Daddy's Girl: Cape High Book Five (2 page)

"Thanks, Morgan!" she says, intent on the screen as she starts watching the interviews.  I head for my bed, fixing the stuffed animals she's messed up before dropping down on it.

"That's a lot of toys," Noelle says.

I look at the small pile, wondering if I should explain.  It's not any of her business, right?  "I like them," I say simply, picking up a stuffed black cat and looking at it for a long moment.  It reminds me of Adanna.  A knock on the door makes me glance up, watching as Justin steps in.

"We need to talk," he says.

"About what?"

"About Ward."

I feel a headache coming on.  I knew this was coming, I mean, you'd have to be blind not to, but really, does it have to be now?  "Not in here," I say as I get to my feet.

"Ward didn't do anything bad!" Carla says, jerking away from the laptop to glower at Justin.  "He was trying to help me!"

"Not now, Carla," Justin says.

"You can't say that to me--you're an outsider!  You've got no right to--"

"Carla," I say.  "Stop."

I'm sixteen years old.  Did I mention that?  I'm only sixteen years old, but I'm the leader of this group of super-powered, trouble ridden teenagers that have more issues than I can count.  Sometimes I think a laptop isn't nearly enough pay for this job.  I head out the door and down the hall to Justin's room, waiting impatiently for him to invite me in.

He opens the door, motioning me in and closing it behind him.  "Look," he says slowly, "I didn't want to bring this up, but it's gotten out of hand, Morgan."

"Since when did you care?" I ask.  "I thought you were trying to get kicked out."

"I was," he says bluntly.  "I've got more important things to do than jumping through hoops to make Nico happy.  But I've got to live here, just like the rest of you, and I'm starting to think I'm the only one that's actually paying attention to what's going on.  Ward isn't stable, Morgan--"

"NONE of us are stable, Justin," I say, something finally giving inside of me.  "Not a single one of us is stable in this group.  All of us have something that sends us over the edge or takes us back to the zoo!  But you don't get it because you weren't there!  It was just us in there, for months, maybe years for the ones like Ward and Aubrey.  So don't go judging--"

"I don't want to judge, I just want to not have to worry about waking up to find Vinny killed by accident," Justin says bluntly.

"He wouldn't do that!"

"Or the dorms burnt down," Justin goes on.  "Vinny's got that lighter with him everwhere he goes."

"Nico says when he's older he won't need it," I have to point out.

"That's so reassuring," Justin drawls.  "Look, you can only do so much, Morgan.  You need to bring in someone from the outside--and I'm not talking Banshee.  You need to bring in a psychologist."

"An adult," I say.

"Yeah, an adult.  Banshee tries, I've seen it, but Banshee doesn't know half of the things that happen around here.  Look, I'm sure there's some cape somewhere that's got training for this--or maybe one of the black coats--"

"Where do you get off telling me how to run my group?" I demand, stepping forward and staring him straight in the eyes.  "You have nothing to do with this!"

"I live here, too, Morgan!  And until I learn to control my abilities, they aren't going to let me leave.  That means if your group winds up killing themselves, I'll go down with them, understand?" he says.  "I've tried ignoring it, it doesn't work.  And if you don't want to go to the adults about this, I will."

"You have no right!"

"I have every right," he says as his door is burst down.  Ward comes in, towering over us all and heading straight for Justin.

"You don't yell at Morgan!" Ward snarls.

"THAT WASN'T YELLING!" Justin bellows so loudly that the building starts to shake and Ward goes slamming backwards, out of the room and through the wall of the hallway.  Justin follows him, staring through the hole at the large boy that's starting to sit up on the ground floor below.  This is getting ugly, quickly.  I shove past Justin and jump through the hole, landing on the ground next to Ward.  I press my hand against his forehead.

Ward starts to shrink, turning into the small fourteen year old boy that he really is.  I start to grow, soon towering over everything in the room.  "Enough!" I bellow.  "Do you hear me?  I said it's enough!  Everyone in the main room, right this instant!  Including you, Justin."

I hear doors opening throughout the dorms and the entire group filters into the room reluctantly, even the ones that try to avoid crowds.  I do a quick headcount before speaking.  "I'm sick and tired of all the fighting.  So I'm going to implement a new rule."

"It's Justin's fault!" Ward says angrily.

"Ward," I say.  "I'm not finished talking."

"But--"

"Let me finish talking," I say.  "There will be no use of powers against each other.  None.  If you use your powers to harm someone else in the dorms or the school, I'll take those powers away."

"What about during sparring?" Lance asks.

