Dreams Of The Golden Age Part 16

"Anna! Don't walk off on me like that-"

Anna was too angry-not at Teia, not at all-to do anything but walk away.

THIRTEEN.

MARK Paulson's drawling snark greeted Celia when she answered the phone. "And who is Espionage?"

"h.e.l.lo, Mark, how are you today?"

The hardest thing was trying to sound chipper when she felt like s.h.i.t. She was in bed in her and Arthur's own room pretending to have the flu after her first chemo treatment. She thought she'd have a grace period before it knocked her out. Not a chance. She felt the burn of the chemical in her veins. She wanted to sleep until it went away. But Mark called, and she couldn't ignore him.

"Ready to hear what I have to say?"

She wasn't. She knew what he was going to say, but she could pretend it wasn't true. Right up until he said the words. "Yeah, go ahead," she said with a sigh.

"My people spotted them in a coffee shop. Theodore Donaldson and Anna West-Mentis. They looked like they were doing homework. Then the Eye produces this secret evidence the very next day. They're Espionage, aren't they?"

Celia almost admired the elegance of the secret ident.i.ty, of the clever use of a pa.s.sive power like Teddy Donaldson's. She still hadn't been able to figure out exactly what Anna was doing. Maybe she just wanted to be a vigilante, powers or no. Wouldn't have been the first time that had happened in Commerce City.

"Teddy can turn invisible and walk through walls. Of course they are."

A pause, and then the real question. "What can Anna do?"

"I don't know."

"You're her mother."

"Which means I'm going to be the last person to find out." She stopped, counted to ten, and rubbed the ache from her head. "We're having some family drama over Anna at the moment. I appreciate you keeping an eye on her."

"Sorry to hear it," but he didn't sound sorry. "Celia, I know you want to let the kids stretch their wings, but I'm worried. Them going after a guy like Roland-that's awfully big quarry. My instincts say they're right, that he's rotten as month-old fish. But they can't prove it with petty larceny and hope. I know I can't completely stop vigilante activity-this is Commerce City, it's the local sport. When they stop robberies or rescue kittens from trees, that's one thing. But this is something else entirely. Breaking and entering, no warrants-we can't use any of this evidence in court because of the way Espionage is getting it. We need to steer these kids in another direction."

"Put yourself in their shoes: Your superpower is turning invisible, you're not going to be taking down any g.a.n.g.b.a.n.gers with that, so what do you do?"

"Breaking into a judge's house and going through his things is not the answer."

"Even if the judge is corrupt?"

"We can't legally prove it," Mark grumbled.

Spoken like a true servant of the criminal justice system, but Celia didn't poke him with that because Mark was a good cop, and he was putting himself out there by even talking to her about this. Especially because he was right-she didn't want Anna ending up in jail for breaking and entering. So, how to point them in a productive, noncriminal direction? She'd have to think about that.

"Have you heard from a.n.a.lise lately?"

"She calls me when her kids leave the house. They're going out about three times a week, and we're usually able to find them when they do. They haven't gotten into too much trouble. Yet."

"Oh, give them time."

"I'm afraid they're enjoying all this a little too much."

Celia had to smile at that. Ah, to be young and superpowered in Commerce City. "Wait until finals week, that'll slow them down."

He chuckled. "Whatever you say. And Celia-get some rest, you sound like you might be coming down with something."

Down and hitting bottom. "I might be. Thanks for the concern."

Celia wouldn't be able to keep doing these lunches. Her appet.i.te was failing, so she sipped water and nibbled at her salad and hoped a.n.a.lise didn't notice she was off. Not that a.n.a.lise would notice, because she was picking at her own salad and looking pensive. They'd hardly chatted at all, and nothing about their usual topics. The weight sitting over them was too heavy to ignore.

"You okay?" Celia finally prompted, which was terribly ironic, she thought.

"It's killing me," her friend said, setting down her fork. "I can't stand it. I stay up all night worrying about them, and then having to pretend like nothing's wrong, that I don't know what's going on. All I can do is tell Mark they're out there and hope he can look after them."

