"... I get it. You... need a girlfriend. I've been negligent in my duties as a sister. You've never had a girlfriend, so I'll put some feelers out and see if I can hook you up. Is tenth grade good? Or does it have to be eleventh?"

"No! stop." Jimmy was red. He could feel it. Why did he always turn red when girls came up? "What are you, the girl mafia?"

Kaykes blinked at him. "I have friends."

"In three grades?"

"... Four."

"Ok. Yeah... That's not weird at all. Anyway, I don't need my baby sister to hook me up. I'll find someone. All by myself. When I want to."

He'd unabashedly used the term 'baby' sister as a means to try rest control of the conversation from her grip. Her deadpanned expression told him flat out that he was both unsuccessful and unsubtle.

"Ok. Good. So we can drop this convo here. We delete her number and never talk to her again. She's a direct tie to you, bro. The only one. She's heard your voice, she stands the best chance of identifying you. Ditch this notion and you're out of this mess before the end of the semester."

"No don't!" Jimmy dashed forward and wrestled the phone out from his sister's grasp.

"Good God! What is it about this girl Jimmy?! That you have to go on a date with her?" Kaykes glared at him from where she was struggling to lift one of his cards off of his bed cover, now with tweezers.

It was a struggle. Whenever she went to pick it up, it slid right through the pincers like it had been greased. Her fingers worked even less effectively.

"She's just some girl blessed with Super-skin, no pimples and fantastic hair, and she's used to twisting boys brains around her finger tips! Why can't you see that?! She saw a horny boy and shamelessly manipulated him into breaking in to her ex-boyfriends house for a song."

"Than why is she still texting me?"

"Because. It's. A. TRAP!"

Jimmy shook his head. "Uh uh. I don't believe that. You didn't see her in the park. She was desperate."

"She's dumb and shallow and she has a dumb and shallow taste in boys!"

"Shut up, Kaykes. You don't know her," Jimmy scowled. "She just went too far with —"

"That's the crush talking."

"I don't have a cccccc—"

Kaykes watched with interest as the word refused to leave his mouth.

Jimmy changed tacts. "The contract —"

"— Fuck the contract! You, Jimmy. You want to go on a date with her. Tell me I'm wrong."

Jimmy shrugged uncomfortably and didn't say anything.

"It's the boobs."

"It's not the boobs!"

"Gah!" Kaykes palmed her face. "Boys! You are so much better than her, Jimmy, why her?"

Jimmy opened his mou --

" — Patricia!"

— and stumbled. "What?" he gasped.

"Patricia. She's cute. I'd bet she'd go out with you."

"Wha — I. No. I — What?" Jimmy felt himself go deep red again. He covered his face as his ears glowed. "I can't go out with Patricia! I'd feel judged with every word I said!"

Kaykes looked puzzled. "I asked her for homework help once. I didn't feel judged."

"You're a ninth grader who knows freakin laplace! Of course she's not going to judge you!"

"... Irrelevant. Mico would probably —"

"It still doesn't make a difference, Kaykes." Jimmy insisted, gesturing with The Guys Phone for Illicit Dealings which he was still holding in his hand. "It's in the contract."

"Arbitrage, can't enforce a date."

"No, of course not. But the Itch can."

"... So you signed... an unenforceable clause in a contract, that you're still beholden to but she isn't?"

"... Pretty m —"

Kaykes jumped up, gesturing furiously "Are you dumb?! Stupid? God damn it, Jimmy!"

His face burned.

Kaykes' eyes darted first to the closed window and then to the closed door. She stalked over, opened it suddenly and peaked out, then closed it again gently. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter but no less furious.

"There are people looking for the guy that broke into Buck's house, assaulted the members of that household after stealing property. Do you know what that's called Jimmy? Do you? That's Breaking and Entering. That's Assault and Battery. That's Assault with Super Human Capability AND Assault with a Deadly Weapon —"

"A taser is not —"

"Super Humans tend to get charged with both! And if you think that your cards aren't deadly, then you've got another thing coming. And the only reason there isn't more on that list is because the Higly's much less the authorities don't know a single damn thing about you and I'm not a lawyer! So I can't list all the possible charges under which you can be fucked!"

"They know you're male, and they know you're 'young, possibly teenage' because you opened your damn mouth to apologize after downing their son, and as every crime flick out there has definitively established, most crime is conducted against people in the victims sphere of contact. So where does that put us Jimmy?"

