Daddy's Girl: Cape High Book Five (18 page)

She would be lying if she said she hadn't wanted to do this at least once, Zoe admits as she floats above the rubble, waiting for Jack to stand up again.  It's been a long time since she hated the man, of course, but she still dislikes the messes he tends to leave behind.  What, with her dad missing for the past few months, she's going to be the one stuck cleaning up the Cape Cells.  She doesn't have TIME to rebuild the Cape Cells!

"You could have called!" she says as he takes to the air again, coming up to face her on that silly surfboard of his.  "I would have gotten them out a lot more discreetly."

"Where's the fun in that?" he asks, grinning shamelessly.

"Seriously, how is Aubrey still married to you?" she demands, rushing forward and slamming a fist into his gut.  It throws him off of his board and sends him flying, but the board chases after him.

"She thinks I'm cute," he replies, catching onto the board and hauling himself back onto it.  The sound of a helicopter heading for them shows that their little brawl has caught the norms' attention.  It's time to play it up, and they both know it.  A tiny nod of the head from Jack has Zoe bringing up one hand in a cheesy pose (one that she blatantly ripped off from his mother.)

"I can't allow you to take them, Cold Steel," she says.  "They're students of Cape High and the future of our world!"  Lie, but only a technical one, she tells herself.  They're the PRESENT of this world, but letting out that the whole time travel thing is real is a step she's not about to take.

"That's why I want them," Jack says, grinning evilly.  Why is he still so good at looking like a no-good punk?  He's thirty f
ive!  He should have outgrown the punk thing a long time-- she stops her inward rant as he rushes her, his steel coming out of his hand to form a lance.  It's like he's mocking her, she thinks as she grabs the lance, twisting and throwing him in the direction of the helicopter.  She hopes it makes for good footage, she thinks as he twists to avoid hitting it and grabs his board.  "Can you imagine what I'd do with an army of capes?" he asks.  "I'd RULE this world!"

The idea of Jack ruling anything has her rolling her eyes.  "I pride myself on being a peaceful woman," she says as he rushes her again.  A twist and a grab send him flying.
It's likely that he's stronger than she is, but she's faster.  Neither of them are going to mention her ability to lock his entire body with a wave of her hand.  That's definitely not photo-op material. "But you see, I will NOT allow anyone to have my precious students.  As far as their sneaking into the Cape Cells, well, that will be dealt with."  She can feel the cameras coming in for a close up and she tilts her head for the best angle.

What?  Just because she's opted out of the photo-op game doesn't mean she's going to do it poorly!

"Excuse me!" the reporter, a brash young woman that's practically hanging out the window.  "Can you tell me your name?  I've never seen you before!"  The pilot tries to say something about interrupting the fight, but she ignores him, intent on this scoop.  "I didn't think there was someone that could take Cold Steel down this easily!"

Well, then, Zoe thinks, perfect opportunity for two things.  Free advertising for the school and a chance for Jack to run.  "My name is Zoe," she says, turning to face the camera head on. 
The wind tugs at her hair, showing the white undercoat in a dramatic fashion.  "I'm the daughter of Technico, and principal of Cape High.  We're currently enrolling new students, for those supers looking for quality education for their children.  All applications are to be sent to the Central Hall, please."

"Wh--what?" the reporter stutters.  "You're a principal?  Why aren't you--you know--saving the world?"

"I am," Zoe says.  "For centuries to come."  Then she drops to the ground dramatically, grabbing Justin and Morgan at the last moment, and taking off.

"You just used that as a commercial," Justin points out, grabbing onto her and looking around.

"Of course I did," she says.  "You should know it--it's not the official school motto, but it's one we live by."

"More photo-op than black-op," both kids say, looking at her with a grin.  She grins back and hugs them both, much to their surprise.

"You two, I haven't seen either of you in MONTHS," she complains.  "Remember this when you grow up, some of us don't have the time to run around the world having fun, we need to live vicariously through the ones that do!"

