Getting a costume was usually easy, but not for Dean. Dean stood next to the car trunk with the backpack full of his earthly possessions. It was a nice new car, a sleek red thing with the newly requisite hover features. The fact that it belonged to somebody Dean's age made it all the more galling. Dean checked his watch and looked over at the all-town picnic, where a hundred Dissenters and Loyalists had managed to come together to ignore, or glare at, each other from opposite sides of the square.

Finally, he caught sight of Ethan Bull coming over to the car, moving lazily. Ethan was the only person in town as tall as Dean at six foot four, but Dean ate a lean diet and Ethan's family were local Loyalist leadership, so Ethan was better filled out. "Ethan," Dean said, trying to keep his voice agreeable. He had been late on purpose, Dean was sure of it.

"Dean," Ethan said, casting an eye over him before slapping on the shoulder in a way that might have been friendly if they were friends. "No need to be so jumpy, not a drug deal."

Ethan knew damn well the reason that Dean was nervous was his mother, everyone knew about Dinah Smith, the last unreconciled Dissenter. She'd made him wear plain clothes to the Maskquerade at school every year for the past eleven years. "You brought the suit?" Dean asked, ignoring the jab. Life at the bottom of the barrel meant having to put up with this stuff if you wanted to be normal even for one day.

"Yeah," Ethan said, popping his car trunk open to reveal a clumsily thrown around copy of Titan's costume. The golden cape and the purple bodysuit with a golden circle was the most famous emblem in the world, except perhaps the banner based on it and Olympia's costume. "What'd you bring?"

Dean unslung the backpack and handed it over, "Any of that stuff of interest to you?"

Ethan opened the backpack and started to lay out the contents, well-loved books and CDs mostly with a couple small crosses, inside of the trunk and then he pushed the backpack back into Dean's hand. "I'll take them," he said without further comment.

"Ethan, this is all my stuff," Dean said, struggling not to sound too upset.

"That's kind of pathetic," Ethan said, frowning at him and looking at the stuff. He looked it over, "Pick a book to keep."

"That's it?" Dean asked. Ethan was rich, he didn’t need this stuff.

"Look man, if you don't want to go in costume tomorrow…"

"No, I want a costume, I want a costume," Dean said, pleading involuntarily and grabbing a book to slide into his backpack. He packed the costume in after the book, zipped up the backpack, and turned to leave.

"Not even a thank you?" Ethan asked.

"Thanks, Ethan," Dean said without turning around and he knew the venom had leaked in.

He knew that making Ethan angry was a mistake, but right now he didn't care. He had the costume so he had rescued a scrap of dignity. After depositing his backpack in the wheeled clunker his mom owned, he headed back into the demilitarized zone between the purple table settings of the Loyalists and over into the red or blue table settings of the Dissenters. This was not what the pastors who had organized this all-town picnic were aiming for.

He caught sight of his mother, standing in the empty space with her natural white hair and the thin, bony look life as an unreconciled Dissenter had given her. She was looking for him. If she knew what he was doing, he would have traded all his stuff for nothing. "Oh, good," she said, when she saw him. "I was just going to come look for you, we're headed out."

"We just finished eating," Dean pointed out. He had hoped to visit some more with friends after wolfing it down.

"Look, I came because Mia asked me to," his mom said, nodding towards their pastor. "But it's clearly a bust, doing this right before Maskquerade Day wasn't the best plan."

Dean couldn't disagree with that and they headed back to the car and started driving home, his mother tuning the radio to get the news. They actually had a World Daily subscription, but his mom still listened to the radio news every day, even as she complained about the 'propagandistic drivel" they played.

"Big news today for the people of New Carthage," the voice said, "as a rampant meta-activation attacked city center, the nearest responding hero was none other than our great leader Olympia herself!"

Dean glanced over to his mom and saw her stiffen, perfectly silent, her eyes flicking every second down to the radio control console as if that was the source of the news.

"She has announced that she will be taking a week to acquaint herself with New Carthage, which has never had its own Order member, and to see that it continues to run smoothly in the aftermath of this attack on our country."

