Chapter One
"Alright try it again, and this time don't blow my circuit boards," Reed said over the intercom. He sat in the booth behind a wall of bulletproof glass watching as Paige stood before hundreds of light bulbs scattered about the floor of the lab. "You're trying to light them, not pop them. Try and focus your energy on the bulbs." Paige rolled her eyes and adjusted her stance.
"Yeah I got it, dad."
"Ready when you are," Reed added and flipped the main circuit breaker, shutting off the power in the entire lab. Paige stretched her arms out, palms faced down, and took a deep breath. She concentrated, feeling a faint spark within her, willing it to grow. Electrical energy began to crackle beneath her skin and she forced it to the surface so that blue sparks ignited her skin, coasting along her body but remaining close to her. Paige's hair stood on end from the static and began to float and blow around her. She focused hard on the light bulbs before her and willed the electricity into them as they started to faintly glow. The light grew brighter until each bulb shone brightly, lighting the lab. Paige laughed triumphantly; she'd finally managed to control her electrical power over a widespread distance, something she'd been working at for weeks with her father's guidance.
"I want to try something," she yelled back to Reed and concentrated even harder. She aimed her energy for the main circuit boards, wanting to repair her earlier mistakes. If she could fix the boards, her ultimate goal was to jump start the breakers and turn the power in the lab back on.
"Don't push it, Paige!" she heard Reed shout warningly from behind the glass. Paige ignored him. I can do this, she told herself. She envisioned singed wires from beneath the panels of the main breaker repairing themselves, electricity flowing freely through them. The bulbs on the floor shone brighter and brighter as the hum of the labs generators and overhead lights began to start up.
"Paige…" Reed shouted again.
"I got this, dad!" Come on come on…just a little more…
At her feet, a light bulb popped and the glass shattered, just as the overhead lights began to flicker and shine and the generators jump into their usual rhythmic hum. Paige gave a final surge and the lab exploded into light and power as three more bulbs popped at her feet. Paige slowly withdrew her energy and the light bulbs on the ground flickered into darkness, but the lights and generators of Reed's lab remained running. Paige smoothed out her hair as Reed exited the booth and made his way down the crude scaffolding stairs toward her.
"I have to admit, I thought for sure you were going to blow all the generators," Reed chuckled and pulled his daughter into his arms. "Good job, I'm proud of you, honey." Paige smiled.
"Thanks, dad," Breaking free from his embrace, she nudged a sliver of light bulb glass with the toe of her boot. "I think it went pretty well for only a few casualties."
"It was certainly better than last week when we had to reinstall all the overhead lights. Come on, we'll clean up later." Reed said and put his hand on his daughter's back leading her out of the lab and into the normal part of the massive condominium.
"How'd it go?" Sue yelled from the kitchen as she heard her husband and daughter's footsteps coming down the hall.
"She turned the power back on in the lab," Reed said as he kissed his wife's forehead as she leaned against the kitchen counter, flipping through a Pottery Barn catalog. Sue gasped cheerfully.
"Really? That's great!" Paige couldn't help but smile as she helped herself to a can of Dr. Pepper from the fridge.
"When can we start working on larger scale things?" She asked curiously, sitting down on a stool at the counter. Reed smiled and ruffled Paige's hair, much to his daughter's dismay.
"As soon as you clean up the mess you left in the lab," he laughed. Paige playfully punched her dad's shoulder.
"Hey, mess WE left!" She retorted and stood, throwing punches as Reed as she danced back on forth lightly on her feet.
"Oh look what we have here! A tough guy, eh?" Reed laughed, dodging her punches. "I forgot we had ourselves a little kick boxer, right Sue?" Sue shook her head with a smile and went back to her magazine.
Reed and Paige sparred their way into the living room where Johnny, Paige's uncle, laid across the sofa watching ESPN. "Hey hey hey watch where you guys play fight!" he shouted, straining to see around them as the two crossed in front of the TV. Reed wrapped his stretchy arms around his daughter three or four times to hold her still. Paige giggled and laughed, trying to break free.
"Tap out! Tap out!" she squealed and squirmed her way out of her father's grasp.
"Somebody call for backup?" Ben, the ginormous rock man joked as he entered the room, cracking his rock knuckles. Reed, knowing he had no chance against the Thing, put his hands up in defeat.
"White flag, I surrender, game over," he chuckled and sat down on the recliner.
"Alright well, I'm going out," Paige announced, grabbing her brown leather jacket from the closet by the front door. "Uncle Johnny, keys," she demanded, holding out her hand to the handsome man lounging on the sofa.
"Whoa what makes you think you're driving the Torch?" Johnny joked as he dug around in his pocket for the keys to his cherry red Lamborghini.
"Where are you headed? Make sure you keep your phone on and be careful, don't talk to strangers, don't—" Reed began, switching over into his overprotective-father mode. Paige laughed and caught the car keys Johnny had thrown at her, trying to catch her off guard.
"Dad, I'm not you're little girl anymore, I'm eighteen remember?"
Reed sighed and nodded, "I know, I just need to be reminded sometimes." He smiled. "Just be careful, ok?"
"Always," Paige smiled back and slipped out the front door, heading down to the garage and later tearing down the NYC streets in a fiery red speed machine. She had some serious shopping to do downtown.
Review please The action comes in within the next two chapters! 3 XxBDxX