"I get it." Jimmy bit out through clenched teeth.

"Do you? Because where I'm standing, that leads us to a High School within driving distance of Bucks house. There's three of those by the way. Increased security at all of them. An investigation headed by an FBI special agent. An Emergency Assembly. Students being hauled out of class for questioning. A Super human Hotline... did I miss anything? Oh yeah. Apparently, you can't lie. And a fucking dragon was seen soaring over midtown park!"

Kaykes flashed a news article on her phone in front of his face.

"A... that's a dragon?"

It could have been a dragon.... It could also have been a very odd wisp of cloud.

Kaykes shrugged and sighed heavily. "It's probably a hoax. People actually see things all the time and claim its super related. It usually doesn't amount to anything." She glared at him. "Point is, brother. The city's on high alert. And you do not want to be a Super criminal in the backdrop of Amaterasu. They're looking for someone to burn, and that fucker is not accommodating."

"I get it." Jimmy bit out again. "I do, Kaykes. But I still don't have a choice. The Itch is not going to let this slide!"

"It's always the Itch this. The Itch that. You act like it's not you. Like it's an actual —"

"Thats because it is, Kaykes. It actively wants thi —"

Kaykes grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him hard against the wall. She was strong for a fourteen year old!

Kaykes glared deep into his eyes and growled in a low voice. "Ok. Then I'm talking to you now, Itch. I don't care if you're really my brother, or some eldritch thing from deep space."

"That's not how this wor —"

"Shut up, Jimmy!" She slapped him.

"Ow!"

"I don't care." She hissed, gripping him by his collar and glaring deep into his eyes. "He's a moron, but he's my brother. And if you fuck him over with your stupid idiosyncrasies, I'm going to come after you, Itch. I'm going purge you from his soul. You hear me? Itch?"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Nothing happened.

Kaykes shook him. "I don't know how I'll do it. I don't care. I will do it though. Even if I have to lock him in a room and starve him of anything to steal until you burn your way out of him."

"Kaykes... Kaykes, that would seriously hur—"

She shook him again. "You get me? Itch?"

"Literally nothing. I told you. Thats not how this works!" Jimmy pulled her hands off and Kaykes made a disgusted sound and stalked back to his bed."

They were both breathing hard now and not looking at each other. Jimmy felt a little bit of moisture at the corners of his eyes. When he was certain his sister wasn't watching, he wiped at them.

"Look," he said thickly. Kaykes had gone back to trying to lift the card from the bed with renewed vigour. She'd taken to trying to slide a piece of printer paper underneath it and lifting that up. "I think we need a break. I'll hold off on —"

"Send the text."

"...What?"

Kaykes sighed. "Send the text, Jimmy. You're going to end up doing it anyway. So... might as well." She studied him. "Somewhere public," she said eventually. "A park. Lots of kids and people doing foolish things. You'll be in good company. We can do a picnic. Chicks dig picnics."

"We...?"

Kaykes snorted. "Do you know how to plan a picnic? I'm planning this op."

And Jimmy... conceded the point.

----------------------------------------

"Boy. Boy! You got the juice?"

"I — the jui-wha now? Huh?"

"The juice boy! The juice!"

The man squinted at him from beneath a pair of the bushiest, grey eyebrows Jimmy had ever seen. And then he poked Jimmy hard in the stomach.

"Ow!"

He was a funny little man and looked a little bit like Gandalf the Grey crossed with Santa Clause and then shrunken to the size of an elf... and not the Tolkien version. About one head level below Jimmy's.

His hat more than made up for it though. It was almost too big for the man's head, with a wide, curved brim and a trunk that grew from the top and curved grandly behind the mans head. It was mirrored by the bushy grey beard which hung down and wagged almost jovially by the man's knees as he talked.

"I am not made of Eternal Moments, boy." The Man grumped. "Put some Pep under your tongue. You've got the gumption but you also need the juice. Do you have it?"

For one wild moment Jimmy wondered what in the world would happen if he said yes.

"No." He answered. "I don't have any... juice. Sorry."

The man pursed his lips gravely, but then he winked and his eyes twinkled as if there were caught stars far back behind his eyelids. "S'all right boy. Come back when you've got some. I like you. But you've also got to have the —"

----------------------------------------

Jimmy's eye's opened blearily to the sound of his mother's news station.

"... decision to finally field troops in Sudan is a step in the right direction. A much needed step. But it stops short of dealing with the real issues!"

