Chapter 13.
I was a bit confused by the time my father had crossed the river and stopped the villain from proceeding to kill Jetstream, "So," I whispered to Fintan, "How is my uncle here, if he's actually at your office in a power-draining handcuff?"
We'd just returned from a time-jump to return Secondhand to his place in time. He'd had some parting words for me, as soon as the gag was removed, "See what time tastes like? Death and bitterness…don't worry Lydia I'll be back and next time I won't make the same mistakes." He spat the words out and was dragged away by the men in black.
"Well," Fintan glanced at the ground. "Since your uncle didn't come back in time with us, he still committed the crime in the past. If he'd come, he would have taken the part of himself now, but since he didn't he was still here…does that make sense?"
"No, not even a little," I replied as we broke cover.
"Hello!" a voice shouted at us from across the river, "Hello!" It was Jetstream hailing us, apparently we'd come out too soon. Fortunately there were other people by the river now, so we dutifully cheered with the rest of them as she smiled, waved and posed for the cameras. A beeper went off on the side of her utility belt and she glared at it before answering.
"I'm sorry, but I must go, Mr. Norville's life has been threatened." Some people in the crowd sighed with remorse as she flew away, long red locks flowing dramatically in the wind.
"How does she keep her hair like that?" I muttered as I ran a hand through my own mussed mane.
"Special shampoo," Fintan answered matter-of-factly, "The hair business makes a fortune off of their special super-hero line of products."
"I really didn't want to know that…Who's Mr. Norville anyway?"
"He's the creator of the anti-gravitational technology that keeps Sky High afloat," a familiar voice answered from behind me.
I turned to embrace my father, who was now dressed normally. He smiled with no teeth and I breathed a sigh of relief as Fintan took up the explanation my father had left unfinished, "Secondhand admitted to messing that up as well. Apparently, he got to this point in time by bribing his cell-mate, the same man who just tried to murder Jetstream. In return for the information Secondhand promised to do a quick side-trip and steal Mr. Norville's plans before Sky High was built, by going back in time. I have no idea why the villain wanted that in return…but sometimes you just don't figure everything out."
"Good to see you Fintan," my father said and reached his free hand out to shake that of the young man, "Thanks for taking care of Lydia, I'm assuming Knight is all right as well?"
"Yes sir, I've taken the liberty of arranging for him to move in with the two of you in the present. Now that Secondhand is securely in hand, Knight can live safely with you," Fintan spoke in clipped tones, as one addressing their superior.
"Better that way for all of us," my father answered smiling down at me, "Well, Lydia and I better get going, she has school tomorrow…you know how it is."
"Yes sir. I'll get the full report to you within the week. Headquarters should be pleased with how it all turned out."
"Well you deserve a raise Fintan, just don't go spending it all in once place."
I couldn't stop the smile that came at hearing that familiar advice. It wasn't as if Fintan was a child but my father was under the impression that anyone under the age of thirty-five needed any and every piece of wisdom he had. Of course, that would have bothered me normally, but now the habit seemed like an old friend. My father was home, that was the important thing. Our running was over. With my uncle in jail, the last four years of moving here and there seemed a small price to pay.
I reached out a hand to shake Fintan's and then decided on a hug halfway through the execution. It wasn't as if one had the opportunity to hug a secret agent every day. I looked up at him and watched dark eyebrows hunch over darker eyes as he took off his sunglasses.
"Thanks Fintan, I don't know what your dad's like but mine is awesome," I glanced between the two men, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't helped to bring him back."
"I understand" he seemed half-flattered, half-amused, "My parents are amazing as well," there seemed to be more to the statement then I could grasp. "Goodbye Lydia."
He vanished into another white vacuum. Off to the present, or wherever it was that this incredible young man lived. I looked at my father who seemed caught up in a moment of thought. I examined him, same blue eyes, same graying hair and thin nose. It was my dad alright, though I don't think I'd ever not look closely again. Strangely enough, even without the evidence I think I would have figured out eventually that my father had been replaced. Secondhand was a rotten actor.
My father glanced down finally, eyes slightly watery. I hoped he wouldn't cry, because I knew if he did I'd follow suit. With arm propped over my shoulders he spoke, "Well then, it's about time we got back," with that the world around us blurred.
That experience time-traveling was very unlike Fintan's. With my father (and I assumed my uncle) it was like fast-forwarding a video, except at enormous rates. I could briefly glance buildings rise under construction machines until it gained speed and then it was only a faint blur until we stopped in our house, rain pattering on the roof. We were in my room, my real room with slate-blue walls and dark comforter. Next door Ethan's house was receiving the same dousing.