Dean's mom smacked the radio silent, "We've got to get out of town."

"Mom," Dean said, trying to avoid this chance to actually attend a Maskquerade Day event in costume for once in his life, "New Carthage is seventy miles away."

"That's only fourteen minutes for Olympia's emergency flying speed."

Of course she knew how fast Olympia could fly. "We have tests on Maskquerade Day," he reminded her, trying to use her love of education to his advantage.

"Oh, right, couldn't have anyone miss their little mockery of equality," his mom sneered. Dean thought it was kind of nice, a chance for everyone to be on the same playing field with the Order members for a day, see themselves in their rulers. "You feeling normal Dean, noticed any changes in your body lately?"

That was a bewildering change of topic and kind of invasive honestly but… "I'm 6'3", I hit puberty a long time ago," Dean said.

His mom let out a breath, "Fine, fine, we'll leave Tuesday morning. Tell your teachers my estranged sister is very sick and you'll be gone till next week."

"Yes ma'am," Dean said. He had heard of her estranged sister a lot of times, but he had never met said sister. Dean got the impression his mother missed her terribly, but after the wars, his mother wouldn't even say her name. He wondered if she was some prominent Loyalist or, worse, a Seraphite.

They pulled into the drive of their small, manufactured home away from the grid. There were solar panels in their yard and not a lot of plant life – His mother hated lawn maintenance. Dean walked onto the steps into the house, hoisted himself up onto the rail, and then onto the roof.

His mom grinned at him and unlocked the door, "Come inside when you're done taking in the view," she said. Dean knew it reminded her of his dad, she said he was always trying to get the highest vantage point he could. That was probably why she let him do it even though it was bad for the roof, which they couldn't really afford.

Dean did like it up here, there was a clearer view of things, especially in a town like Littleton, whose biggest building was the three story, castle-looking high school that the Olympian Order built as a magnet to the surrounding rural area. It was sort of excessive for their population but rural areas were often Dissenter-filled, since heroes generally worked in the cities, and the Order at least tried to help the public. But the rest of the town was fairly plain and old fashioned, with buildings built in the fifties and sixties when times had been better in the rural American republic. Dean liked the view, with its prosaic nature.

But the reason he was staying up here was to retrieve his backpack from the car. After he had been up there for fifteen minutes or so, he poked his head back inside to make sure that his mom had retreated to her room for a Sunday afternoon nap and brought the costume inside and unrolled it from his backpack. He held it up in his room after locking his door.

It was wrinkled and it would fit, but it wasn't exactly illustrious and well-made. This was a basic costume, not one of the expensive ones you could've tried on in the city. He pulled it on and felt a bit like a scarecrow – the costume hung around him too loosely to be suitable as a formal costume. But it would work as a costume for Maskquerade Day. He would get to be normal for once in his life. None of the Dissenters would think he thought he was better than him, none of the Loyalists would think he were a seditionist.

He took off the costume and happily folded it, stowed it under his bed and waited for the next day.

****

When Dean woke up, his mom still wasn't home from the night shift. She worked from midnight to eight, then she drove home. If he started to school early, he could get there without her noticing. He woke up at six, the early dawn of the May morning breaking through his window. He ironed the costume and put it on, proud of it despite the loose way in which it hung over him.

He packed his backpack for school and headed down the road toward the castle of learning in the distance.

He walked down the little two lane road flanked by shallow drainage ditches toward the school. He had made it half a mile when the unthinkable happened. He saw his mother's car coming down the road. Mark cursed, looking desperately for some way to escape. The drainage ditches seemed his only recourse. Dean dove down into the grass of the ditch, hoping to avert his fate.

He heard the car rolling up and past him, but cursed when he heard it slow down and stop.

"What are you doing!" his mother's voice rang out, "Get up!"

Dean got up and dusted himself off. His mom was standing at the edge of the ditch, a scowl on her face. "I'm trying to be normal," Dean said. He already knew he was beaten but he had to try.

"Get in the car before someone sees you," his mother said.

"I'm going to be late for school."