... "What about this guy they're calling Legion? He sacked a police precinct with — with an army of — get this — very attractive 'demons' who proceeded to, and this is a quote mind you, 'supernaturally seduce the male police officers before... ripping their throats out... with their teeth'. This was taken from an interview from one of the female desk clerks who hid in a janitors closet."

A cry of disbelief.

"John. This is fundamental. Society breaks down if the rule of law cannot be applied on the population."

"This must be an outlier. Most of them are probably just your everyday Americans who woke up one day and found that he could fly. This... that's horrifying!"

"Maybe they are, John. Maybe they are. But the fact is, very few Supers have voluntarily come forward. And for every 'I can fly' American we are getting a disproportionate number of Legions and Amaterasus."

"Amate-what?"

"A reference to —"

"Ah. I got it. I have to say, giving these crazies names. Could it be empowering them? I mean, with a name like Legion —"

Jimmy shielded his head from his mother's news coverage by pressing his pillow over his ears. He turned over and groaned as everything from his neck to his ankles — even his toes — throbbed.

" — costing lives. If I am elected President, I'll be instituting sweeping reforms. Education, Civil, Defense, Criminal... This is a problem that touches every part of our lives and —"

It didn't work. He groaned and buried his head deeper.

'Five more minutes.'

'Yes. He'd get up in ten more....'

One minute later, Jimmy tromped down the stairs with a glower, thankfully having remembered that turtlenecks were still in fashion.

"Good morning babe," His mother greeted him softly with her morning voice, which, interestingly enough, Jimmy groused internally as he sat down at the counter, was actually lower than the volume on that John Hannon fellow his mother liked listening too. "You're up early. Couldn't sleep?"

"No." He rubbed his eyes. Still bleary.

"Coffee?" She passed him a cup without waiting for a response. He took it gratefully, than she refilled her cup and was pensive.

"I couldn't either," his mother continued softly after a moment of stretched silence during which they both sipped companionably from their cups. "I went to that conference with your teachers last night. About the attack on that poor boy. Your father remoted in from wherever they're keeping him.

"You don't know where?"

His mother raised a slender eyebrow. "Do you know?"

Jimmy shrugged and sipped from his mug as his mother sighed.

"Some case they have him working right now. Lots of time. Lots of secrets. Lots of out of touch. He says it will be over in a couple more weeks. How are you kids doing?"

Jimmy eyed his mother sideways over his mug. "Fine." He said finally. And then because it was close enough to a lie, that he could feel that taught feeling winding up behind his sternum, "A bit worried." He clarified, and the tension subsided.

"Brave boy. I'm terrified." She admitted. "You heard about Legion?"

'Please not a another conversation about Supers,' Jimmy thought. 'I can't take it. Please!' He nodded.

"There's a new character in the mix. Took out a group of gangers here in our city. Saved a couple girls on the amber alert too."

And Jimmy... brightened. "So he's a good guy!"

"I suppose. It's still vigilante justice, though babe. That's still a crime."

"So? He saved some kids from traffickers. I call that a win for the good guys. Did you know there were traffickers around here?"

His mother arched an eyebrow at him. Sometimes it seemed to Jimmy like he was the only one who couldn't do that!

"Why do you think your sister's got such an early curfew? She."

"She?"

"She leaves a calling card. A red rose. Thorns and everything."

"It's the modern age, Mom. Guys can like roses too!"

His mother chuckled. "Call it mother's intuition, kid. And I agree. I'm glad she saved those kids. And I can't imagine what their parents were going through. If we lost either of you two...." His mother trailed off there. "Sometimes I think it all begets each other though. Heaven know's there's been human trafficking and drugs since the dawn of time, but in the last eight years, when Supers started showing up? It seems like its all gotten worse. Maybe its just the Availability Heuristic playing havoc with my head, but I swear I don't remember hearing about folks and kids getting snatched on the news as often as I do now."

"How can those possibly be related?"

His mother shrugged and studied him. "You really like them don't you? Supers."

"Wha — why do you say that? I — dunno. I guess?"

"You always leap to their defense. I hear it in your voice."

Jimmy gulped. 'That all stops this instant! Never saying another nice thing about Supers again... at least a month ' He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"You used to read a lot of fantasy. All magic and dragons. Witches and Wizards. Played some table-tops too. You remember?"

"Mom! Of course I remember. It wasn't that long ago."