"Zoe, can you get us back to our own time?" Morgan asks.  "We need to get back.  My dad--he's in the past.  I need to stop him."

"Morgan... even the you of this time couldn't stop your father," she says seriously, quietly.  "You might be an extremely good super, but he's got a lot more practice than you have.  You need to leave this to the adults.  But I can get you home.  It might take me a bit, but I have Dad's blueprints on the watch."

"Thank you," Morgan says.

***

*The Present*

Aubrey watches as the phone is placed on Nico's chest, wondering if this is actually going to work
. Will she need to step in?

All of a sudden Nico's eyes open, glowing brightly as a series of strange commands come from his mouth.  "Rebooting... three... two..."  The eyes stop glowing and Nico sits up, cursing loudly.  "I can't believe I was so STUPID," he snarls, jumping to his feet.  "I'm going to deal with this--"  He stops as Superior steps in front of him, placing both hands on his shoulders.

"Stop," Superior says.  Nico stares at him with a look of loathing and Aubrey suddenly wonders just what their relationship really IS.  Of course she knows they're father and son, but that look isn't very family like.  Well, other than the fact that they look exactly like each other, that is.  There's not even wrinkles on Superior, which doesn't seem very fair.  It's mostly the hair and clothes that distinguish who is who.  There's about to be a family brawl, she realizes.  She takes a step back--only to stop completely as a flash of light makes everyone look up.

Morgan and Justin appear right in the middle of the group, holding onto a watch.  "I--where--did we make it?" Morgan asks, looking around.  Her eyes fall on Aubrey and she breaks into a smile.  "You're still single, right?" she demands, rushing forward to hug her.

"I'm not single!  I've got a boyfriend," Aubrey says, hugging her back tightly.  "Where in the world did you GO?" she demands.  "We were worried out of our minds!"

***

Mastermental catches the eyes of the children first.  They look up from the zoo animals and stare at him in wonder.  He knows that the chances of them seeing him in real life are slim to none, so he lands and heads to one of the younger ones, crouching down in front of her.  "Hello, my dear," he says.

Very seriously, the five year old girl holds out her hand.  Mastermental shakes it, letting a slight smile pull on his lips.  "Hi," the girl says, flushing brightly.  "You're Mastermental."  It wasn't a question, it was a statement of fact, one that makes him smile in earnest.

"I am," he agrees.  "And you're Kimi," he says.  "It's very nice to meet you, Kimi."

Her eyes widen in surprise as he stands, patting her head and nodding to her mother.  "Ma'am," he says, shaking her hand as well.  He turns, looking around at the crowd that now surrounds him, casually scanning them all.  "May I ask," he says, silencing them immediately, "if there are any areas of the zoo that aren't in use at the moment?  I'm looking for someplace quiet, off of the main area."

"There's the creepy building," a kid says.  "They're redoing it soon, but it's still there.  It's that way," he adds, pointing behind Double M.

"Thank you, Sammy," Double M says.  Names are easy and not that intrusive.  With kids, mainly, it'll just leave them excited for weeks that he knew what they were.  Besides, reading a child's mind is so simple that even norms can do it half the time.  He
forgets about the little trick easily and starts down the path that the boy had pointed out, his mind open for anything.  Mimic could still be here.

The sound of sniffling catches his ears and he heads for it, stepping into a half formed concrete room.  The little time traveler sits there on a rock, hugging herself.  She looks up at him, and he can see that she's been crying.  "He--he trapped me here," she says, pulling her leg forward and showing a
metal cuff on her ankle.  It's bolted her to the ground.  "I can't get free."

"I see," Double M says, crossing over to the lock and undoing it.  "Why didn't you call for help?" he asks as he frees her ankle.

"I didn't know when he would show up again--I don't want norms killed because of this," she says.

"Still," he says.  "They could have called us."

"I--I didn't think of that," she admits, looking down.  "I'm cold.  I just want to go back to the dorm."

"Of course," he says.  "Should we stop at the Hall first?  Have the doctors look you over?"