His mother rolled her eyes, "You should have thought about that before you went out in her colors. Get in the car."

The one thing that Dean wondered about was if she had figured out about the costume or if she had simply been heading home early for some other reason. He got in the car without further protest. He didn't want to get into a screaming match in public, even if no one was around.

The ride home was short and when they pulled up the dirt drive, she said. "Go in and get changed."

"Mom," Dean begged, "Come on. It's a Titan costume, I thought you liked Titan."

Dean's mom gripped the steering wheel hard and said, "Titan has been dead for a long time, Dean. They'll see you wearing Olympia's colors and think we support her."

"It'd be easier to convince them that you're a time traveler."

"You want to be like them, groveling at the feet of superpowered thugs for scraps?"

"If you'd take reconciliation, if you'd accept that you lost the stupid war-"

"I know I lost the war! Your father died fighting the Seraphites and now that jackboot-" Dean's mom cut off suddenly. There seemed to be words warring to break free from her mouth, but they were defeated. She breathed in a few times to calm herself. "Dean, go in and get changed."

"I traded all my stuff for this! Why can't you let me go in it?"

"You what? No, this is ridiculous. Go get changed. We'll deal with that later."

Dean gave up, clambering out of the car. He walked up the porch steps, his mind clouded with fury, muttering to himself in frustration. He went to his room and took off the costume, now covered in dirt, and put on a plain black t-shirt and jeans.

"Happy now?" he asked as he got back into the car.

"Dean, you know that I want what's best for you and-"

"Just take me to school."

Dean's mom seemed to consider saying something else but relented, "Fine." The rest of the car ride was unpleasant, the tension filling the car like steam in a boiling pot. But no moment of renewed conversation ever exploded. Dean was glad when they made it to the school in silence.

The castle-esque edifice had windows in it, giving it away in its little respect. The steps up to the school were underneath the crest of the Education department, two crossed torches upon a purple-and-gold shield. Dean got out of the car and his mother said, "I love you," as he got out. But Dean didn't respond to her.

He climbed the steps and subjected himself to the oncoming berating – A berating for being late and out of costume by the door guard, another for being late to a test and then mockery until lunch period for somehow ending up without a costume.

Dean slipped off from the class, moving through a see of four-color costumes, bright reds and greens and blues and purples, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He headed up the stairs against the tide, looking over the sophomores and juniors. He climbed to the third story, where he took a sharp left toward the maintenance access and climbed out onto the roof. He sat down in his usual spot on the edge looking over the town and tried to eat his lunch in peace, but it was not to be.

About half way through his meal, he heard the door open and looked over to see Ethan and his posse emerge from it. Dean swung his legs back onto the roof side of the ledge and stood up. This could get bad and it would be beyond stupid to be hanging on the edge of the ledge when that happened.

"Ethan," Dean said, not acting nervous. Ethan was a burly dude, but he hadn't gotten into any fights with him for awhile.

Ethan was wearing a Hellhound costume, one of the really nice ones that came tailored and really looked like the red-and-black armor Hellhound wore, and his posse were wearing a bunch of less renown heroes. "Dean, what the hell happened? I told my mom you were gonna wear it, that you'd finally come around to acting like a normal human and not an impossibly stuck up prig."

"I did," Dean said. "My mom caught me."

"Didn't you try to hide it?" Ethan stepped closer, within arm's reach

"I did! She came home from work early, saw me on the road," Dean shrugged, "I didn't have much option after that."

"You could've told her no," Ethan said, Ethan closed the gap between them and was right in front of him. "I told people you'd changed and you haven't." He grabbed Dean by the shirt and yanked him off the ground.

His mom would've told him to turn the other cheek. But Dean's arms were a bit longer than Ethan's, so Dean reached down and shoved him.

The pressure met Ethan's shoulders and knocked him off his feet and backward, they both went bowling – Dean toward the ledge, scraping against the side of the wall, and Ethan toward the access door to the roof, slamming into it. Dean got up slowly, confused, and Ethan seemed to panic on the ground, the plastic of his costume dented and bruised. "Rampant!" he screamed and the other boys rushed to him. He didn't get up on his own. Dean lurched toward him to help. "Stay back Rampant!" Ethan shouted.

