I just want to, you know—

Save the world?

“Um.”  Lina cleared her throat.  “Something like that, yeah, I guess.  I mean, the city?”  She shrugged.  Someone grabbed her shoulder; she pressed them away with a shield and turned to glance.  “Mrs. Thomson?”  She was staring at her English Lit teacher from junior year.  “I didn’t know you were part of the Organization.”

“Catalina, you need to go to the training session.  You’re such a good student; why are you doing this?”  

Not her.  This was straight out of one of her weirder nightmares.  Lina was going to scream.  She was going to start throwing things. 

She didn’t have the time or luxury to do that.  Continue reading →

Had Jackson planned for this much interruption?  She didn’t want to wait to find out.

Lina had lost physical contact with her team while she dealt with — with whatever that was.  She grabbed for the nearest hands – Dylan and Jackson – turned, pulled a shield over them, and hurried down the path towards the exit. 

She counted to a hundred in her head, all of them walking the fastest they could manage, before she asked Ethan “Why?”  She hoped he could follow the rest of the question, because she wasn’t sure she could vocalize it, especially since he hadn’t vocalized much of what she was asking about.

“Because I thought – I had suspicions about my aunts – but I always told myself people were just really into the Organization.  But if they can – that’s not what Dylan’s dad does.  I mean, it’s close – Sorry, Dylan-“ Continue reading →

“Are we?”  Ethan had stalled again, no matter how many times that Lina tried to get them moving.  “Are we part of the Organization?”

He was, Lina realized, asking her.  “I’m the one that just found out about this thing a couple days ago,” she reminded them.  “I’m not sure you should be talking to me about it.”

“You’re the one in charge,” Dylan countered.  “There’s nobody else we can ask.  Are you part of the Organization?”

“The question is more, do you want to run the Organization?”  At least Jackson pitched his voice quietly. 

“Kids!” A new voice called out, somewhere behind them.

Continue reading →

Lina hoped her perky little put-off would work on the terrifying old women. She needed it to work, Jackson’s scheduled-in interruptions or not.  It had to work.

Of course, it didn’t.  Ethan’s aunts were not going to let her get away with being friendly, chipper, and innocent.  Which was a pity, because she more or less was all three of those things.

“Don’t even bother.”  The left-hand aunt really wanted to frown, but her face wasn’t moving in that direction at the moment.  “You can save that shit for the credulous masses.”

“I will then, thank you.”  She turned her back on them.  “Come on, Ethan.  We’ve got a deadline.” Continue reading →

“Lina.  Lina, if you want a shower before you save the world, you should get up now.  Did you know your mother’s power includes a back room to a tent with a full bath?”

Lina blinked up at Jackson and stifled a yawn.  “Shower,” she agreed.  “Clothes?”

“Your mom brought some, here.”  He handed her a pile of clothes.  She stared at them blearily for a moment before blinking a couple times.  “They’re…  These are clothes I like.”

“I negotiated a couple times.  The rest of us’ve been up for almost an hour,” he added.  “You’ve still got time to shower and eat a good breakfast and stuff, but you have to get up now.”

“Getting up, getting up,” she muttered, and followed action to words and got up.  “So I’m going to save the world dressed like a high school student. Instead of…” She had been confused when her mother had insisted on her bringing a couple of her “job interview and internship” outfits camping, but she could bet —

“Skirt suit with power pumps.  Kept the necklace, though; and it’s high school professional student, you have to admit.  Not ripped jeans and a band t-shirt.”

“The only band t-shirt I own I won in a bet from another kid who stole it from a concert.  I mean, do you—?”

“A couple,” he admitted.  “So it’s all high school professional?” Continue reading →

Silence reigned in the campsite.  Lina looked at her mother.  She looked at Jackson.  She looked back at Mr. Lee. 

Finally, Mr. Lee huffed.  

“I do,” he muttered.  He turned to look at Lina straight on.  “You are certain you stopped the first wave?  And you are sure there will be more and you can stop them?”

“The power plant-” Jackson began.  Lina caught his hand and squeezed it and he stopped. 

“I am certain I stopped the first wave.  I’m as sure as I can be that I can stop the subsequent waves with enough back-up.  My shields will hold.  I just need enough power to channel into them.”

“You were supposed to be a greybearded man,” Mr. Lee muttered.  “Someone with decades of practice behind them.”

“Sorry to inconvenience you?”  She raised her eyebrows at him. “This is me.” Continue reading →

Lina laughed in the face of the Organization’s leader, making him take a step backwards. 

“That’s really impressive.”  She grinned at him, because magic was real.  “I mean it.  How many people know?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.  Araceli, how did you raise such a rude child?”

“I don’t think she’s rude at all, Manfield.  I do believe that she has a valid question.  How many people do know?”

“Do you have any idea what she’s talking about, because I certainly do not.”  He huffed a little bit, but Lina could feel the way his power was pushing at her, trying to get her to shut up and to submit, to agree to everything he wanted. Continue reading →

She turned back to the tent.  Inside…

She found she was blushing. Inside was easily big enough for eight people, dimly lit in a sort of orangy-pink shade, the floor covered in cushions and blankets like a giant nest or some sort of orgy den. “You… unfolded the tent.”

“Of course I did. Shoes off, clothes on, go on in, in with you. I’ll see you in eight or nine hours with a big meal.”

Lina stumbled in; Jackson followed. Dylan and Ethan were still bowing.

“Come on in, come on,” she coaxed. Dylan stood first.

“You know — you know my dad’s going to be pissed.” Continue reading →

“You never said anything at all about the Organization,” Lina pointed out to her father, glad she was too tired to sound anything but calm.  “Or about Mom being able to fold a house out of a suitcase, or about — about anything,” she trailed off.  There really were a lot of people here.  “Or about the way you can just — link your power to someone else’s.”  She paused.  She knew the woman kneeling in front of her.  She loathed her.  She was a business partner of her father’s, and she had always spoken down to Lina like she was younger than her brothers were now.  “Camilla Stane.”

“Miz Stane,” her father normally would correct her. 

Not today. Continue reading →

“Places, everyone,” Dylan commanded. 

Lina hadn’t been into theatre, hadn’t really been into anything dramatic or performance based, and had ended up joining business club just to have an extracurricular on her college applications. She wasn’t sure what a conquering hero was supposed to walk in like.

“Shoulders back,” Jackson murmured.  “That’s it.  Smile a little, if you can.  You’re tired and that’s fine, but you’re happy you saved lives, right?  There you go.  It’s like going into a charity ball, except right  now you’re doing what our moms and dads do, they just don’t know it yet.  The cameras are on you; don’t give ‘em anything.”

“Way to give me a panic attack,” she murmured back at him, but she did what he told her.  The cameras are on you.  She could do that.  Continue reading →