Tweety and Dino-Boy

“The universe is a constant conflict between three equal and opposite forces. Those are Energy, Matter, and Irony.”

“What the hell are you talking about? That makes no sense.”

“Then explain to me why, every time we go out dancing, we end up fighting supervillains?”

A frighteningly common conversation between married heroes.

About 20 minutes later they were still waiting, though it had given Talia time to calm down. Then Erica’s phone rang. “Hello, is this is Erica Jackson?” She answered, the number not being familiar.

“This is special Agent Susan Milovich. I am with the Las Vegas office of the FBI. Was your mother named Erin Mathis?”

“Yes. What did she do this time?” Erica rolled her eyes, just amazed by the coincidence.

“Well, that’s a loaded question.” The agent chuckled. “Actually, this doesn’t directly concern her. Did you know she had a sister named Melinda?”

“Uh, yeah. I thought it was Linda, but it might have been Melinda. She was like in California or Florida or something, with a band bum last I heard.”

“She passed away in 2011, I am sorry if you were unaware. And your grandparents reported her daughter as missing when the child wasn’t found with her or her common law spouse after their deaths. “

“Okay.” Erica was beginning to think the universe was playing a prank on her. No fucking way, She thought to herself.

“You are currently the child’s only living and not currently under, shall we say judicial concern and the girl has turned up in New York City. “

“Her birth certificate lists her name as Metallica Oroborous Smith.”

“Yep, the universe is pranking me. I am at the New York UNLOC office with her now. An associate of my bosses brought her to us. You’re saying that I’m her cousin? That almost makes sense.”

“Wait, what did they say?” Talia asked, listening to both sides of the conversation, her face as shocked as Erica felt she was.

“That’s… Weird.” The FBI agent said. “And technically you are the next competent adult in line regarding family who could claim custody, as your parents are not considered appropriate. “

“Since one of them is probably in prison for something and the other one should be?” Erica said dryly. “I am happy to take custody, we were kind of here for that anyhow, kind of. What do we need to do?”

“I was going to ask you to meet the DCFS officer there as another person was going to take custody but didn’t know she was already a victim of enhanced trafficking. She had a recognized ability before her disappearance at two.” Agent Milovich said not hiding the relief in her voice.

“Yeah, I am aware of both those facts, my boss was going to foster her, and I am aware of her sensory enhancements, I have different but similar abilities. If I take custody it’s less of a problem for everyone involved if I take her, or so I assume.”

“You want to take custody?” Talia asked, Penny hearing only half the conversation, trying to keep up, stayed quiet.

“Yes it will be easier, I will let the DCFS rep explain what needs to be done.”the agent said

“Am I talking to them here in New York or to someone in Vegas?’

“There in New York. They were going to take her into custody if needed. This should prevent that. We will have to confirm her ID first, but we have a handprint on the file with fingerprints. We can use that.“

“Yeah, she would not handle custody well. She freaked out enough when we found out that the FBI had to be called.”

“I can’t imagine why.” Agent Milovich said dryly. “If you could provide our field office there with info on who she was with we have questions for them.”

“We can do that. Pretty sure he was probably a dealer or something for Aunt Melinda. He was running a chop shop up here. Is your officer going to be here soon?”

“Should be. We just wanted to reach out as soon as we could. We’re just happy she was found at all.”

“I can understand that not too many missing persons are found after so long, and even fewer found in good shape.”

“So, it’s a good day. Something you can't deny the value of.”

“Definitely not.” The door opened as she ended the call. Erica looked over. “FBI, Unloc or DCFS?” she asked, squeezing Talia’s hand. “Don’t worry cuz, I got you.”

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“I am Captain Oliver with UNLOC, this is Agent Wallace from FBI. We wanted to pop in, check on you. The DCFS rep isn’t here yet. “

“Okay, take a seat, Agent Milovich and I just got off the phone. It seems by some weird twist of fate I am Talia’s cousin.”

“Strange. Fortunate for all involved I suppose, but very strange.” The agent said, surprised.

“Vegas said you’d have questions for her? Is it okay if I FaceTime a lawyer for her?” Penny stepped up, handing Erica a laptop, with a lawyer already on the screen. “Because I already have, and I really won’t let her answer if you say no.”

“I am Robert Dawson, representing Ms. Smith.”

“That is completely fine. I more than understand wanting one, though as a victim of power trafficking and a minor we were not planning on any form of prosecution.”

“You will sign documents to that effect?”

“I can, with limits on what that proscribes, but you know how that goes I suspect.”

“I’ll fax a boiler plate to the office there, and we can have them signed.”

Erica leaned closer to her little cousin. “First rule of dealing with law enforcement, let your lawyer earn their paycheck.”

“We still have to wait for DCFS anyway. She is a minor and we have to confirm your authority or have the rep sit in. For her safety. We can go over what we want to discuss with your council, however, and confirm with them we aren’t seeking prosecution. “

Talia looked around. “Sorry I didn’t mean to cause such a mess.”

