The three weeks of grounding flew by for the girls. They were filled with scrubbing the floors and walls, dusting, and learning about the superhuman world. The Mark handled any emergency that attracted his attention, or met with his lawyer about the adoption.

A quick look inside Will’s museum netted a new display with their names on it.

Eleanor smiled as she dusted the case with its small diorama inside it.

They had to go to the courthouse eventually. They stood before a judge and signed the necessary paperwork. Barry wore a suit over his robot body as he stood to one side.

He had worked out an agreement with the state of New York. Eleanor wasn’t sure about the details. The court had granted the Mark adoption privileges for the three of them so the tower was officially their home.

They didn’t have to worry about going back to the orphanage unless the Mark gave them up. The way he smiled, that wasn’t going to happen.

“So let’s celebrate,” said the Mark. “Where would you girls like to go?”

“We should go by Cassie’s,” said Money. “She’ll get us a cake and ice cream.”

“We can try that place with the pies,” said Carrie.

“I think we should go to the bookstore and shop until we drop,” said Eleanor.

“We can do all of that and take in a movie too,” said the Mark. “Today is our day.”

“We should get Spiffy and see if he wants to go out with us,” said Money.

“We couldn’t take him anywhere that didn’t allow animals,” said Eleanor.

“There’s a few wild places we can take him to see how he likes it,” said the Mark.

“He’s been in the tower a long time, hasn’t he?,” asked Carrie.

“If he was a normal gopher, he would be dead of old age,” said the Mark. “The spark is what’s keeping him alive.”

“If he lost his powers, he would die?,” asked Money.

“Old age,” said Mark.

“Rodents don’t live that long,” said Eleanor. “Spiffy has outlived two generations of gophers.”

“What do you want to do, girls?,” asked the Mark, bringing the subject back on target.

“Let’s hit Cassie’s first,” said Money.

“I don’t have a problem with that,” said Carrie. “Ell?”

“Are we flying there?,” asked Eleanor.

“If you want,” said the Mark. He vanished in a puff of air and a laugh. “Last one there, buys.”

“I can’t believe it,” said Money. She turned into yellow lightning and chased after him. “Cheater!”

Carrie changed into the purple dress she had practiced on for the last two weeks. She glanced at her sister.

“Coming?,” she said.

“I’ll get there,” said Eleanor. “I think I am basking in the glow of happiness. I don’t remember having this feeling before. Now that I do, I want to hold on to it as long as I can before it fades away.”

“Things are just going to get better from here on out,” said Carrie. She blasted into the air.

Eleanor smiled as she walked along. She shook herself and laughed. She changed into the light blue dress she had worked on to wear. Then she soared into the sky after her family.

She felt ready for whatever might happen next.

Years down the road, she would remember that feeling and wonder if she would ever feel it again. She would walk into Cassie’s alone and beaten. The gray woman would smile and take her to the booth in the back and they would talk.

Cassie would tell her about how Hector had been taken by a cult one night. And how Nobody had shown her where to go. She had stabbed an alien menace in the face to save her best friend.

And she would pull the knife she had kept that gleamed in the light because the metal had warped to glass, and then she would show Eleanor her hand that had been wounded and transformed too.

She would tell Eleanor it had been worth it for the extra time with Hector, and all the people she had met in the years since, and how she had known the Mark had felt the same way when he did what he did.

He wanted to protect Eleanor and the grandchild that he would never see. He wanted to protect her sisters. The world was a distant second to that.

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Eleanor would listen to the assurance. She would sip her coffee. The grayness would fade as she thought about having a child when she didn’t know she was pregnant yet.

Cassie would pull on the glove and sheathe the knife in its place at the small of her back where she had carried it since Seventy Six. She would walk Eleanor to the door and tell her that life went on.

Eleanor would look back at the Good Eats Café as she walked away. She would wave. And the grayness would disappear with the same feeling she had felt before flying toward the diner to celebrate having a dad when it had looked like her tiny family would break apart.

That conversation was decades in the future. The world would change thanks to the Mark Sisters helping out where they could. They would get fame and fortune while their adoptive father kept to the shadows and saved the day without anyone realizing it.

Eleanor flew to the Good Eats. She paused when she saw the giant banner inside. Someone had put up a banner saying Happy Birthday in rainbow colors. She smiled at it.

Cassie had shut the place down from the look of it. She laughed at it. She wondered who had shown up at their private party.

“El,” said Carrie. “The Mark had some of his friends drop by. I can’t believe it.”

“Neither can I,” said Eleanor. “Who’s all here?”

“Those Scarab guys, the Lamplighters, people I never met,” said Carrie. “I think Cassie invited them all.”

“No Mister Multiverse?,” said Eleanor.

“He’s the only one that didn’t show up from the other night,” said Carrie. “Someone said he only shows for danger.”

“Why would Cassie call these people here?,” asked Eleanor. “We don’t know any of them.”

“So that we can get to know them, I guess,” said Carrie. “Come on. These guys are swapping stories like you wouldn’t believe.”

Eleanor entered the diner. Cassie had set up a buffet for her guests. People had grabbed plates and put on what they wanted. They mingled in groups, talking shop and what was going on in their lives.

