James fell flat on his face.

He lay there for a moment in peace before he forced himself up to his knees, his cheek stinging from the impact. Above him, a seven-foot-tall armored figure loomed over him, casting him in shadow. James rolled to his feet and settled into a basic stance that had been drilled into him mercilessly over the past month.

"What happened there?" said Arthur. As the CQC specialist of the 707th Special Forces Group with an aptly named 'Armadillo' Quirk, the man was a human battering ram. However, despite his intimidating size and lack of emotion, he was very much a softie inside. Probably why he had agreed to take on an eight year old brat in the first place.

"Tripped over my own feet," James grumbled, and Arthur cracked a craggy smile.

"Well then, you know what to do."

James felt less like a martial artist than a soccer player. Arthur sent him to do constant drills on ladders and hurdles, as well as skip rope and run around the gym, but in the month since this whole thing had started, he hadn't actually learned to fight at all. So far, it was just being shoved from different directions and learning to fall correctly.

Patience, the Other Half would whisper, whenever these frustrations bubbled near the surface. They'll make steel from your iron, just you wait. The sentiment was nice, and James was more mature than other kids his age, but that didn't mean he was itching to move onto something new, something interesting.

Sighing, James picked up a skipping rope and began to hop. At least it was more exciting than running, and he'd learned to criss-cross the other day so now he could look forward to spicing up his routine a bit more. Running was so immensely boring, round and round through the same old scenery, not to mention the monotonous movements.

Though he shouldn't be hard on Arthur. He was too small yet to actually spar with anyone, and he was building up his endurance and agility and coordination for when he was ready. Even now he could breathe easier and deeper than before, and he slept better, too.

"Looking good, squirt," said Matt, walking in with the other men and women of the 707th; James recognized Isaac, the hulking African-American who had been with Cath during the raid; Armaan, who looked terrifying with his glorious beard and turban yet exceedingly kind; and Kelly, one of the few other women in the group, who winked flirtatiously, trying to get a reaction out of him so she could coo about how cute he was.

"Shut up," said James, and Matt laughed.

"You're improving," said Armaan, giving a thumbs-up. "You'll surpass us someday soon."

James exaggerated his eyeroll, visible even though him constantly bouncing up and down on the spot, but he was touched. Cathleen might've been the one to take him in, but it was as a group that these people had rescued him. Sure, some were cocky assholes that some military types tended to be, but most were good people, even if they had different ways of showing it.

He watched the soldiers walk onto the mat and do some stretches, under Arthur's supervision. Hand-to-hand combat should be a last resort for any soldier, but they were skilled even in that. James watched as Kelly, one of the smallest people in the platoon, disarm a fellow soldier nearly twice her size and reverse her stolen knife into his gut. If James did go on to become a hero, though, then hand-to-hand would be more important for him, especially grappling and dealing with opponents carrying weapons. He knew, intellectually, that these people had been practicing for years and years, but they made everything they did look so effortless.

Body improvement, Fight On! the Other Half urged.

James resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. Even his Other Half was becoming more talkative now that they were out of the Compound, and it seemed their favorite topics were references that were never explained and dad jokes.

James missed a beat and the rope smacked hard against his toes. His lungs and calves on fire, and the arches of his feet feeling like they'd been tenderized, he allowed himself to sit down and take cautious sips from his water bottle. The sound of flesh against flesh and two-hundred-plus pound bodies hitting the mat echoed through the gym. Occasionally, those who had spar-friendly Quirks would try them out, like Kelly's Cold Breath or Isaac's Joint Lock, further increasing their lethality. In contrast, here was James, tiny and short and with a Quirk that didn't let him fight.

Don't be foolish. Survive long enough, and you will surpass even your mentor.

James scowled. Everyone told him that, from Cath to David to even his Other Half, but what did he care for five, ten years in the future? He needed that strength now, he needed to be seen improving for both his sanity and Cath's, for surely if she did not see his potential then he would be nothing more than dead weight to her, a misjudged acolyte—

"Yo!" The doors were thrown open and Cath strode in, dressed in her combat uniform, her hair tied into a bun under her cap. "So who's ready to get their ass kicked?"

"Take off those powers and we'll find out," someone called.

James felt an irrational flash of jealousy as somehow, he wasn't the first person on Cath's mind as she entered. It wasn't as if he was surprised — they'd only known each other for a couple of months, after all, and she'd known these people for years, ever since she'd graduated from UC Berkeley and applied straight to the officer course. They'd struggled and bled together, likely saved each others' lives as well, given how often Cath was sent into combat. By contrast, James was just some no-name kid from one commune out of many.

Cath cupped her ear. "Sorry, who was that? Was that you and your skinny ass, Max? Let's see if your zits start glowing when I snap your spine in half and shake you up."

