer to the mark, but also not quite right.

She leaned back to catch his gaze and said, “Are you working with Celia West to track us down?”

Paulson hesitated, appearing to think for a long time, looking out at the street, then the sky, then her. “We’re keeping an eye on you, to keep you from getting hurt. That’s all.”

The shame and dread from the arrest faded, shoved aside by anger and a vague embarrassment. Here was confirmation. All this time, they thought they were being clever, sneaking around, successfully hiding their identities, and if not doing good, at least doing something. But Mom knew everything and was letting them do it. Indulging them.

She slumped back against the seat, not caring about her squished hands, and let out a deflated breath.

Paulson added, “I’m playing along, but I’m not happy about it. You all should be safe at home, not running around pretending like you’re some kind of junior Olympiad. And I’ve told that to Celia.”

“Then why do you go along with her?”

He said, “Just in case I’m wrong and she’s right.”

Gently, he took her arm and helped her back out of the car. Unlocked the cuffs and let her hands fall to her sides.

“You’re not arresting me?”

“No. Not this time. But you kids—you people need to be more careful, okay? Just … be careful.”

When she met his gaze this time, he seemed worried. Maybe even scared. A whole other story lay behind the one she thought she was in, Anna realized. Her father would know. Her father so desperately wanted her to talk to him. Maybe she should. If she told him her secret, maybe he would explain everything, like opening a book. Reading secrets in someone’s mind must not have been anything like hearing someone say the words.

Captain Paulson left her standing on the sidewalk, got back in the car, drove off. Just like that.

By then, the patrol cars had packed up their suspects and driven off, leaving her alone in the dark, looking around, waiting for something else to happen, but nothing did. They’d put up a portable plastic barricade and strung yellow police tape around the wreck of the SUV. The sound of water trickled along the gutters as the ice slick melted.

She jogged up a few blocks until she reached the main block where the late bus still ran, where she pulled off her mask and acted like a normal person until she got home. She kept thinking Teddy would circle back around to try to find her. But no, their trajectories carried them in straight lines, away. She could have called Teddy, she supposed, but she didn’t feel like waiting for him.

An hour or so after the whole thing went down, Teddy texted her: “UOK?”

She texted back “FU” and switched her phone off.

She was done with this whole vigilante crap.

On the ride to school the next morning, Bethy stared at Anna the whole time. Studying her, until Anna finally rounded on her. “What?”

“You look like one of the kids in the antidrug commercials.”

Was it the shadows under her eyes? The gauntness because she hadn’t been eating well? Or the surly glare?

When Anna didn’t say anything, Bethy went on. “Is that what it is? You don’t have superpowers, you’re doing drugs?”

Anna managed to keep from snarling in reply. “I am not doing drugs.”

“Then it’s superpowers.”

Anna didn’t say anything, and Bethy narrowed her gaze, as if all she had to do was stare at Anna long enough and the truth would emerge.

“What am I thinking?” Bethy asked.

“What? I don’t know. Probably that I’m a jerk and a terrible human being.”

She frowned as if disappointed. “No, that’s not it. I was thinking of the Pythagorean theorem. Just checking to see if you’ve got Dad’s telepathy.”

“I didn’t get Dad’s telepathy.”

“Well, yeah, I can see that now. But what did you get?”

Again, Anna couldn’t think of what to say. She was slightly in awe and slightly scared of her little sister. Bethy’s lips turned up in a victorious smile.

“There’s nothing,” Anna said preemptively. “Absolutely nothing.”

“Yeah, right.” Bethy turned away, disgusted.

Tom was driving, and Anna caught him glancing at them in the rearview mirror. She wanted to yell at him, too, to mind his own business and stop looking like he felt sorry for her. But staying angry was taking too much energy as it was.

Teddy texted a dozen more times and tried calling; she ignored him. She didn’t want to see Teddy, or even Teia, though Teia would be interested to hear about her conversation with Paulson. The cops really were babysitting them.

Her power meant that even though she could tell Teddy was ranging the halls looking for her, she could stay out of his way. Teia and the others were parked at their usual spot on the front stairs, and Anna decided to share her discovery.

“You were right,” Anna said. “The cops are keeping an eye on us.”

Teia didn’t look at all surprised. “How? How did they know where to find us?”

“My mother knows everything. My dad probably told her. I don’t know exactly how, but she’s a crazy control freak and she couldn’t let this alone.”

“Then why? I mean, why not just arrest us? And how did they know where to find us? You don’t think your mom told my mom, did she?”

Anna’s frustration got the better of her. “I’m sure she did. It’s obvious, it’s like training wheels, they think we’re too young and stupid to do this on our own, and they’re probably right. We’re not real superheroes, we never were, this is all just some kids’ game in the park.”

Teia was a wall, no reaction except a twist of her lips. Anna wasn’t even sure the other girl heard her.

“Does that mean you’re quitting?” Teia asked finally. Like this was a game, like there could even be a winner.

“There’s nothing to quit!” Anna said. “I never did anything!”

She wanted Teia to admit she was right, but Teia would never do that. She just glared, another person feeling sorry for Anna.

Then Teddy was coming out the front door, and Anna stomped around the corner and to a side entrance so she wouldn’t have to look at him. So much for prom. So much for everything.

CELIAread the screaming headline on the Rooftop Watch website: “Five-Hero Smashup in Hell’s Alley!” with a subheader: “Trinity and Espionage Team Up?” The only picture the site had been able to get showed the aftermath, a soaking-wet street and a smashed SUV, reminiscent of the old days when Typhoon patrolled regularly. An “unnamed police source” revealed details, naming who’d been involved in stopping the high-speed car chase. Whether by chance or design, all of Commerce City’s newest heroes had come together, then scattered before police could stop them for questioning, or before any reporters could get pictures or interviews. All in all, a classic superhuman outing.