"No--I'm fine," she says.  "I just--I just want to be somewhere familiar."

"Then we'll take you there," he says.  He can't help but wonder if there's something wrong with this picture... he looks around.  "Do you know where he went?"

"I don't," she admits.  "But he's got my watch--he could be anywhere... or when, right?"

"Right," he says quietly, looking at her for a long moment.  He opens his mind, glancing at her thoughts just in case.  She seems normal enough.  He doesn't feel right prying too deeply, because knowing the future is dangerous.  "Let's get you back to the dorm, then."

***

"I'm not supposed to tell!" I say, bursting out in laughter at the sight of the entire group surrounding me with begging expressions.  "I swear, no matter how many puppy dog eyes I get, I won't tell you who wins the super bowl next year!  I don't even know!"

"Where DID you go in the future, then?" Vinny asks.  He's sitting on the chair across from me, looking as if the entire world hasn't even blinked at our absence.  I'd been right, I'm positive.  Vinny took over and ran the group in my place--you can tell by the way that Carla isn't sobbing or screaming about something he did wrong.  Instead she's leaning into my side with her arms wrapped around my waist as if afraid I'll disappear again.  I reach up, patting her hair.

"We went pretty far into the future," Justin answers.  For once he's in the middle of the group--in fact the group seems strange to me for a moment until I realize what's going on.  The apartment kids are scattered
among the group.  I think it's strategic, by the way that Max is sitting on the arm of the couch I'm sitting on.  My eyes fall on Zoe, who's sitting on the ground in front of him.

I want to get to know her better.  I mean, I think she'd be an awesome friend to have, from what I saw in the future.  I never thought that way about the others--well, other than Adanna.  I'd like to get to know Adanna better, too, but I usually shove that thought to the back of my mind because I'm
too busy dealing with my group to think of making friends that... that don't rely on me to lead them.

"What happened?" Lance asks.  "Did you meet yourselves or something?"

"Not ourselves," I say, still looking at Zoe.  She seems to clue in, her eyes widening.

"You met me?" she asks.  "What was I doing?"

"We can't tell," Justin says, repeating something we've both said several times.  "But it was pretty cool," he adds, pulling out his phone and holding it so no one else can see.  Almost instantly everyone swarmed over to look, both zoo kids and apartment kids--Max gets there first.

"Oh, man--" he says, then blinks.  "It disappeared," he complains.  "Why did it disappear?"

"I don't know," Justin says, tapping on his phone several times.  "They all disappeared.  Man, this sucks!"

"Because it hasn't happened in this time."  We all look up as Mastermental steps through the front door, followed by Noelle.  I frown at the sight of her and get up, rushing forward.

"Noelle!  Are you okay?" I demand.  She's shivering so I wrap my arms around her.

"I--I should be asking you that," she says through slightly chattering teeth.  "Flying is cold."

"I'm sorry, dear, I didn't realize your basic skills haven't set in yet," Mastermental says, patting her on the back.  "She needs warmed up, can someone make her a hot drink?" he asks the group.

"I'll do it," Vinny says, hopping to his feet and running for the kitchen.  I frown at the sight.  Vinny doesn't usually run for anyone... you don't think--

"Now I should really find out what's happened with Nico," Mastermental says.

"He's fine," Aubrey says.  "He rebooted himself and he and Superior left as soon as Justin and Morgan came back from the future.  They're looking for Mimic."

I blink, wondering why a strange expression crosses Noelle's face at that statement.  She frowns slightly, but it's gone in a second so I think I might have imagined it.  "From the future?" Mastermental asks me.  I nod.  "I see," he says.  "Banshee, may I borrow your office?"

"Of course," Banshee says.  "It's down the hall and to the left," she adds, pointing.  He nods and motions for Justin and me to follow him.  I glance at Justin, certain we're thinking the same thing.  We're about to have our memories erased.  I reach up, grabbing my naked wrist and following.  There's one thing I don't want to forget.  I wonder if Mastermental will allow it.