The crowd of Army men and women jeered, jostling the now-named Max between them. Removing her cap and jacket, Cath approached James, and knelt to be on the same eye-level. Without her Star and Stripe persona, Cath looked a lot more human. A giant one, admittedly, and definitely more than strong enough to fold Max in half, but she wasn't wearing the mask that subtly hardened her facial structure into something like Lady Liberty, and she wasn't wearing the makeup that hid her spots and freckles. Her smile, too, was a lot smaller, but much more genuine than that of her persona. Her eyes were a sparkling blue, their beauty not at all diminished by the crow's feet that were forming around the corners, with how often and how easily Cath smiled. He liked her eyes.

The Other Half somehow managed to translate the 'aww' noise into a mixture of instinctively decipherable emotions. He flushed and looked away.

"Heya," she said. "Training hard?"

James shrugged. "I guess."

"Good. I don't know if I tell you this enough, but I'm proud of you."

"You said that this morning when I made my own sandwich," James said, and Cath laughed.

"And I was proud of you then. Still am now." Cath squeezed his shoulder. She had gotten remarkably good at moderating her strength after the first few times she'd almost pulverized his bones. "You fine staying here for another hour or so?"

"Yeah?" James tilted his head. "What happens in an hour?"

"We were gonna get Melissa a gift. Her birthday's tomorrow, or did you forget?"

"Oh," said James, and Cath laughed again. "Right. Her birthday."

"You don't have to pretend with me," said Cath, grinning widely, messing up his hair. "You two are so cute together. The sooner you accept it, the better off you'll be."

"I'm not pretending!" James batted her hand away, and it felt a little like slapping a brick wall, but Cath laughed and stood back up.

"Be with you in an hour, brat! Make sure to stay hydrated!"

With Cath in the same room, James forced himself to stand back up and work harder. He felt a bit stupid — Cath would be proud of every little thing he did, if she was being genuine — but what if she wasn't, deep down? Instead merely convincing herself that she was, because that was what good parents were supposed to do? It felt good to be praised, but praise from Eli or from Margaret good all the same. And he was smart enough to know that they wanted something out of him. What Cath wanted from him was unclear, but if he didn't meet that criteria… what would he do? Where would he even go?

With such thoughts swirling in his mind, the hour felt very long. Cath looked happy. At ease, among her comrades. And he didn't blame her for that. He just wished he could make her laugh and smile the way these people could. He didn't know whether or not she'd heard the thoughts directed at her, but she met his eyes from across the room, and her grin faded a little, her brows furrowing in concern. James could only flush and look away. He really hoped she couldn't read her mind. Could she? If she declared herself capable of reading minds…

The Other Half only laughed at him. If Cath could read minds, then she was definitely going to freak out the moment she heard James' strange cranial passenger in there.

He diligently focused on the task at hand, just in case.

The crowd of meatheads slowly dissolved, chest-bumping and back-slapping like these overly musclebound idiots tended to do once they were in large enough groups. James tied the skipping rope into a bunny-eared knot for convenience and stashed it with the bucket of agility-training equipment that Arthur had brought out. Cath approached, tugging at her collar but not yet breaking a sweat.

"Good work," she said, smiling. "I saw you. You looked hyper-focused. Like a man on a mission." She chuckled. "A smelly one. Let's get home, shall we?"

Cath's house a reasonably new, two-bedroom, single-storey home near the southern gate of the Fort Hope Army Base. It was a little far from the amenities further north, like the supermarket and gym, but it wasn't much of a concern to those who could fly, and to both her and James, their daily commute was nothing but an elaborate obstacle course to make up their training.

"Is this what it was like for you growing up?" James asked, as he ducked under a tree. "Going in, training, going home?"

Cath rolled onto her back, her arms folded, and hummed thoughtfully. "I guess," she finally said. "I had a lot of tutors, for both military and regular academic subjects. A lot of them didn't know who I was or what I could do, just that I had a Quirk too useful to be let into enemy hands and that I was being groomed into a weapon of war." Her expression fell a little. "I didn't really have many friends, not until I went to college and met people that aren't saluting everyone and adding 'sir' to the end of every sentence."

"Oh."

"My sister kept me sane." She smiled again. "She had some boring old hair-color Quirk, so she got to grow up normally. She'd introduce me to her friends, take me out bowling and all that. Best score I ever got was sixty-eight." She laughed. "I should take you to her sometime. She works in Psyops — I told her to pick a branch that wouldn't see combat, hopefully." She turned in midair to face him, then. "But I want you to have a choice, a life outside the military. You've already been made to live a life according to someone else's whims, and I know what that's like, even if it turned out mostly alright for me. I'm glad you're thinking about becoming a superhero, despite my reservations… because others wouldn't stand for it if you let that power just sit still. Best case you'd get snatched up like I was; worst case, well…"

"I get it," said James softly.

Cath smiled sadly. "I suppose you do, huh?"

James followed Cath in doing tight loops around a flagpole five times before continuing on their way.

"Do you think Melissa is like us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," said James, hesitantly, "she lived in I-Island all her life, right? With only other scientists?"