Dean stopped coming toward him. He didn't think he was a Rampant. Wouldn't a Rampant be irrational? But he had obviously activated in some sense. Nobody could have put that much force into that small of a shove without an activation. Maybe he was demonstrating odd physiological changes? Becoming a wolf-man or something? He looked down at his hands and they seemed normal.

The door to the access slammed closed and then the Rampant alarm went off. Dean sunk down to the ground in frustration, his head in his hands. His life was probably over – Nobody was going to take his word over the words of a half dozen loyalist boys. The unreconciled dissenter boy attacks leading family member Ethan Bull, that's what the papers would say.

He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the sky, a strange shade of gray that threatened rain in vain. He stared at it and wished he could call his mom to tell her what had happened. She would believe him, he realized, she was the only person who would believe him. He felt badly for having fought with her that morning. Even if this was all her fault and she was asleep at home. Okay, he didn't feel that badly. But he felt badly because now she was going to be visiting him twice a week in jail. How would she even afford the trips to New Carthage?

He lay there, looking at a gray sky, thinking gray thoughts, for exactly fourteen minutes before he heard the rush of wind in the distance. Something was darting toward him, he jolted up off the ground and saw her.

A woman with wavy black hair, sharp orange eyes, and a heart shaped face was floating in the air, draped in purple and gold.

Olympia, the leader of the Olympian Order and ruler of much of North America.

She had halted at the edge of the roof, looking him over, and then she stepped down and sat down on the ledge. "Hey kid," she said, her voice surprisingly cheerful. She smiled at him.

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"Ma'am," Dean said, looking down deferentially. His hands were shaking. Even if he had powers, there was no way he could take Olympia. He also probably just shouldn't, even if he could.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," she said, her voice soft, not moving any close to him, "I don't think you're a rampant."

"You don't?" Dean asked, surprised. He looked up and Olympia was still sitting on the ledge.

"Look, when people's power activate, sometimes people get hurt. Especially if they don't know they're coming," Olympia said. She looked young, with her billowing golden cape hanging over the ledge. Maybe a decade older than him, but he knew her aging was slowed by her powers. "I know you're from an unreconciled family, but one of the reasons the Order took over is that accidents at activation used to get a lot of super-powered individuals branded as criminals."

"I know that," Dean said, defensively grabbing an arm.

"Okay," Olympia said, her voice calm and sweet. "Do you want to introduce yourself?"

"Um, my name is Dean Smith," he said.

Olympia smiled a sad smile, "My nephew was named Dean," she said.

"I didn't know Titan had a son," Dean said, surprised.

"It's not a state secret any more," Olympia said, her voice soft but not bothering to explain further. Dean suddenly felt a little invasive and inconsiderate – She had said her nephew was named Dean, which meant he was dead now. "It's alright," she said, intuiting his thoughts, "I brought it up. So… were you expecting your powers?"

"Um, no," Dean admitted. "I just wanted Ethan to put me down."

"Okay, that's good to know," Olympia said. "This sandwich yours?"

"Yes ma'am," Dean said.

"Very respectful," she said, laughing a little and nodding toward, "Come on, you're missing lunch."

Dean walked over in front of Olympia on the edge of the building, "Shouldn't you be… sterner?"

"Let me tell you what Titan told me," Olympia said, as if conveying a secret. Dean leaned in curious. "When you have powers like ours, anything you do that could be scary is like intimidating a child." She nodded out over the ledge, "See what I mean?"

There was a crowd of students, huddled together, somewhere between awe and terror. Of course, evacuations were standard procedure during a Rampant attack – They did Rampant drills on a regular basis. "Yes ma'am," Dean said, feeling a little ashamed. He hadn't meant to scare anybody.

"It's alright Dean," Olympia said. "Unless we discover that you assaulted Ethan with knowing capacity, you'll be just fine."

"You won't," Dean said, looking out over the crowd. He saw an old clunker rolling down the road toward the school, "Mom!" he shouted excitedly.