"In class, sure, out of class, I don't think so," I say.  How much water is this going to hold?  I can only take one power at a time and that's only for fifteen minutes!  They know that!  But I have nothing else to threaten them with--

The sound of clapping makes me glance up, watching as Banshee walks in.  She's clapping?  "Very nice idea," she says, making me feel a bit stunned.  "I'll get Nico to build a few toys to help enforce it."

"Banshee," I say, shrinking abruptly.  "This--um--" I glance at the hole above my head, feeling guilty.  "We ah... had a little disagreement, but nobody got seriously hurt or anything--"

"I heard we've got a new tenant," she says, looking around.  "You?" she adds as she sees Noelle.  Noelle is pale as paper and staring up at the hole.  She barely glances at Banshee before nodding silently.  "I've never met a time traveler before.  This should be interesting."

"I don't think it's enough," Justin says, making me glance over at him.  "Banshee, they need a psychologist."

The cry of outrage that comes with that is almost deafening.  I reach up and stick my fingers in my ears to wait it out.  Banshee lifts one hand after a second, gaining silence.  "I think," she says after a moment, "that that might be a bit too much for the group to handle--having a norm come in here is probably a bad idea--BUT," she goes on before he can reply, "America's Son is a preacher.  That means he's got some training for this sort of thing, I think."

The group goes silent, looking at each other.  I have to speak up, I think.  I'm the leader--

"I... I'd talk to America's Son," Carla says quietly.  "He's my favorite super hero."

"We don't need to talk to anyone," Lance says.  "He won't understand."

"Lance, no one will until you tell them," Banshee says.  "But I won't expect you to trust him straight off--I know most of you don't trust me yet, either.  I just thought you'd like to meet one of the most famous capes in the area--you do want to meet him, don't you?"

That has the group nodding and starting to get excited.  I glance over at Ward, taking in his dark expression, then over at Vinny, who's been surprisingly quiet through this--oh, he's still watching TV.  Yeah, that explains it.  He probably doesn't even care.  Of the entire group, Vinny seems the least traumatized by what happened to us.

Thing is, though, I'm not sure I want to talk to America's Son, myself.  America's Son's been around for a while, right?  He's been an acting cape since before I was born.  That means there's a chance that if I talk with him for too long he might figure some things out.  Like where, exactly, I got my abilities from.  I've been avoiding Mastermental for that exact same reason.

The last thing I need is for them to find out who I really am.

"You don't seem very happy."  It's lights out time, which is usually a pretty peaceful time for me since I've finished up making sure everyone else has turned their lights out and all that, but now I'm stuck sharing a room.  Joy.

"It's lights out," I say as I pull my sheets up and close my eyes.  "That means no talking."

"You surprised me," she says.  "You know, growing huge like that.  I didn't realize you had that sort of power."

"I don't," I say, staring at the ceiling.  "Ward does."

"What?"

"I steal peoples' powers," I tell her with a sigh.  "Whoever's in touching distance I can steal their main power for fifteen minutes.  By myself I've just got the basics of the basics.  I'm practically a norm."

"You... wow," she says.  "How is it that I've never heard of you?" she demands.

"I don't know," I say.  "Maybe I do grow up to do what Banshee was planning for me."  Or maybe I wind up like--No, I'm not even going to think that.  I'm going to wind up doing what Banshee came up with, finding more poor kids with abilities and nowhere to go. 

"What's that?" she asks.

"I'm going to go out into the norm world and find kids with new abilities," I say.  "Probably be a substitute teacher or something
, so I can go from school to school.  That way when I find a new cape I can talk with their parents and get them sent here."

"Oh... so you're an undercover cape," she says.  "That makes a lot of sense, actually.  Is it because you're a first gen, yourself?" she asks.

"I--"

"I mean, it was probably a real shock, you know, the first time it happened, right?  You didn't expect it--"

"I did expect it," I hear myself mutter.  "I just didn't like it.  Now go to sleep, Noelle."  I roll over, turning my back to her as I silently curse myself for admitting what I just did.

"Wait--what?  How did you expect it?" she demands.  I say nothing.  "Morgan?  How did you expect it?  Are you a second gen or something?"

I just lay there, staring blindly at the wall and waiting for her to give up.  I should have kept my mouth shut.

***

It's Sunday, which means Ken spent the morning preaching at his church, but as soon as the family gets out he looks at his sons.  "We're going to your school today," he says as they pile into the car.

"Oh?" Jeanie asks as she snaps her seatbelt into place.  "What's going on?"

"Banshee asked me for a favor last night. I thought it'd be a good day to start," Ken says.  "I need to talk with the zoo kids.  It seems they're having a few... problems adjusting to life outside of the zoo."

"I shouldn't come," Jack says, tapping on his cell phone.  "Morgan hates me."