Cath pursed her lips. "Yeah, I guess she did. And she might not have a Quirk, but she's a freak of nature in a different way to us… Now, I'm not calling you dumb," she said quickly, "but Melissa's a real genius, like her dad. She's so far ahead of the rest of humanity that it's not even funny. The kind of math I needed for my degree had me completely stumped, I almost failed those courses — but Melissa can solve them easy. And she's only, what, nine? Turning ten?"

"So I-Island will want to hold onto her, like the Army did with you?"

"And like the Army will want to do to you too."

"Oh," said James.

His first impression of Melissa hadn't been the best. She was hyperactive, a bit bossy, and uncomfortably reminded him of another girl about the same age and hair and eye coloring — and she could be quite arrogant in her smarts. After the incident on the first day of school, she'd mellowed out some, telling him that he was welcome to ask for homework help anytime, but that lack of interaction with kids her age was still painfully clear. James had thought she'd lived a charmed life, with her rich father and few tragedies barring the death of a mother she didn't remember anyway, but the more he thought, the more he regretted the things he said to her, and the way he acted.

Do not be discouraged. Let us learn from our mistakes, and do better.

The rest of their flight concluded in silence, until Cath unlocked the front door and told him he could shower first. The shower room was separate from the toilet, a rather useful feature when Cath decided she wanted to go through her favorite songs while washing her hair, and perhaps as a privilege of rank, the bathroom was wide and modern and clean. White tiles covered the walls, and the floors was granite polished so fine that he could see his face in it. On the sink was a plastic All Might cup with a pair of toothbrushes in them, with the All Might toothbrush belonging to Cath and the Star & Stripe toothbrush belonging to James because Cath could get her own branded items for free and she was a cheapskate when it came to raising a child. All sorts of beauty and skincare products were littered across the sink and thrown haphazardly into the drawers, with the cord of a hairdryer hanging out from one and pooling on the floor, and the tube of toothpaste had blue-green crust all over the nozzle. Both James and the Other Half grimaced a little at the sight, and made a mental note to clean the sink when he got back home, and hope that Cath saw her eight-year-old adopted son clean up after her and be a little more self-conscious in the future.

The shower was likewise clean and sparkling, if not for the rack full of facial skincare products dangerously close to falling off the edge and long blonde locks tangled in the drain. James shook his head in disappointment as he let the water run; the solar-heated water was blasted out of a super-efficient showerhead with such pressure that it almost felt like standing under a waterfall. Slightly stinging sensation or not, it was soothing on his aching body, and it was a challenge to make himself step out once he'd scrubbed himself clean.

"You're gross," he said bluntly as he passed by Cath, and she gasped before slamming the door. Soon, he heard the shower whistling, and Cath began a surprisingly good rendition of the Super Kids Assemble! theme song. It would be a while until she'd be out. He wandered the kitchen, and dragged a chair towards one of the cupboards so he could get the snacks off the high shelf. Potato rings safely retrieved, he wondered what he should be getting for Melissa. He'd never given someone a gift — he hadn't been expected to in the Compound, with how young he was — and the Other Half wasn't much help either.

She'd been complaining about space, he remembered. Quirk research had rapidly overtaken all other fields of research, though his Other Half grudgingly admittedly it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After all, wasn't Quirk research a subcategory of biology, spurred on after the most rapid evolutionary change to ever occur in human history? Not to mention that Quirks broke the laws of physics in a way that couldn't be explained, and even if some knowledge was simply too advanced for humanity to handle, scientists could take advantage of Quirks to simulate impossible environments, like perfect vacuums, to perform experiments. Overall, human knowledge had broadened quite significantly over the past few centuries, though nowhere near at the same rate as the centuries after the Industrial Revolution.

However, this had the effect of drawing attention from space, and combined with the massive worldwide depression that came about as a result of Quirks, funding for research decreased. Furthermore, when conflict spread from hotspots, terrorists began targeting satellites providing critical information to their enemies; this had the effect of driving investors from space technology. And that was only the beginning. As the conditions of the world worsened, science fell to the wayside in preference for restoring law and order, even in a country as rich as the United States. After all, America had always had a habit of fostering rotten people who cared little for others and hated entire groups on principle.

So, space. Melissa had once loudly proclaimed that she would become the Empress of Mars when she became an adult, and James would be her chief janitor. If she wanted, Melissa could go on hour-long tangents about star classes and chondrite dating and the history of everything in the universe, ever, and if he was being honest to himself, James kind of liked it. Melissa's eyes would take on a glittering character as she babbled about everything that came to mind, occasionally mispronouncing a number of scientific terms, and she was always genuine about it. She would smile like nothing could ever hurt her, and it was precious.

Eventually, the whistling of the water system stopped, and he heard the hairdryer blasting inside the bathroom. A few minutes later, Cath emerged with her hair sticking up everywhere, dressed in t-shirt and jeans, the kind that had cuffs and a waistband because she was too big to fit in most standard pairs of jeans.

"I want to get something related to space."

"For Melissa? Good choice," said Cath, running her fingers through her hair. "What did you have in mind?"