"And then Supers started appearing and there you were standing in line at the books store like it was the 2000s again, to pick up the newest and best Super Hero books because they were leaping off shelves milliseconds slower than they were being back-ordered online. You gobbled them up just like everyone else. Only, when reality set in for the rest of us, it didn't for you. You kept buying those books. For a time. And even now, when Supers are brought up, it's like your eye's light up. Like you still believe in Super Heroes. There's still wonder there."

"I think. That I am thoroughly tired of the subject." Jimmy said acerbically. "I think Super this and Super that is all anyone's willing to talk about now."

"Yes. Well. They are the trial of our lifetime, babe."

"A group of people. Can't be a trial, Mom."

Jimmy grimaced into his cooling coffee. He downed the rest of it in single gulp, and noticed Kaykes had made an appearance on the bottom step of the stairs. She hadn't said anything yet, which could have been an indication that she was listening in, or nearly as likely, an indication that she'd slept as well as he had and was unimpressed with the hour.

"Yes. Well. The consequences from their existence can. Morning Babe!" Mom greeted Kaykes brightly. "Coffee?"

"It'll stunt my growth." Kaykes growled. So it was probably the hour.

Kaykes did end up accepting a cup, and the conversation turned to friendlier topics, like homework and his impending college applications — "it's ok to not have started them yet, just as long as it's on your mind" — and "Dad sends his love!" And then he and Kaykes bundled themselves out the door and took to their bikes.

"Mom troubling you with her intuitions?"

"No. Yes. Both. I don't know. It's like I can't escape Supers!"

"Uh... I don't mean to alarm you... Jimmy, but you are in fact —"

"Thank you, Kaykes! It doesn't mean I wan't to discuss Supers with Mom fresh off her first cup of coffee and dose of John Hannon."

"You could tell them."

Jimmy almost swerved into the curb. "What? Absolutely not."

"Why not? Have you considered it?"

"Mom and Dad would lose it!"

"That's a bad reason. They love you, Jimmy. There'd be a shock, sure. But then they'd probably be as curious about it as I am...."

"Mmmm, I take that back. Maybe less. Still." Kaykes eyed him. "They've never met a Super before, Jimmy. They just get what's on the news. You could probably shake quite a lot of sentiment by just introducing the new you."

"My Super-ness comes with a lot of baggage. Kaykes, I'm a psychological basket case. I'm a dipstick of a first contact."

"Did... you just curse on a dip... stick?"

"See? Baggage. And thats kid level!"

"I won't even touch that. Jimmy, you've never met another Super either, maybe you're the standard of normalcy."

Jimmy peered at her.

"Actually, that's a horrifying thought," Kaykes amended after a moment of hesitation. "Still. Maybe that makes you the best representative. Weird Quirks and power combined."

"They'll want me to turn myself in. Come out in front of it all."

"Might. Might. And I seriously doubt they'd go behind your back about it. There'd just be a horrific amount of parental pressure. But... Maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing anyway."

"Kaykes!"

"That's your whole deal, isn't it? Supers don't step up. They don't put themselves out there. Share about themselves, talk to people, work with the police, and make themselves humans instead of monsters! All I'm saying is that I'm staring at a Super right now, and he's not doing it either!"

"Kaykes. I." Jimmy gritted his teeth.

"That all I'm saying. Not pressuring. Just observing."

"Isn't this a major departure of your notions last night?"

"Humor me. It's early. Imagine all this blew over tomorrow."

"Kaykes..." Jimmy rubbed at his eyes, which caused his bike handles to wobble dangerously until he snatched at them again. "My power..." 'Why did it feel like he was wining. Was she right? Was he...?'

"It's not meant for the lime light, Kaykes. Supers will not thank me for stepping up and being their rep. I believe that there are real Heroes out there. Real Supers who can really step up and be shining examples of heroics. I'm just not it."

"You're afraid."

"Cripes, I'm terrified! I can barely handle being a monster in the shadows. I don't want to be one in the light."

They turned into the school parking lot soon after.

Kaykes gave him a quick hug and a long look before she left. Then she punched him in the chest — which hurt through no fault of her own. "End of the week, Jim. Knuckle through today, suffer the heckles for the Vicky thing from yesterday, don't sleep through history, and then the fun stuff." Her mouth stretched into a wide grin and she cracked her knuckles loudly. "P-testing!"

And Jimmy laughed.