The kids had a route they used to sneak out, to the roof of their building and then down the fire escape the next building over. a.n.a.lise knew about it but didn't try to stop them, just like Anna and the escape elevator. When Mark knew that the Trinity was active, he sent a patrol to watch them. Then Mark called back when the kids were on the way home. They didn't always have a confrontation or adventure-sometimes they patrolled and nothing came of it. But he always let a.n.a.lise and Celia know what had happened, so they no longer had to be surprised by the morning news. Yes, it was nerve-racking, but less so than it might have been.

"I've been out there," a.n.a.lise continued. "I know how bad it can get, but when I think about Teia and Lew in the middle of that..."

"How old were you when you started?" Celia asked.

"Seventeen," a.n.a.lise said.

"Did your parents ever figure it out?"

"My dad was dead by then, and Mom ... she wasn't around much. Not physically, not emotionally. Half the reason I started going out was to get away from that. To prove to myself I wasn't like that."

"It worked, I'm thinking."

"I've tried to be a better mother to my kids, I've tried to do right by them-"

"You have. They're good kids. They're doing good. You knew if they had powers they were going to go out sooner or later."

"I wish it had been later. I'll be wishing that when they're thirty. a.s.suming they last that long."

"They will," Celia said, quickly, rea.s.suringly. "I mean, look at the Block Busters, how long have they been at this?"

"Any sign of a Block Buster the Third coming along?"

She smiled. "I've got my eye on him." Junior had two small children, a girl and a boy. No signs of powers yet.

"That's the way to do it, go out as a team and keep your eye on the kids."

It wasn't just fear for her kids tying a.n.a.lise up in knots. She had a large dose of regret in there, too. A sense of failure. So much history contained in the lines of worry on her face. Her kids were out there alone because she couldn't help them, and she felt like she'd failed them, Celia realized.

Celia decided to risk it. She pushed her gla.s.s of water across the table, to put it in front of a.n.a.lise, who stared at it like it might bite her.

"Have you even tried?" Celia asked.

a.n.a.lise pushed the gla.s.s away. "It's like a muscle. If you don't use it, it goes away."

Celia didn't believe that. "What would happen if you told them who you were?"

"I don't think they'd believe me. I can't even prove it anymore. You think I should tell them?"

"I think if you did, they might open up to you." And she should probably take her own d.a.m.n advice, shouldn't she?

"No, I think they're having too much fun playing secret superhero. And I'm just their mother. What about Anna and Bethy? They tell you anything?"

"Not a word. Not that I can blame them."

a.n.a.lise grinned. "They probably know you're keeping plenty of secrets up your own sleeve, Celia West."

Celia's smile was thin.

FOURTEEN.

ANNA spent way too much time on Rooftop Watch searching through shadowy cell phone pictures of purported superhuman sightings looking for news of Espionage-and the compet.i.tion. Scattered among the usual posts were dozens of claims from people who'd seen the ghost of Captain Olympus pulling a small child from the street before said child got creamed by a car. Or alternatively that the ghost of Captain Olympus had been guiding the hand of the normal person who really grabbed the kid from the street. A whole miniature cult of people believed that her grandfather had been transformed into some divinely anointed guardian angel. She showed one of the articles to her mother once. Celia had smirked at it and observed that yes, she had seen the stories. When Anna asked her what she thought of it, Celia wouldn't answer directly. "Doesn't matter what I think. Never did," she'd said.

Anna wished she could have known him. She'd read so much about him. Her grandmother only ever said that she missed him, Dad said he was complicated, and Mom never said anything at all. None of them said anything about what Warren West had actually been like. Even the published biographies-all of them unauthorized-talked about Warren West like he was the disguise and Captain Olympus had been the real person.

She ended up skipping over the ghost of Captain Olympusas-guardian-angel stories because they all sounded the same and had the air of folklore. Once you cut through the fluff, Rooftop Watch really was the best place to get the most recent news on what the city's superheroes were doing.

The Trinity got written up in the blog four times this week. Espionage, only once. This made Anna furious, because it didn't seem fair. They weren't any stronger than her and Teddy, they were just flashier. They froze car thieves in ice, blasted vandals with lasers, and Lew saved a window washer who'd fallen from a building by launching a gust of wind under him until he landed safely. Even Anna had to be impressed at that one. Espionage mostly seemed to be good at voyeurism and running away.