James shrugged awkwardly. I-Island's astronomy department was small, but by no means poorly equipped; Melissa would have seen the stars far better than he would ever be able to. However, the one weakness it had was light pollution. For better or worse, I-Island was lit up like a Christmas tree. Having grown up there, that meant that Melissa had never seen a proper night sky. Coming from someone who had lived up to this point mostly without electricity, it was a strange thought.

"Camping?" said James, and Cath raised an eyebrow. "She might like to see the night sky somewhere. We could bring a telescope and all that."

"I guess that could work," said Cath. "Do you know what to do when you go camping?"

"I know how to make a fire," said James. Eli had been a good teacher. "I know how to make fish traps and make cool knots and stuff. I don't know about the rest, though."

"That's okay. I still remember a few things from my boot camp days." Cath shuddered. "No, I like it. Melissa's always been sheltered, so this will be an entirely new experience for her. Good idea, shrimp!"

"Quit calling me that," James grumbled, but felt his chest lighten.

"Why don't we go shopping for camping goods and a telescope tonight?" said Cath, pulling out her phone and texting David, presumably. "And we can make plans to go camping on a clear night."

"Yeah," said James.

"David says yes," said Cath, holding the screen close to her face. It looks worse than the first few generations of iPhones, the Other Half commented. "He says: I haven't been camping since college with Toshi and he hunted a rabbit on all fours pretending to be a mountain lion. Great idea, James! Looking forward to it. Thumbs up emoji."

"What?" said James.

"I agree. I'm not really sure what I just read," said Cath, tucking the phone into her pocket. "Let's head out before all the stores close, yeah?"

The F-150, much smaller and cramped than what the Other Half was expecting, smelled faintly of alcohol, as did most cars that he'd come across. Biofuels, particularly sugar-derived ethanol, was the primary fuel source for personal vehicles; the F-150, being a more high-performance vehicle, had a lower ethanol ratio with the other part being made up of higher-energy, synthesized hydrocarbons. This was the highest-end model, he was fairly certain, and modified by the military to shrug off small arms fire. Couldn't have their most powerful human weapon getting injured in a carjacking or something.

They drove for about half an hour, idly chatting about school or about James' workout, and Cath occasionally reciprocated with stories from her workplace, at least the things that weren't classified. Her brief talk with the President had apparently gone through, and additional task forces were being formed to deal with these Quirk communes, and more homes were being built for future wards of the state with volatile Quirks. Like Cath had with James, other military or superhero candidates after stringent psychological vetting had been qualified to adopt any children that may be liberated from these places. James was glad, but a part of him wondered if Cath would find another kid. It would be selfish of him to deny someone as kind as Cathleen to another child in need, but he didn't feel comfortable sharing her. He didn't say this out loud, however, and Cath likely took his silence as mourning for those he'd lost before, giving him space.

The outdoors store was one of the larger ones, full of not just camping goods but catering for all sorts of outdoor hobbies; there was a rack of mountain bikes in one corner, large eight-person tents set up on display in another, with kayaks and canoes hanging from the walls and fishing rods lining another like decorative swords and pikes in a castle. There were even some telescopes on display, which was helpful. Immediately, James veered off towards the blades instruments, to Cath's both amusement and exasperation.

"No, I'm not getting you a tomahawk," Cath said, before he could say anything.

"What about —"

"Not getting you a machete either. Or a crossbow."

"What about this one?" James said, and Cath looked over his shoulder.

"Is that really what you want? A carbon steel spork?" Cath said. "Wait a minute, that one has a fold-up knife. You sneaky brat."

"Hey there," said a voice. The store owner was perhaps the most stereotypical outdoors store owner James had ever seen, despite the fact that he'd never been to an outdoors store; the Other Half's memories must be leaking again. He was reasonably tall, though he still had to look up to Cath's six foot four, and had broad shoulders and arms that spoke of a lot of muscle under that fat. He had a beer gut and a bushy greying beard, and wore an olive t-shirt and black cargo pants. "What are we looking for today?"

"Just camping supplies," said Cath. "It's been a while since the last time I went. The little fella just got distracted by the shinies."

He laughed like a bear. "Fair enough," he said. "Did you need a tent? For how many?"

"I was thinking two for two people."

"Then let me show you." They began weaving through the aisles towards the camping gear. "Are you Army, by any chance?"

"Yep."

"Hmph. I was in the Marines, myself."

"Failed the written test, did you?"

"Ha! I thought I'd had a good shot given I could count all the way to a hundred." Cath snorted at that. "But no, I had family in the Marines, is all. Now I won't bother you with the low-end ones, because you know the value of good, reliable gear. This is the one I recommend…"

The one he was talking about was the second-most expensive tent for two people. It looked sturdy enough, James supposed, and spacious enough to accommodate Cath's gigantic frame, and he knew Cath could afford it. He just wondered if the owner genuinely felt this product was the right one, or if he was just saying it because he wanted a bigger cut of the sale.

