Amy Dallon

We sat around the table and Vicky frowned at me.

"But MOM!"

Mom's face was in a tight frown.

"Don't Mom me, this is the 6th time Vicky, the 6th time! You can't go around maiming gangbangers."

"But he really hurt a girl."

Mom nodded her head.

"And that's why your only grounded for 1 week instead of even more. Do you want me to go over all the ways you screwed up?"

"But I took down the bad guy, that counts for something right?"

Mom closed her eyes.

"One, and this is important, you went on patrol without your armor."

"But it feels weird."

To be fair to Vicky it did feel weird, the inside of it felt kind of like being encased in jell-o. I created it that way because I needed to compensate for heat, to increase the ballistic defense and make it easier to control. There were lots of legitimate reasons why I built the armor the way I did. The fact that I actually like the feeling of being encased in jell-o wasn't a factor. Ok maybe a slight one, um totally not in the top 5, maybe reason number 7.

"It has a built in tranqualizer Vicky, we save our superpowers for actual capes for lots of reasons moral, ethical and legal, but thats not the only reason I'm upset, you went on patrol by yourself. Alone without any back up. What if it had been a trap?"

"I could have handled it."

"If it had been Lung? If that bomb Tinker had been around? What we do is dangerous but your supposed to use your best judgement. We're more then a team, we're a family and family sticks together."

"Fine."

"And were going to do more martial arts training, because I taught you better then that."

"Fine."

Vicky stormed off to her room and mom took a sip of coffee.

"Thanks for telling me, Amy."

"I think she's-"

"Vicky is mad at you, but she needs to grow up."

Mom stared into her coffee.

"We talked, me, your dad, your aunt, uncles... and we've been lucky, really lucky New Wave's beaten the odds."

I smiled.

"We're the best."

"We're good, but we're not the best... point is, we talked about it and if anything happens to us adults, then you're going to be in charge."

I stared at her.

"But Crystal's older and-"

"Crystal's the one who suggested it."

I leaned back and sat in silence.

"But isn't Vicky a better choice."

Mom shook her head.

"I love your sister, she's a good fighter, a good soldiers but she doesn't think, she doesn't use strategy. I have to put the future of New Wave first."

I stared at the table.

"But wasn't my dad, um you know..."

"Evil?"

Mom took a sip of coffee.

"Your dad... your dad was complicated, he was a bad man but he died doing the right thing, fighting the war. I fought with him, and against him and while he made some really bad decisions he was also brave, and had in his own way a sense of honor."

"Did he love me?"

The question a lot of adopted children have, did my parents abandon me because I'm some reject toy?

"More then anything."

Mom paused staring into her coffee.

"We love you too you know, I'm not good at this, um kind of thing but we do care."

"Thanks mom."

Mom then smiled.

"So, are their any boys in your life."

I shrunk into myself my face getting red.

"Um... um... I have to get ready for school."

I bolted for my bed room as I heard my mother chuckle.