“Nothing is your fault, your fake uncle is to blame here.” Erica said.

The federal agent nodded. “And frankly kid, I will happily be troubled by returning a lost child to her family. Give me that kind of trouble every day on the job, and I would die a happy and content man. It’s the thing I became a copper to do.”

“Weird we have such similar powers though.” Talia said.

“It isn’t uncommon, though cousins can be a bit more varied than siblings. what is weird is that we both expressed really young.”

A tall young woman with bright red orange hair walked in with a shiny briefcase. “Hi! I’m Libby Abrams. I was told Ms. Smith was in here?”

“Um, that is me.” Tallia said.

“And by strange luck, I am Erica Jackson. “

Libby blinked, setting her case down. Looking at her phone and the messages. “Wow, that’s super convenient. Since you are here, I assume you are wanting custody?”

“Considering everything, yes. I work for Ms. Summers so there’s no issues there. We just didn’t know everything at the time.”

“Okay, that’s fine. I will need to run financials and do a home inspection. Do you have a room for her?”

“Yes, my employer provides a two-bedroom house, and I share it with my significant other.”

“Good, I can come do an inspection today, it’s an enhanced juvenile so I have a bit of extra leeway in some places, less in others.” Libby said. She looked at the agents. “I can listen while I sort paperwork if you want to start your questions.”

For the most part the questions weren’t that deep, as Talia remembered very little about who things were sold to, though when she was shown pictures she could identify items she’d built, and what they most likely were going to be capable of.

Once done, they were left with the social worker. “Okay. Your lawyer got me most of what I need. I just need to do the inspection and get your signatures on some forms, and Metallica will be your ward.” She said cheerfully.

“So you are aware, we needed to take her shopping for, well, just everything. We took longer here than expected. “

“Isn’t that always the case? Well Ms. Summers has a foster care certification, so I can release her to Ms. Summers until we get the inspection done. Metallica wants to stay with you so it shouldn’t be hard to get all the ducks in a row. When do you want me to come do the inspection?”

“Give us till friday? Get her properly settled in.”

“I can do that.” She made notes and got phone numbers. “I look forward to working with you both. We will talk Friday about getting her assessed for school, and I would like to get a copy of the health report from the doctor as well. I have a list of pediatric doctors who work with enhanced.”

The unlock and FBI officer looked amused at the younger redhead, who was so new and shiny they could almost smell the ink on her degree.

“I would appreciate that list. It was on our to do list as well. “

“Not a problem at all. That's why I am here!”

Solaris smiled at Grayson “While you get your things I’m going to check on my other fosterling. Erica and Penny are doing paperwork with her.”

“Okay.” Grayson shrugged.

When Solaris got to the other office once more, it was to find an amused Penny shaking her head as she read paperwork.

“How are things going down here? I have things wrapped up with Grayson. He’s getting his things together and Granny is getting him a room set up in the house.”

“Oh, her uncle wasn’t her uncle, but her cousin was very conveniently available. The fucking Enhanced Stupid Drama Factor kicked in. Erica is Tallia’s cousin, and neither girl knew. “

Solaris blinked. “They are cousins. Really? Well, that is unexpected. Are you going to take custody of her then? As a family member there would be fewer hoops.”

“She already is. The DCFS agent is so shiny and new you could taste the hope leaking out of her. I give it two days before she is Dino-boys social worker too.”

“Well that would simplify matters, only having to deal with one person. Even if it means someone will think of me when some other enhanced child needs a caretaker.” the hero said with a chuckle, waving at Grayson to join them a bit surprised at how quick he’d been

“Depends on how this progresses, but you are listed as willing to foster enhanced. It comes up annoyingly frequently.“

Solaris looked at Grayson seeing him with one small rolling suitcase. “Alright couple of quick questions, do you have a decent phone and computer, and is there anything you need other than some more clothes? Penny I know we are ordering most of Talia’s things, but if we do a private shopping room at Bergdorf she and Grayson can pick a few things out themselves.”

“That should be easy enough for Talia’s senses.” While Penny suspected Walmart would suit the two kids better than the fashion headquarters of New York City, the sensory overload would be hell.

“Yeah, like they’d give me decent computer gear. What I could cobble together was in the cockpit of the mech that German guy blew up.” He admitted. “And my prepaid got soaked in the process.”

Penny nodded. “We can take them to get the gear they need after a shopping trip. I admit, Tallia getting the Pretty Woman treatment, mechanic addition, has a certain appeal. Grayson here is also going to want his own tools, so we can kill two birds with one stone. I think a trip through Microcenter might be a need. for these two. A few Raspberry Pi’s laying about might save our game consoles, along with other components. That, and they have the high-end computers I suspect these two are going to need in the long term.”

Grayson gaped at the older women, “Wait, you are taking me to Microcenter? You are actually going to let me have something more than a shitty Chromebook?”