"I don't know if I'm willing to spend two-thirty," Cath said blandly.

"We have military discounts here. It'd be about one-ninety-five, for you."

Cath hummed. "Fifteen percent off? Okay. Look at you, you can count more than a hundred after all."

"Necessary skills for the trade," he grinned. "What do you think?"

"It's good enough. I'll take two of them. How about some sleeping bags?"

In the end, the total for the tents, sleeping bags, bedrolls, a first aid kit, a pair of hand-cranked flashlights, and a telescope came close to twelve hundred dollars, most of it just the telescope. Cath did not seem at all concerned as she paid with card; she was rich enough that she never actually kept track of her bank account, just knowing that her lifestyle, even once James came along, was able to afford it. She wasn't the type to drown herself in luxury regardless, perhaps because of her military upbringing.

"Thanks for your help," said Cath, taking the goods and hoisting them easily, while James struggled with the telescope in its case on its own.

"Always my pleasure," said the man. "You two have a good trip, now."

"Thank you," James called, stumbling out of the store.

"That was quick, huh?" Cath smiled down at him, slowing her gait so he could keep up. "Looks like the day after tomorrow will have good weather all day and night. David already agreed to it while we were looking at the sleeping bags. What do you think?"

James smiled a little at her. "It'll be fun."

Cath placed a hand on his head. "Yes, it certainly will be."


"Camping?"

Cath cringed away from Melissa. She'd once made the mistake of going to the high-power shooting range without proper ear protection, and the girl's excited squeal felt rather similar to that. Still, the bright-eyed girl's obvious excitement put a smile on her face.

"I've never been camping," Melissa said, bouncing on her heels. "Are we going fishing? Are we using fire sticks? Are we digging latrines?"

"Yes, yes, and probably not," said David. "There are public toilets there."

Even latrines would probably be preferable to said toilets, in Cath's opinion. The bodyguards — apparently they were family friends of the Shields, and having watched Melissa grow up, even more fiercely loyal than Cath had expected — were tagging along, though they would be staying in the car or patrolling the perimeter rather than sleeping in a tent. Hopefully, between the Number One hero and the two of them, the trip would be incident-free.

"And this was your idea?" Melissa turned to James, who shrugged. "I… thanks. I appreciate it."

Cath's grin widened just a smidge as James turned away, the tips of his ears turning pink. If simple gratitude was enough to fluster him like that, then Mel and all the other girls were going to eat him alive in a few more years.

They did not take the massive limousine, but instead a large black SUV with tinted windows. One of the bodyguards drove, with David in the passenger side; the other bodyguard sat in the back, with Cath, and the two kids sat in the middle. Thankfully, being a seven seater with removable seats, Cath was able to arrange one of the middle row seats to be removed so that she didn't have to sit with her knees pressed against her chest.

"I spy with my little eye…" Melissa paused, and pressed her face against the window. "What's that?"

James squinted. "It's a bird."

"I know what a bird is, you dummy. I'm asking what kind of bird."

"A raven."

"You think everything's a raven!"

"How should I know? I'm not a bird scientist."

"That's called an ornithologist!"

"Gesundheit."

"Shut up!"

And so it went, until they both got bored and restarted the game. Cath shook her head. It seemed that James wasn't the only one who was too easily flustered. She looked forward to watching them grow, and once they were old enough, she'd enjoy seeing them continually getting flustered at each other until they were both blushing wrecks.

"Hey, Melissa."

Melissa turned to James suspiciously. "What?"

"I have a knock knock joke."

"Okay. Tell me."

"You have to start it for it to work."

"Okay?" Melissa said warily. "Knock knock."

"Who's there?"

Melissa stuttered, and the adults laughed. Unable to formulate a response in time, Melissa huffed and crossed her arms, turning away. Cath would have to remember that one.

It was strange how normal James seemed at times. Maybe it was a bit rude to phrase it that way, but it was the truth. Growing up in a commune was not a kind life, especially if that commune had already been established for some time. The Confederate Republic of California was, if she remembered right, at least eighty years old; that was more than enough time for a distinct culture to form, especially with cultists. Despite that, James was surprisingly wise about the state of the world, his opinions more nuanced than anything expected of a child, and he knew good knock-knock jokes. Maybe it was just her biases speaking, but Cath had never expected race purity cultists to embrace knock-knock jokes like, well, normal people.

How many more kids were out there, just as kind and funny and innocent, corrupted by these insidious adults?

James stared out the window for all of two minutes before he turned around.

"Melissa, can I have some Skittles?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're annoying."

"I'm not annoying." James paused. "I'm not that annoying."

"You're the most annoying person in the universe and I wish we'd left you at the last toilet stop."

The bodyguard beside Cath — Mandy, if Cath remembered right — tutted, and Melissa frowned.

"Sorry."

"You're not sorry."

"Not really."

"Mel," said David.

"Sorry, daddy."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to," he chided lightly, before folding his arm behind his seat, his palm towards the ceiling. "Anyway, I want some Skittles too."