Eleanor found herself with the younger Scarlet Scarab. He stood by the window, the bottom half of his mask up so he could eat.

“Having a good time?,” she asked.

“Sure,” said the Scarab. “I don’t know most of these people so it’s hard to mingle.”

“I’m in the same boat,” said Eleanor. “I’m Eleanor.”

“I’m Henry,” said the Scarab. “I’m in training to be the next Scarlet Scarab.”

“I noticed you don’t have the same type of armor enhancements as the other Scarab,” said Eleanor.

“I like a lot of speed,” said Henry. “Pablo likes a lot of firepower. He doesn’t want to dodge around when he can blow stuff up.”

“I can see that,” said Eleanor. “Who do you know here?”

“Just the people that were there the night you guys came out to help,” said Henry. “The Lamplighters, Stephen Scry, the Rocket, the Cursor.”

“There was a Rocket back in the forties,” said Eleanor, remembering the display.

“Not the same guy, unless he stayed the same age,” said Henry. “He might be a legacy like me, and you.”

“Trained to take over for other Rockets?,” said Eleanor.

“We can ask, but I’m sure that’s what happened,” said Henry.

“There’s Mister Nicklaus,” said Eleanor. “He’s the Mark’s lawyer.”

“Mister Robot,” said Henry. “It’s a miracle he’s still alive. He was a brain in a jar for ten years. He would still be there if the Animal hadn’t found him.”

“Who’s the guy with him?,” asked Eleanor.

“I don’t know,” said Henry.

“Let’s go find out,” said Eleanor.

They walked over to where the cyborg and the stranger talked with the older Scarab and the Rocket.

“Ell,” said Nicklaus. “This is my adopted son, Marty. You briefly met the Scarab and Rocket the other night I’m told.”

“How’s it going?,” said Henry.

“Hello,” said Eleanor.

“Marty is leading the Scouts now,” said the older Scarab.

“I wouldn’t say that,” said Marty. “Mostly I make sure my wife only breaks the legs that we need broken. That reminds me that we have to go. I promised to be back in time to let her go to her retreat. We need to go, Barry.”

“I can carry you out there,” said Eleanor. “Do you guys need any special gear for high speed flight?”

“I don’t, but Marty will,” said Nicklaus. “He’s not as tough as I am.”

“I’ll think of something,” said Eleanor. “How much of a problem could it be?”

“You’re talking about carrying a human body at supersonic speed,” said the old Scarab. “Marty could fly apart from the stress.”

“I got the solution to this problem,” said Henry. “All we need is an oxygen tank for Marty. How fast do you think you fly, Ell?”

“I don’t have any idea,” said Eleanor. She assumed it was fast. She had flown across the city in a few seconds.

“I can get an air supply tank,” said the older Scarab. “Give me a couple of minutes. Let’s see how this works.”

“Are you sure this is safe?,” Eleanor whispered to Henry.

“Not really,” said Henry.

The other Scarab left for a bit. Eleanor filled in the time asking questions of Nicklaus, Marty, and the Rocket. She had a small overview of the Scouts and the other Rockets that had worked in the past by the time he had returned.

“All right,” said the older Scarab. He motioned for the others to join him outside. “This is an air supply, and this is a stopwatch. Press the button when you launch, Marty. Press it when you land. A signal will tell me how fast you were going.”

“Got it,” said Marty. He donned the air supply, making sure the straps were in place.

“All right,” said Henry. He aimed both of his arms at Marty. Foam covered the Scout from head to toe. “He’s ready to roll.”

“Get ready to launch, Marty,” called out Nicklaus. “Shall we go?”

“Are you sure you can take high speed flight?,” asked Eleanor.

“Go ahead,” said Nicklaus. He waved a metal hand.

Eleanor exploded into the air, one arm wrapped around the cyborg’s metal body. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, but figured west was the best direction until Nicklaus could tell her where to go more directly.

They blasted through the Rockies seconds later. Eleanor would have enjoyed it more if she wasn’t looking for a sign to where she had to go.

“Turn right a little bit,” said Barry. “You are really fast.”

“This is the first time I really cut loose,” said Eleanor. “What should I be looking for?”

“A helipad with a hourglass engraved on it,” said Nicklaus. “That should be the top of our installation.”

Eleanor spotted the bunker after a second of looking. Her enhanced vision saved the day after all. She touched down on the pad and lowered Nicklaus to his feet. She grabbed the web around Marty and pulled it loose with one shrug of her shoulders.

“That was fast,” mumbled Marty. “Faster than a plane.”

“Thanks for the ride, dear,” said Nicklaus. “Did you push the button, Marty?”

“Yep,” said Marty. He pulled off the mask for the air supply. “It was like a minute of flight time.”

“It probably would have been shorter if I knew where I was going,” said Eleanor.

“This is good enough,” said Marty. “Thanks, Ell.”

He fled inside the bunker like building.

“That was a good trip,” said Nicklaus. “I would love to do it again sometime.”

“Thanks for your help with the court,” said Eleanor. “That was more important.”

She blasted into the air and headed east faster than a speeding bullet.