"It'll all be right now, won't it?" I asked, my lip quivering. I knew this was Sunday night, the same Sunday night before the day that had changed my life forever.
"Yes, it will all be back to normal now," he answered, knowing that it was too soon to talk about everything that had happened. He stepped away towards the door, and then off-handedly, "Nice necklace. I'm going to order some pizza, is that alright with you?"
"Can we get Chinese instead?" I asked hopefully, clutching at the necklace that had come through time with me. I hoped it wouldn't set off some strange turn of events, but my father had always told me that people would be surprised how elastic time was. It was harder to change then a misplaced item or in this case a necklace from a now non-existent dimension.
"Sure, Knight might like that better actually. I'm sure he'll be here pretty soon," my father shouted from the kitchen as he searched for the phone book.
I'd forgotten about Knight. I knew I'd be glad to have someone other than my father to talk to about all of this. He was taking it so easily, but I had to remember that he'd been through things like this before. It wasn't much of a matter to him, but I felt like I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. The doorbell rang and after a moment my father answered. I ventured out; Knight would need help with his luggage.
My cousin smiled at me from the doorway, the rain fell behind him in the darkness. The front light illuminated only three bags, surprisingly few for a permanent move-in. I realized quickly that I was much more of a pack rat than him. As neatly folded clothes were put into the dresser in the spare room, I felt glad that my father had insisted on this house, even though there had only been the two of us at the time. Of course with my father, who knew, maybe he'd seen this all in the future.
I smirked at the thought. My father left the room in a few minutes while Knight and I struggled to stretch the green bed sheets over the mattress. I panted and pulled the last corner over before collapsing onto the bed, "You can just put the sheet over and leave me Knight, I don't think I can get up. I didn't realize I'd still be sore from the other dimension."
He sat beside me, "Well it was all real, why shouldn't you? I'm surprised it's not worse considering the rumors that were flying after your "fight" in the cafeteria. I left with Fintan before I could hear more though," he finished with an amused chuckle.
"It was real though," I sat up, "Really real. I wonder…what would have happened there if we hadn't done anything."
"We'd both be without your father. I'd be raised by the government, and you'd have an abusive uncle instead."
"I suppose, it's just strange thinking about it. I think I still have spaghetti sauce in my hair," I mused, "I'm going to go take a shower," I stood and left the room, it wasn't as if Knight needed me to watch over him.
I stood under the hot water with eyes closed and steam rising up. Deep breathing came naturally in a moment and I was able to wash my hair and limbs with little difficulty despite by bruised shoulder. The same arm Will had jerked was now mottled at the joint with such differing shades of blue and green that I hardly believed a genuine Monet could compete. A few minutes later I stepped out, dried and re-dressed in my pajamas: a pair of flannel checkered pants and baggy red shirt that used to be part of my warm-up uniform for the basketball team I'd been a part of years ago.
My thoughts were easily sorted through now. The shower had relieved the jumbling that had threatened to give me a large headache. My father had been murdered in the past, I'd woken up to a different dimension, there I had a boyfriend and the first real kiss of my life, we'd rescued my father, imprisoned my villain uncle and now it was back to reality. Plain, old reality with no boyfriend, no kiss, no escaped villainous uncle and no aspirations for the future. Of course I had to admit some things had changed…I did have aspirations, there was no way I was going to sit on my backside and let villains like my uncle mess around with other people's lives.
Boy, would Mr. Mardos be pleased.
I rejoined my father and cousin. They were playing some bizarre card game and both sporting competitive gleams in their eyes. Apparently they'd played this game together before. I wondered how many times I'd been mad about my father's strange schedule when he'd actually been spending time with Knight. I wasn't really jealous, just glad that we would all be living together now, maybe my father would be able to spend more time with both of us now that Secondhand was taken care of.
The doorbell rang just as I opened my mouth to ask what they were playing. My father looked up, blue eyes pleading. I sighed in turn and took the crumpled bills that he handed me. My stomach growled with expectation of food as I walked to the door. I opened it with one hand, the other I used to smooth my wet hair.
The boy on the other side took one look at me and shoved the food into my arms without a word. I just stared.
Standing before me, still in apron, with hair tied back was Warren Peace.
AN: Dundundun…Well? Tell me what you think! There's only one more chapter until the end…