Eager as always to please her father, Melissa opened the bag — and Cath winced as she opened it in a way that made it more liable to spill — and she picked out all the orange ones and gave them to David. David stared at the pile of orange Skittles in his hand, shrugged, and split it halfway with the driver. James reached over, but Melissa held the bag out of his reach.

"You can have eight," she said.

"Because I'm eight years old?"

"Well, duh. And I get nine."

"That's not fair."

"Is too. Also, I get all the green ones."

"But I like the green ones!"

"Too bad."

In the end, James did nag Melissa to the point she shared the green Skittles if only to get him to shut up. The interactions were cute, but damn if Cath wasn't glad they'd reached their destination, because she was slowly going insane in there. A few hours outside of San Francisco, about an hour south of Yosemite, the car came to a halt on a gravel parking lot and the driver killed the engine. Being October, there were much fewer people than usual, few enough that they might be able to go their whole two-day trip without seeing any of the other groups.

"Thanks, Charlie," said David, stepping out. "That hits the spot. It's been a while since I isolated myself from civilization."

"So many trees," Melissa breathed. And then she went and hugged a tree, because why not.

"You okay, James?" Cath asked, as James stood silently with his hands in his pockets.

"Reminds me of home." Cath froze, but James shrugged. "What can I carry?"

Cath forced a smile onto her face as she popped the trunk and handed him one of the tents. He buckled a little under the weight but determinedly pulled the strap over his shoulder. "You're getting strong. I'm proud of you." She felt her composure recover a little when James smiled at that. "David, stop being useless and take this."

David grunted as she dumped the other tent into his arms. "What did you give me, a sack of bricks?"

She rolled her eyes. "You've gotten weak," she said, lightly punching him — and he winced, almost dropping his trusted cargo, only proving her point. "You need to get out of the lab and lift some weights or something. You noodle."

Cath carried the rest of the stuff as they hiked a bit further away from the parking lot, far enough that the headlights from the cars would mostly be blocked by the trees, but not so far as to make Mandy and Charlie's patrols difficult. They picked a small clearing surrounded by redwoods, with a small creek nearby that provided a soothing noise. Melissa laughed in delight as she ran up to the creek and crouched, marveling at the small fish and possibly even crayfish.

"Okay," she said. "James, help me with this tent. We'll race Mel and David to see who can put it up first."

It was a perfectly unfair competition given their respective backgrounds compared to the total nerds that the Shields were, and she could see the resignation in David's eyes. But Melissa puffed herself up and grabbed her father's hand. "You're going to lose," she vowed, and David smiled.

"Are you sure about that? Now ready, steady… go!"

James tore open the zipper and quickly began laying out the various components. These were two-person tents, they couldn't be that complicated. Two beams would go from corner to far corner, supporting the tent in a pyramid-like structure; all they had to do was lay the tent out and be well-coordinated in erecting the structure. Cath and James spread their folded-up tent on the ground, and they arranged the tent poles, and they managed to get it up in record time. James took the mallet to hammer in the pegs, while Cath used her Quirk and the heel of her hand.

"One minute, forty-two seconds," Cath crowed, while David and Melissa had only gotten their first tent pole through. "You guys need a hand?"

"No," David snapped, and Melissa stuck her tongue out at them. "Come on, Melissa, my clever owl. We can do it."

And they did manage, though they took twice as long as Cath and James did. In the spirit of good sportsmanship and not ruining their trip before they barely even started, Cath smiled at both of them and suggested they explore the area a bit. So they began to walk leisurely through the trees; she saw James' sneakers shift into hiking boots like Cath's as they walked. Useful stuff. Shopping for shoes was always a nightmare, especially for someone her size.

"David," said James, because the man didn't like being called 'Mr. Shield', "I remember you said something about All Might chasing a rabbit on all fours."

"Oh!" David laughed. "Yeah, that. Honestly, he was such a nerd — his appearance was pure jock, but he was so eager to study and get good grades and be a teacher's pet. So I and a few others had the idea to try and get him to loosen up a bit. We decided to take him camping during the summer. Even that was a challenge because he was throwing himself into heroics and his part-time job like his manager actually cared about him."

"Where did he work?" Cath said, curious.

"Oh, one of those noodle places I forgot the name of," said David. "I'm fairly certain he only worked there because the free leftovers drastically cut down on food costs. Anyway, we drove up around here, actually, set up a tent, then we brought out the beer, and he was horrified because none of us were twenty-one yet. We kept bugging him until he finally deigned to try a bottle or two. Turns out he was a complete lightweight."

"Hah!" Cath slapped her hand across her thigh. "You wouldn't expect it with him being a giant and all."

"None of us did. It was a shock," said David. "Apparently his muscle form metabolizes everything really quickly, but otherwise? Complete lightweight. Didn't help he just kept drinking, too. I was feeling a bit mean so I suggested he go hunt us food, and he tried. Goodness, he tried. He woke up the next morning stark naked, and we'd hidden his clothes under the tent itself, and we pretended not to know where they were until we started packing up the tent to leave. Good times."