She and Teddy went out on another patrol, like they'd planned.

Teddy was already there when she arrived. He'd been there awhile-early. In the end, he'd go out on his own if she refused to go with him. She was glad she could be here to watch his back, even if that amounted to little more than calling 9-1-1 if he got in over his head.

"Hey," he said, when she turned the corner and jogged toward him. He was carrying the paintball gun again. "Ready for this?"

For a moment, she didn't know how to answer that. "Yeah," she said with a sigh.

He'd made adjustments to his outfit, which was looking more sleek, more official-he'd made himself a form-fitted skin-suit mask, black with a smoke-gray stripe across the eyes, and a smoky black shirt and gloves to go with his jeans. Ghostlike. She was still in a rough jacket and ski mask. When she thought about trying to put together something sleeker, her mind went blank. What would she use as a trademark? A skin suit covered in pink roses? Because that would strike fear into absolutely no one.

She craned her neck, searching the rooftops even though she knew Eliot wasn't around. He was back on campus. She'd have invited him along, but he still hadn't e-mailed her, so she didn't have a way to get in touch with him except to go find him. Never mind.

"What is it?" Teddy said.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

His lips tightened as he caught her gazing roofward. "You're looking for the Human Pogo Stick-is he around, is that it?"

"No-" Eliot wasn't, but another familiar presence was. She tilted her head, tried to focus. Three familiar figures were moving this way, exactly where she didn't expect or want to see them. Anna hissed a curse under her breath. "It's the Trinity. Lady Snow and the others-they're here."

"What? This isn't their territory, they always go to the harbor."

"I know."

"What are we going to do?"

"Ignore them," Anna said, but she knew that wouldn't be so simple. The trio wasn't wandering but rather moving on a purposeful trajectory as if chasing someone. They'd found prey and were on the hunt.

The trio emerged from a cross street ahead, confident shadows on a street where most of the lights were knocked out. Sam was in the lead, Teia and Lew behind, looking over their shoulders, keeping watch. The temperature dropped, a breeze picked up-Lew carrying a microstrorm with him. They'd gotten pretty good, she had to admit.

Anna stepped forward into their line of sight and crossed her arms. She was pleased when Teddy fell into place next to her, also arms crossed.

Sam spotted them first and, obviously startled, pulled into a fighting pose-feet spread, knees bent, arms raised, hands pointed. The others came up beside him and braced in their own poses, with whatever gestures they needed to use their powers. A lick of wind ruffled the hair that peeked out from under Anna's mask. She was the only one of the bunch who wasn't surprised or put off balance by the encounter.

"Lady Snow. Stormbringer. Blaster. h.e.l.lo," she said calmly.

Fortunately, none of the Trinity let loose with their powers; even Lew's breeze faded away, once he realized who they were.

Teia put her hands on her hips. "Anna, what are you-"

"Compa.s.s Rose," Anna shot back. "And what are you doing here? Don't you guys usually patrol the harbor?"

Lew laughed, Teia shook her head, and Anna wondered what she was missing. He said, "We've cleaned up the harbor. All the crooks have moved on because they know we're watching the place. Pretty cool, huh?"

Sam blew on his fingers like they were the barrel of a gun, and Anna rolled her eyes.

"There's crime all over the city, why'd you come here?" Anna said. "This is our territory."

Sam looked around dramatically. "I don't see your flag planted anywhere." He turned to the others. "That's car's going to be coming up this way any second, we don't have time to f.u.c.k around."

"What's going on?" Anna asked.

When Sam pointed at her, a shiver of fear twisted her gut-he wouldn't really blast her, would he? "We're busy, you kids step back and watch the real supers work."

Teia shook her head at that. "There's a car full of g.a.n.g.b.a.n.gers tearing up the neighborhood. We came this way to try to cut them off."

Exactly the kind of thing they could do with their powers. Anna and Teddy, not so much. She was inclined to walk off, leave them to it, and find easier pickings. No matter how degrading that would be.

Teddy stepped forward angrily. "We'll take care of it, this is our territory."

"How are we supposed to know that? We don't know what you do, you never make it into the news," Teia said.