"Oh, your mom's coming? That's good, we'll need to talk to her about testing and-" Olympia's voice cut out as Dinah Smith got out of the car. "Dinah!"

Suddenly, a rush of wind whipped around Dean and Olympia was down on the ground next to the car and his mom, her fists balled up. They started arguing with each other, but three stories up, Dean couldn't make out the words. They didn't seem to be exactly being quiet but something was going on.

And then Olympia reached over the center of the old clunker and smashed her fist downward into the hood of the car, piercing through it with an awful, tearing sound that scraped against Dean's ears.

She was going to kill his mom. Dean couldn't let that happen – Maybe he was extra durable as well as strong. Maybe not. It didn't matter, he had to do something. He climbed up onto the ledge and tried to get up the will to jump.

"Dean!" his mother shouted, pointing, and Olympia whipped her head upward and bolted back up toward him, putting her arms around his waist so fast he thought she might break something. She lifted him gently but swiftly off the ledge and put him back onto the roof.

"Don't do that!" Olympia shouted, her eyes streaked with tears.

"Um," Dean said, awkwardly. "Don't hurt my mom?"

Olympia wiped her face with the sleeve of her outfit, "By Necessity," she cursed. "Dean, I would never hurt your mother, I promise," she wiped her face again. "Never, ever."

"Okay, okay, I believe you," Dean said. This was… awkward. Like King Arthur crying awkward.

"Oh, Necessity," Olympia cursed again, fidgeting uncomfortably. "I'm sorry Dean, I know you just met me, and I must look so ridiculous."

"N- Maybe a little?" Dean said, "Why are you crying?"

"Necessity, we looked for you for so long," she started crying again, "and I thought you were dead and I thought your mom was dead, and I thought I was all alone and now you're alive but I look ridiculous because I thought you were dead and now I'm crying."

"Okay," Dean said slowly, nodding his head. "It's alright…" He wasn't sure what she was saying. No, he thought he knew what she was saying but it didn't make any sense. "Um, who do you think I am?"

"Your mom," she said, "is Dinah Dane-Ford, the wife of my brother, who you know as Titan, who was named Zethon by his birth parents, and was named Phil Ford by his earth parents."

"No she isn't?" Dean said, ending up making it more of a question. His mom was fond of Titan, he was basically the only preterhero she could stomach talk of. But he couldn't possibly be the dorky guy that his mom talked about constantly.

"I know my sister-in-law," Olympia said, giving a little half laugh as she wiped her face again. "She practically raised me, in my teenage years. And then you came and I thought, you know, I would get the chance to pay it back and then you both disappeared during the Schism and I thought you'd both died and now you're alive and I'm crying and I look ridiculous and I'm so sorry, you're just a kid I shouldn't-"

Dean gave her a hug. Even if she was the tyrannical jackboot leader of the Order that his mother thought she was, she seemed to be having a hard day. Olympia gave the hug back, a warm, firm hug that held him tight to her. Then she let go of him.

"You look so much like him," she said after a moment, squeezing his shoulders.

"Mom says that a lot," Dean said awkwardly. He didn't really think he looked like Titan but he wasn't going to say anything.

"I'll bet," Olympia said, the edge of the last word betraying a fair amount of anger. That made sense though.

"Um," Dean said, trying to change the topic, "Is Ethan okay?"

"Oh," Olympia said. "Right, of course, I'm caught up in my drama, I'm sorry, Ethan is injured, he'll be in the secure room downstairs, in case-"

"In case he's a trigger for me as a Rampant, they can't risk me seeing him," Dean said. He thought of what she said earlier about intimidating children. "I'd just… like to apologize is all. I didn't mean to hurt him, I only wanted him to put me down."

"You're not a rampant so…" Olympia said indulgently, her eyes red from crying, "Want to go see him?"

Dean nodded his head and she swiftly scooped him up and bolted open the door. He got the sense they were going much faster than he would've ordinarily gone, a rush down the steps as they traveled through the halls to the secure room. Once they were standing in front of the metal door, Olympia put her hand on the scan console and it unhatched itself.