Cath smirked slightly, and David shook his head.

"Don't get any ideas. There are innocent eyes here."

"So was All Might supersized everywhere?" James asked with all the childlike innocence he could muster, and David spluttered.

"What do you mean?" Melissa said, and turned to her father. "What does he mean?"

"I…" David said hesitantly, "don't remember."

"Coward," James muttered, and Cath couldn't help but laugh.

With the earlier drive and the nature walk, the sun began to set, and they returned to the campsite where James and Cath demonstrated how to build a smokeless fire; when that was going, they set up a small gas-fueled grill and popped open the cooler box, from which emerged two packs of jumbo hot dogs. David decided to put himself in charge of the grilling — he might've been a nerd, but he still had the innate Dad Energy — and in the meantime, Cath entertained the brats by showing them some survival hints.

"See?" Cath crouched down, and pointed at the faint colony of moss growing on the exposed roots of a redwood tree. "This happens because the shadowed side is colder, and that means more damp, as well."

"I read about that!" Melissa said, crouching down beside her. "That's so cool!"

"I bet you did," Cath said fondly, messing up her hair. "You've read just about everything, haven't you?"

"Not as much as Daddy," Melissa admitted. "But I will one day!"

Cath chuckled, and the kids dangled from her arms as she carried them back to camp. James in particular was heavier than she expected — maybe the Star-Spangled Diet was going better than she'd ever hoped. Not to say Melissa was a lightweight either. She was rapidly approaching another growth spurt.

"Who's hungry?" said David, and the kids hopped off and ran at him.

The jumbo dogs were better than she'd been expecting — mostly plant based, but it had some actual pork in it, and it didn't taste like diluted pork. The kids tackled their own with cheer after a long day of driving and walking, while David was more subdued, and Cath swallowed hers in three bites before moving onto the next one. She was bigger than all three of them combined, so they'd better not judge her about it. The meal finished with both kids clutching their stomachs and groaning, while Cath felt like she could go for a couple more hot dogs.

"Marshmallows!" said Melissa, bouncing on her seat, and David laughed as he brought out the similarly jumbo-sized marshmallows.

Cath speared hers on a stick, and so did James; the two kids turned their snacks with matching expressions of extreme concentration. Cath idly turned hers, making sure no one particular spot got too crispy. David, the heathen and idiot, apparently preferred his almost black, but Cath suspected he was just bad at roasting them and was covering that up.

"No!" Melissa wailed as her marshmallow slid into the fire and bloated like that one Marshmallow villain from that pre-Quirk movie. Cath could only laugh at the expression of pure misery on her face.

"You're really bad at this," said James, fishing a pretty well-toasted marshmallow and biting into its side with no hesitation.

"Shut up," Melissa said miserably. Her next marshmallow went better, but still closer to David's product than Cath's, or even James', and she crossed her arms and pouted.

But then, the stars started to come out, and Melissa was entranced.

"That's so pretty," she murmured, unexpectedly subdued, staring up at the sky.

"That's Sirius," said James, pointing.

"Alpha Canoris Majoris," Melissa agreed. "I don't see the dog."

"Me neither."

"And that one must be Jupiter! Right, Daddy?"

"I think so," said David, flipping through the star charts. "Give me a second, I'll set up the telescope."

Cath sat down on a log and watched the two of them. Melissa seemed completely absorbed in the sky, but James was looking at her instead, smiling. It was too cute. Slowly, and carefully, she raised her phone and, ensuring the flash was off, snapped a picture. Completely unaware, James had gone back to looking up.

"That's the Big Dipper, right?"

"Mhm. And you can trace that line to the Little Dipper."

"I don't see it." Melissa pulled James close, making him stand behind her a point over his shoulder. "Oh! There it is! That's the North Star, too!"

"Y-yeah," he stuttered, and Cath resisted the urge to pinch his cheeks.

"Daddy, is it done yet?"

"Just a minute, pumpkin," called David, scratching his head at the half-assembled telescope, and using the flashlight on his phone to look for something.

"You'd better not have lost a piece," said Cath, her voice dangerously low. "It was expensive."

"No, I know it was here just then. I just seem to have bumped it with my knee or something… Aha, there you are."

After a few more minutes, David had the telescope set up and swung it towards what Melissa had identified as Jupiter. He peered through it, and gestured to Cath. "Would you like to see through the telescope you bought?"

"Is this one of those upside down images?" Cath crouched down and closed one eye. "Oh, that's pretty cool."

She could see Jupiter as a golden orb, slightly blurry but not so much that she couldn't see the famous Great Red Spot, along with three of its moons, nothing more than tiny pinpricks of light. She stepped back and the two kids both stepped forward at once, but then James decided to be a gentleman. Cath grinned. Maybe he was still off-balance from that sort-of hug from earlier.

"Thanks," Melissa said, her voice a little more subdued. "Would you hold my glasses for me?"