"I doubt she hates you--" Jeanie starts out.

"Nope, she hates him," Trent says.  "She thinks he's not good enough for Aubrey."

"She just needs to get to know you better," Jeanie says, smiling back at Jack.  Jack just stares at her blandly before looking at Trent.

"What do you think?" he asks the other male.

"Not a chance in hell," Trent says.

"Yep, that was what I figured," Jack says.

"Trent!  That wasn't very nice!" Jeanie protests.  "Jack don't listen to him, you're a perfectly fine boyfriend for Aubrey--"

"Well, either way, I would like all of you to come with me," Ken says, reaching up with his free hand to tug his tie off as they pull to a stop at a stoplight.  "From what Banshee's told me they need to start getting used to people other than their own little group.  And from the hole in the wall she told me about, I think it would be best that those people be... capable of dealing with temper tantrums."

"It was Justin, wasn't it," Jack says.

"Regardless of who it was," Ken says.

"It was absolutely Justin," Trent agrees.  "He hates you, too," he adds, patting Jack on the shoulder.

"Hands off when making fun of me, man," Jack mutters, shoving Trent's hand off.  Soon they're wrestling in the back seat like little kids, except the car is threatening to roll with it.

"Boys!" Jeanie says.  "Behave yourselves or I'm not giving second servings at lunch!"

The fighting stops, but the two keep glaring at each other, and as soon as Jeanie looks forward again, someone shoves the other.  When she looks back again, though, they look perfectly innocent.

"Are you certain these two are the two we should take?" Jeanie asks Ken.

"They'll be fine," Ken says as he pulls into the parking
lot of the apartment building.  "Now, what was that about lunch?" he asks Jeanie.

"Weren't we going to school?" Jack asks.

"After lunch," Ken says.  "I'm starving."

***

"Has anyone seen Lance?" I demand at the top of the stairs.  I've searched half the building and the boy is nowhere to be found.  It doesn't help that his ability is animal shape shifting.  Honestly he could be hiding in plain sight outside and I'd have no clue.  Getting him to show up for this little session with America's Son is like trying to pull teeth with a pair of tweezers.

"He's gone," Carla says.  "He said he'd rather jump off a cliff."

I groan, giving up on him for now.  "Vinny!  Is lunch ready?"

"Are they going to expect us to feed them?" he demands as he leans out the kitchen door.  "Because I've seen Trent and Jack eat at lunch, I don't think we got enough food in the kitchen for those two!"

"Not if we eat before they get here," I tell him.  "So hurry up--it's fine if it's just sandwiches and chips, okay?"

"Sandwiches," he repeats.  "Fine, I'll make sandwiches."

That look on his face--it's not like I asked him to serve a ten course meal!  Sheesh, getting offended over something like sandwiches, for crying out loud--

"I don't have to come, do I?" Noelle asks.  "I'd rather not.  I'm perfectly fine without talking about my issues."

"You can stay in the dorm room," I say, feeling a headache coming on.  I just wish I could stay in the dorm room, too.  Even if it would mean being grilled by Noelle.  Being grilled by America's Son is so much worse--and way more dangerous.  Sadly, I don't think I've got a choice.  If I don't willingly talk with him, chances are good that most of the others won't, either.  And as much as Justin irritates me sometimes, he's right.  They do need to talk with someone.

"Sandwiches are made," Vinny calls
a bit later.  The group heads into the dining area and start filling their plates.

"Good job," I tell him as I walk past.

"Thanks," he mutters.  "Hey, do I have to talk with him?" he asks more quietly.  "I don't have much to talk about--"

"We all need to talk to him," I tell him.  "Otherwise the younger ones that really need to talk won't talk, get it?" I say.  "A lot of the younger ones look up to you, Vin."

He snorts, clearly not believing that.  I don't know what else to say, so I grab a plate and get in line, grabbing a sandwich and heading for the main area to grab a seat before the couches are filled.  Banshee is sitting on the couch, eating her own sandwich, which means nobody else is, so I sit down next to her.

"So, are you ready for this?" she asks.

"Not at all," I admit, watching the other kids and feeling downright grim.  "Banshee... if..." I stop, trying to figure out how to put this.  "Never mind."

"You seem worried," she says.  "I really doubt America's Son will beat you over the head with the bible, preacher or not."

I hadn't even thought of that.  Actually... maybe if he's the type to do that he won't even notice who my powers resemble!  I'd way rather be lectured about things than be looked at as--well, I'd rather be lectured.  "Yeah," I say a bit belatedly.  "Probably not."

