Heroes

Chapter One

The Austins entered their home for the first time as a family of four with each parent carrying one five-day-old twin. Lauren slept peacefully in Jaime's arms. James, however, wasn't quite so complacent. The instant Steve took him from the car, he began to wail, seeming to get louder with each step his father took.

"Jaime? I...think something's wrong with him."

"He's crying - babies tend to do that sometimes."

"What if he's sick?" Steve asked, sitting on the sofa next to his wife.

Jaime smiled serenely. "He's not sick."

"Is he hungry?"

"They both had a bottle before we left the hospital."

"Maybe you should take him. I think he wants Mommy."

"Mommy's hands are full," Jaime laughed. "And what he probably wants is a fresh diaper."

"Should you...?"

"I'm pretty sure you can handle it."

He was clumsy at first, his nerves getting the better of him, but within a week, Steve was able to diaper one twin while giving the other a bottle. He was doing exactly that when, on the twins' two-week birthday, they had a special visitor.

"You're getting pretty good at that, Pal - I'm impressed."

"Hi, Oscar. Business or pleasure?" Steve couldn't tell by his face, as the OSI director was making googly-eyes at the twins. Jaime came up behind him and watched for a minute, amused. She was wondering the same thing Steve was, since 'Uncle Oscar' had already spoiled the babies with far too many gifts - including two nearly life-sized stuffed pandas - and today he'd arrived in the big black car with a driver, generally reserved for OSI business.

First things first, though. She took newly-diapered Lauren and laid her down for a nap. Once Steve had coaxed a respectable burp from James, she efficiently but lovingly put him in his crib as well.

The adults retired to the den, where Jaime already had three mugs of coffee waiting. She looked at Oscar with her eyebrows raised, as if to say So - get on with it. She was not smiling.

"Relax, Jaime," Oscar told her. "It's not a mission."

"Don't think we're not happy to see you, Oscar," she responded. "You're practically family. But you didn't come out here in that car to make googly-eyes at our children."

Steve, seated next to Jaime with his arm already around her, pulled her a little closer. "Sweetheart, why don't we give him a chance to actually tell us." They both looked at Oscar expectantly.

"This morning, they completed rebuilding and reprogramming work on the Daedelus."

The Daedelus. Steve's face was expressionless, but Jaime's blood ran cold when she heard those words. Steve had been testing Daedelus when he crashed, nearly died and was subsequently made bionic.

"No. Uh-uh. Forget it, Oscar. James and Lauren's father will not be flying your billion dollar death trap," Jaime said firmly.

"Actually, Sweetheart," Steve began, "I think they've passed two billion by now."

"Two and a half," Oscar corrected.

"I don't care. Find someone else." She knew how tempting this would be for Steve: a chance to beat the machine that had come so close to beating him.

Oscar shrugged. "Actually, I do have another pilot lined up. I just thought -"

"NO!"

Steve and Oscar exchanged glances. "You heard the lady..." Steve told him.

Oscar got up to go, sensing his friends were about to have one hell of a discussion. "If you change your mind before noon tomorrow, give me a call."

"He won't." When Oscar was gone, Jaime turned to Steve with a firmly set jaw and steel-like eyes.

"Jaime -"

"I'm sorry, but it's too risky. It's not just you and me anymore, Steve; we have a family to think about."

"I know that. But of all the planes I flew, all the projects I tested, Daedelus is the only one that ever kicked my ass."

"My point exactly. Besides, that was supposed to be your last flight - remember? You were gonna retire from playing Johnny Test Pilot."

"Yes - when I finished the job!" Steve began pacing the den. "Jaime, I don't want my last job - my legacy as a pilot - to have been a failure."

"It wasn't. You proved that their billion dollar baby was an unsafe, unstable death trap. Mission accomplished."

"Jaime, please just listen to -"

"No."

Steve sat back down and took her hand. "I just want to finish what I started," he said quietly. "I know that plane better than anyone else does. It's like...like she's my baby." He instantly realized his poor choice of words.

"Your baby?" Jaime jerked her hand from his. She was fuming. "Wrong! Your babies are in the next room, trusting that their daddy will be here for them, alive and in one piece, tomorrow, next week, next year! That piece of metal out on that airstrip damn near took your life!"

"They need me, Jaime -"

"James and Lauren need you. I need you." She looked directly into his face, her eyes angry, frightened and pleading, all at once. "Please?"

Steve took his wife gently into his arms and held her close for a very long time. He knew she was right; his family needed him. He was precisely where he belonged.