"Sure," said James, and accepted them.

David and Cath glanced at each other, not bothering to hide the smiles on their faces. It looked like they'd both come to the same conclusion. Melissa squeezed shut one eye and grinned as she looked down the eyepiece.

"You can see the storm with this tiny telescope!" she exclaimed. "Did you know Cassini was the one to discover this spot in 1665? We're not quite sure if it's the same storm or not, but given this storm has been definitively recorded since the eighteenth century, it's not hard to believe it's existed before then."

"Can I see?" James said hesitantly, and Melissa whipped her head back.

"Sure! And thanks," she added, taking her glasses back, and James looked, making the appropriate noises as he did so.

David, using the chart as a guide, swung them about to look at Saturn and Mars; seeing the rings on Saturn was definitely the coolest thing, in Cath's opinion. After that, Melissa and James picked out a few stars they wanted to see; they had to hike a bit to find a good line of sight to the Pleiades cluster, which Melissa had requested, while James wanted to find the Andromeda galaxy.

"I didn't know you could see it with a normal telescope," said Melissa, and Cath nodded her agreement.

"You can probably see it right now," said James, and he not-so-subtly stepped close to Melissa again. Melissa didn't seem to mind at all, though, with the way she leaned back into him. "Just there. See the blob?"

"Yeah," said Melissa, her voice quiet. "Hi, Mom."

Cath glanced at David, who pursed his lips. "It's her mother's name," he said softly.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright." David smiled, a melancholy expression. "I know she'd be proud of the girl Mel's become."

"We all are, Dave. And of you too. You're the one who raised her."

David laughed softly. "Thanks, Cath."

Melissa peered through the telescope. "She's beautiful," she said, and Cath told herself she wouldn't cry. Kids didn't cry unless they felt they had to, and Cath wouldn't be the one to signal that this was an occasion for tears. James looked a little uncomfortable, like he wished he could help but didn't know how.

"May I?" he asked politely instead, and Melissa beamed at him as she stepped back.

They stood there for a little bit longer, watching the stars on the moonless night, until the winds started to pick up and the stars began to twinkle. David checked his watch and Cath couldn't resist the yawn. She saw James' eyelids drooping as well, and David called it a night and packed up the telescope.

"I love you," Melissa called out to the empty sky, and maybe for just a moment, the stars twinkled a little bit more.

Cath placed a hand on her shoulder. "She'd be proud of you."

"I hope so." Melissa wiped her eyes with a sleeve, but when she looked up at her, she was beaming as brilliantly as the stars above. "Thank you for today, Auntie."

"It's my pleasure, shrimp."

"And thank you for taking me camping," she said, and threw her arms around James' shoulders. Cath could see the blush even in the dark. "This was the best birthday ever."

James awkwardly patted her back. "You're welcome."

Melissa pulled away, maybe a little bit flustered. "Goodnight James. Auntie."

"Goodnight, kid," said Cath. David snapped the latches on the case and stood up, dusting his hands.

"Time for bed?" he said, and Cath nodded. "Excellent. See you in the morning then, you two."

"Goodnight, David," called James, and Cath gave a lazy salute.

Within the tent, James and Cath both shed their bulky outer layers down to their spandex inner layers before cocooning inside their sleeping bags. As she rolled onto her side, placing her elbow under her head, she felt James press up against her. She closed her eyes, a smile tugging at her lips, and pulled her other arm free to stroke his head.

"You like her, don't you?"

"What?" said James.

"You have a crush on Melissa."

James made a strange noise. "I do not," he said indignantly.

"I saw the way you dragged her close when you were stargazing. Momma Cathleen sees all, knows all."

"…Shut up," said James, and Cath laughed.

"You're so sweet. Go to sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Cath."

"Goodnight, James."

It wasn't long until James' breathing slowed, and Cath too buried herself inside her bag. It was cold, and even through the bedroll the ground was a little bit lumpy, but she felt a smile on her face. She had never considered herself a family person, but this was better than she'd ever imagined.

"I love you, James," she whispered, and rolled over to go to sleep.

Then, sleepily, barely audible, "I love you too."

Cath didn't cry, and nobody could prove her wrong.


A/N:
Hello, thank you for your continued readership. I'm surprised by how many words I've managed to write for this already. Don't expect me to finish this though, my track record for finishing fics is very poor.
Anyway, to answer your questions, James cannot enhance himself. He has an internal charge that peaks every day at noon, and he can push this charge into objects. When objects are charged, they briefly enter a state for a few minutes where they are supercharged, and level off at a higher plateau than before. The greater the object's capacity for storing energy, the more esoteric effects it can produce. I've decided that James can charge other people, but because they are constantly 'active' unlike inanimate objects that need to be interacted with, the charge automatically gets drained after a few seconds, and thus charged people are not able to enter a supercharged state or reach a new plateau. Does that make sense?
As always, I love hearing your thoughts and comments. Do leave a review, it motivates me to keep writing.