I pick at my sandwich, lost in thought and wondering if everything is about to blow up in my face.  I almost don't hear the knock on the door, but everyone else does.  Banshee stands and heads for the door, leaving me sitting on the couch all alone.  She comes back a second later, leading a family, including Jack.

My worries about America's Son figuring me out go out the window.  "What's he doing here?" I demand, pointing at Jack.  "I'm definitely not talking with him in the room!"

"Nice to see you, too," the metallic teen mutters, giving me a dark look and crossing his arms over his chest.  "Aubrey's doing fine by the way," he adds in a taunt.

"Actually, she is," Trent says, walking over and dropping down in front of my couch.  "She and Emily have gone to the zoo with Liz--er, the real zoo, not--well, you know."

"She went to the zoo?" I ask, feeling a bit worried.  "Is that smart?"

"It was her idea," Jack says.  "She wants to see how it goes before she talks Nico into bringing this group there for a field trip."

I hate that he knows more about my best friend than I do.  But--I stare at him blankly.  "Why would we want to go to the zoo?" I ask.

"I dunno, ask her," he says, dropping down on the ground next to Trent.  The couch is empty except for me, but they're both sitting on the floor.  What in the heck are they thinking?

"You know--couches are for sitting on," I point out.

"They always feel like they're going to break," Trent says, flushing slightly.  I stare at him blankly, then reach forward and touch the back of his head.  I look at my hand curiously.  Nothing seems to have happened.  I feel perfectly normal.  "What's your ability?" I finally ask.  "Cuz nothing happened."

"He's a tank," the large blonde man in a t-shirt and jeans says--that's America's Son?  I was so busy complaining about Jack that I'd just assumed they came with America's Son, but this guy's wearing a t-shirt that has Liberty Kid scrawled across the front.  That's Trent's cape name, which means he's wearing his son's t-shirt?  But if--nope, going to stop right now, I'm confusing myself again.  "It's good to meet you, Morgan," he goes on, reaching out and shaking my hand as if he doesn't know what it's going to do.

"You shouldn't touch--" I start out, but again, nothing really happens.  I don't change form, don't feel any different--

"Try picking up the couch," Jack says with a grin.  He's actually enjoying this?  He should know that if I'm now a tank I could totally kick his butt!  But--well--he's got a good point, I think as I get to my feet and grab one end of the couch.  It's like lifting a piece of paper, I realize as I have to brace myself to keep from accidentally throwing it.

"Wow," I say, using one hand.  I look at Jack, grinning evilly.  "I could totally kick your butt right now."

"Won't work," he says.

"He's right, it won't," Trent says.  "But we can still see what happens!"  He gets to his feet, only to stop as America's Son looks at him.

"Fifteen minutes into it and she'll be seriously hurt," America's Son says.  "If what I've been told is correct?" he asks me.

"I can totally beat him in fifteen minutes!" I declare rashly.  I mean, I've still got the couch held over my head, it weighs nothing!  I'm a walking tank--

"No you couldn't," all three males say.

"I could!"

Jack snorts.  He actually SNORTS.  Like I'm asking for something ridiculous-- "You really think it'd make Aubrey happy if I accidentally hurt you?  Now any of the others, sure, but she'd dump me for sure if it's you.  Besides, don't you need to talk with... Dad?" he asks.  He seems to trip over the word "dad" as if he's unfamiliar with it.

I put the couch down so I can glare at Jack for a moment.  "I don't need to be first--"

"I would rather you were," America's Son says.  It's pretty obvious by now that that's who the blonde guy is, regardless of his shirt choice.  "If there's a room we can go to?" he asks Banshee.

"I've got an office at the end of that hall," Banshee says.  "Feel free to use that."

"Thanks, Banshee," he says.  "Jeanie, honey, I'm going to get started."

"Okay!  I'll spend some time with the kids, then!  Does anyone want chocolate?"

I look at the kids, nodding at them as they look to me.  It's not like Star Spangled is going to poison them.  I practically jump, though, when America's Son drops a hand on my shoulder.  "It's this way, right?" he asks, starting forward.  I have no choice but to walk with him, even though I should have his invincibility right now.  He doesn't seem
to feel vulnerable or worried at all by that fact.

Who is this guy?  No, really, he's a full grown super that's practically invulnerable, a walking tank, and he's been deprived of everything that makes him that way--but he hasn't even winced away from touching me again.  We head into the office and he looks at the chairs before heading behind the desk.  He doesn't sit down behind the desk, though, he just pulls Banshee's desk chair around the desk and turns the other chair so they're facing each other.  Then he drops down
in the chair that had been meant for me.

"Shouldn't you take the desk chair?" I ask.

"Think so?" he says curiously.  "I thought you'd want to do the questioning this time."