"Come on," Olympia said, pulling the door open. They walked into the room, a state of the art medical room that was usually just the nurse's office. The Order spent liberally on children, especially education, and if Olympia really had been raised by Dean's mom, that made sense. She had always been adamant that him learning was the most important thing for her to do.

The nurse stood up, "Ma'am," she said, "is it safe to have an unreconciled disse-"

"Nurse…"

"Cathy," the nurse offered.

"Nurse Cathy," Olympia gave a smile. He wondered what Cathy thought of the red eyed, puffy faced grand leader of the nation, "Dean is my nephew, he's not a rampant and his family was living here…" she paused, "to keep them safe from reprisal. We thought it best they be kept anonymous."

"Oh," Cathy said, "well that's… I mean it's a surprise. Mrs. Smith is… Outspoken."

"I know her politics," Olympia said, making a calming gesture. "But it's not a problem, Dean is with me and he is a kind-hearted young man, Ethan will be perfectly safe."

"um," Cathy said, "alright. If you say so."

Olympia floated past Cathy and beckoned Dean onward. Dean followed past the first bed and to the second one, where Ethan had his left arm and chest wrapped for injury. He dart eyes from Olympia and Dean, "You're Olympia's nephew?"

"Yeah," Dean said, rubbing his shoulder uncomfortably. "Um, Ethan, look, I'm sorry you got hurt. I didn't mean to, I didn't know I was strong like that, I just wanted you to put me down. Which I think is fair."

"Totally fair," Ethan agreed, his head moving like a bobblehead.

"Okay," Dean paused, "well, I mean, we weren't really friends, so…"

"Right," Ethan said. "We're good."

Dean looked at Olympia and said, "Can we go… talk to my mom?" He had so many questions.

"I think I need to have a private conversation with her now that I'm a little calmer," Olympia said, apologetically.

"You did kind of wreck her car."

"Mmm," Olympia said, "I'll buy her a new one."

"You could buy her an old one and it would be an improvement," Dean pointed out.

"I know," she said, "but I really- Well, it's not your problem. I'm sorry for what I did and I want to do better."

And then she was gone in another woosh of air, a blur that Dean could see. He walked toward the front door, heading toward where the car was parked. People gave him a wide berth as he came outside, fearful of him as a potential rampant, but he just went over to the car and it's fresh made hole and leaned up against it. His mom and… aunt would be back eventually.

Probably.

The minutes ticked on for awhile, a fresh new hover-car was delivered next to his mom's from he didn't even know where, and he wondered where his mom and aunt were, staring at the castle-edifice of the school building.

He was starting to wonder if they would come back, but then he saw Olympia carrying his mom down from the sky and putting her on the ground.

"Thanks, Zera," Dinah said, her voice restrained. He had never seen his mother be deferential to anyone. "Dean, get in the new car."

Dean did as he was told, not quite sure what had transpired with his mom and aunt. Zera. Her name was Zera. Did that make her Aunt Zera? Did it make her Aunt Olympia?

"Dean," she said as they started down the street toward their house in the nicest car Dean had ever seen, much less been in, "Are you okay?"

"Bit shocked," Dean said, trying not to lose his temper, "that my mother has been lying to me my entire life."

"I didn't lie," she said, "I just left things out."

"Oh, you just left things out," he looked out the window, trying to keep his temper. "I guess that makes a lifetime of deceit okay then."

"Dean," his mom said, "when your dad told me he was Titan, I was surprised. But it was his secret to keep or to share as he saw fit. This was my secret to keep."

"No, Mom," Dean said, "it was my secret to know. We've lived in poverty my entire life because, why? Because you don't agree with your own sister-in-law? Olympia seems nice."

His mom made a hmphing noise, "Zera was… she was always so sure, so well intentioned, I think in another life or with other gifts, she could've been someone really amazing. But… I ran because I wanted you to be free of the Order. We lived in poverty so you could have a life, the life that you chose for yourself, not the one a genetic test would've given you. Now she's found us, but you're almost eighteen, you can turn her down if you want. She'll accept that."

"Turn her down?"

"She wants you to become her squire," Dinah said, "apprentice. Sidekick."

"That's awesome!" Dean said excitedly.

The car didn't exactly slam into its breaks, but it slowed down very rapidly. "The boot on your face is not a shoe shopping opportunity, Dean!"

"You chose this life!" Dean said, "I never chose to be poor, scraping by in a nowhere town where people resent us for being new and self-righteous and dissenters, that was you! If I joined the Order, I'd be set for life and it's not like refusing to join is going to bring it down."

"I can't believe this," his mom said, throwing one of her hands into the air as the car started moving again. "Your whole life, loyalists have scorned you. Looked down on you. Now you want to join the Order? This wouldn't even be happening if that Ethan boy had even the least little bit of sense."

"Yeah, Mom, Ethan's a jerk. I have spent my life being scorned and looked down on. Now I want, for once in my life, to be able to eat without counting dimes or even be looked up to. That's what being an Order member means. And I'd get to help people."

"You can help people without being an Order member," his mom said as they pulled into the driveway of the house. "You don't have to go be a part of all that – You're Titan's son, people will look up to you. It would take some sacrifices but-"

"Apparently, I've been sacrificing my entire life," Dean said, getting out of the car and pointedly not slamming the door. He had no idea how his strength worked and didn't want to break the new car. "Maybe I want to try something new."

"Dean," his mom said as she got out of the car, "The Order isn't what the propaganda reels say."

"I know that," Dean said, going up to the door and opening it, "but they pay well and people respect you, sounds like a nice change."

"They hurt people Dean, just for trying to be free, they fought and killed people to establish their regime."

"Most regimes do," Dean said, heading to his room. He opened the door and found his books and CDs stacked on the bed and the costume missing.

"I went by the Bull house," his mom said, standing in his doorway.

"Thanks," Dean said.

His mom paused, "You're really going to say yes?"

"Yeah," Dean said, feeling a little ashamed but not ashamed enough to change his mind.

His mom sighed and left. He was putting the books onto his dresser when she came back with a large, very nice old leather suitcase. "When we- I went on the run, this was the suitcase I used," she paused. "Take it, it's a good suitcase… But remember, whatever happens," she paused.

"We can always start over," Dean said, finishing the sentence. "Might be harder now that Olympia knows you're alive."

"I'd find a way," his mom said. And Dean believed it. She'd found here, after all, Littleton, Nowhere.

"I'll keep it in mind," Dean said and then he took the suitcase and started to pack. His mom watching silently, sad and hurt. Well, he was hurt too. It wasn't fair of her to hide this from him for seventeen years.

There was a whirring sound overhead, woop-woop-woop, a disc probably. He'd never actually seen one. "That's her," Dean's mom said, looking out the window. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Dean said, not having forgotten his earlier thoughts on the roof. Even if he was angry, that was no excuse.

"Zera's smart, if she gives you tactical advice, follow it."

"I'll keep that in mind" Dean said, carrying the suitcase to the door like it was still empty. His mom slung her arms around him and he hugged her back for several seconds.

There was a knock on the door and Dean let go of his mom to open it. Olympia was standing on the other side, "Dean," she said with a bright smile, her eyes noticing the suitcase. "Wow, okay, I got the impression you might be a little reluctant from Dinah."

Dean looked at his mom, who said nothing. "I'm interested," he said.

"There's a lot of responsibilities," Olympia said, "and it can be really hard sometimes. But I think it's worth it and not because of the pay."

Dean nodded his head, "Alright," he said. "Um, what do I call you?"

"You can call me Aunt Zera when it's just us!" Olympia said enthusiastically before shifting into a more formal tone, "but publicly, of course, Olympia is the preferred nomenclature."

"Great," Dean said, reaching over to squeeze his mom's arm one last time and stepping out the door. There was a disc on the lot opposite's yard, sitting on its three legs, a perfect metal saucer. "So, um, what's first?"

"Well," Aunt Zera said, as they walked toward the flying machine, "I think first we're going to have to get you a costume."