Chapter 14 - "Emily Thomson"

Walking briskly, Emily Thomson strode down the busy sidewalk of the Gotham street, making her way to the motel she called home. Her adoptive father, Albert Langdon, ran the motel with his wife, Grace—well, Grace primarily ran it. Albert had taken a back seat to work on his inventions and . . . other projects.

Even with all the bustling people moving past her, Emily didn't ever flinch when an elbow almost caught her head or her stomach. She didn't need to.

For all intents and purposes, Emily was invisible to the world. Not necessarily invisible as in she disappeared from all visibility—only from the visibility of others. She could remove herself from the perception of others, meaning they could not see her, and she could also remove herself from the physical realm, so she was practically untouchable.

The downside to her ability to remove herself from being seen and touched by others was that she couldn't do it for more than a minute. That's why she moved at such a brisk pace. Once the minute was up, she'd have an hour of what she called a "cooldown," and then she could do it once more. She always made sure to save it for this time of day: the walk back to the motel from the library she frequented.

Emily enjoyed getting out whenever she could; she definitely was someone who was a "people person," and she loved to socialize. The problem was, whenever she would be pushed into an uncomfortable situation, Emily tended to fall back on her ability as a reflex and disappear from the perception of whoever she was with. This provided a problem in numerous facets, but especially in building relationships with others.

Emily turned the corner onto the street where the motel was located. Thankfully, there were very few people on the street as she rounded the corner and they were all busy with other activities, so she was able to reappear without drawing anyone's attention.

As she moved down the street, Emily shifted the hood of her jacket to cover more of her face. Rain was beginning to fall, and Emily wanted to make sure she was covered by the hood. Her jacket and trousers were made of a waterproof—and otherwise durable—material that protected her from rainfall and other obtrusive hazards.

The clothes—and other gear—had been borrowed from the Gotham branch of STAR Labs. It had been much easier to slip in than she'd anticipated; the higher-ups were busy with some conference with some rich guy from out-of-town. She had been able to take more than what she had anticipated, outfitting herself perfectly.

Emily made her way to the back door into the motel, where she always entered. She didn't like coming through the front door generally. As she gripped the door handle, Emily entered the back room and beamed when she saw Grace and her six-year-old daughter, Jill, were seated. They both glanced up to see the adopted member of their family entering.

"Hi, Emily!" Jill shouted, jumping from the table and throwing her arms around Emily. Emily dropped the backpack she was lugging to the ground and got to one knee, enveloping Jill in a tight embrace as she drew down her hood, letting her black hair fall just past her shoulders.

"Hi, Jill. Grace," Emily greeted, getting to her feet. She grabbed the strap of her backpack and carried it along with her. "What're you two working on?" she asked, eyeing the table.

Jill pointed to a piece of paper that was streaked with lines and shapes that created four figures. "I was drawing a picture of you, me, Mommy, and Daddy! See?"

Emily took the piece of paper in her hands and eyed the conglomeration of scratches and colors, and she gave a nod of approval. "Not bad, although I think you got me a little off." She winked at Grace and added, "I think the girl in your picture is much better looking."

Jill shook her head. "No, she isn't!" Inside, Emily beamed; her approval of Jill's drawing had been accepted without a second thought. Even though she was ten years older than Jill and had had no experience with younger siblings before moving in with the Langdons, Emily was a natural at keeping them positive.

The front door of the motel clanged open, and Grace peeked out. "I was just about to take Jill to her room. Could you do that while I take care of this customer?"

"Sure," Emily replied, slinging her backpack over her shoulder as Jill interlaced her right hand in Emily's left, and grabbed her paper and colored pencils with her left. "Come on, Jill. Wanna play with Vivi?"

Jill anxiously nodded, and the two exited the back room with Grace, who moved to the check-in desk to handle a dark-haired young man who was waiting patiently. His eyes caught Emily's, and he offered a charismatic smile. Emily smiled back and felt a hint of color rush to her cheeks. The guy turned his attention back to Grace as Emily led the way to the wing of rooms that served as the family's bedrooms, Jill following close behind.

Emily opened the door to Jill's bedroom and led her inside. "All right, put your pencils and things away and I'll go get Vivi." Jill nodded and went to carry out the orders she was given as Emily left the room and shut the door. She made her way to her bedroom, which was just across the hall from Jill's. She entered and looked for the usual spot where her Siamese cat, Vivian, rested.

Sure enough, Vivian was curled up and lifting a sleepy head to eye the teenage girl who had just entered. "Hey, Vivian!" Emily greeted, stepping towards the cat. Vivian got up on all fours and stretched, letting out a purr as Emily scratched her behind her ears. Then, Emily picked her up and cradled her in her arms. Planting a kiss on the top of Vivian's head, Emily led the way back to Jill's room.

Immediately as she entered, Jill was up on her feet. "Vivi!" she cried out, rushing to Emily with open arms. Emily closed the door behind her and sat Vivian on Jill's bed. The little girl reached over and stroked Vivian's head, and the cat rolled over and continued purring.

Emily glanced to the piece of paper and started talking on it again. "This is good, Jill. Maybe you'll be an artist when you grow up."

Jill shrugged her shoulders as she stopped petting Vivian, who immediately narrowed her eyes once the comfortable scratches stopped and sat on her rump. "I don't know. Maybe." A few seconds passed, and then she said, "Why did you smile at the boy in the lobby?"

Emily froze in place. Uh oh. "Um . . . what do you mean?"

"I saw him smile at you, then you smiled at him. Do you think he's cute?" As she asked the question, she scrunched up her face as if in disgust.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Look, Jill, I just smiled at him. It doesn't mean anything."

"Uh-huh," Jill said indignantly.

Emily chuckled. "You shouldn't even be talking about this. You're only six!" She stepped to the bed and scooped up Vivian. "Do you have any schoolwork?"

Jill huffed. "Yes."

Emily smiled. "You'd better get to it, then." Jill groaned and went to grab a stack of papers and a textbook as Emily exited the room, calling back, "Come get me if you need help." As she shut the door, she went back to her room and plopped Vivian on the bed. The cat eyed her thoughtfully, and Emily rolled her eyes. "I wish you'd stop looking at me like that."

The stare remained.

"Look, I know that you think you're the most important thing in the world to me. But that just isn't true, okay?" Maybe not, but she is in the top five. But she can't know that. She'll get even more unbearable.

Vivian kept staring, and then finally relented and curled up, her chest heaving softly. Emily let out a slight chuckle as she reached for her pocket, withdrawing a smartphone from her pocket. The phone was personally tailored to suit Emily's needs; it had a black market app that allowed her to eavesdrop, and one that could hack electronics.

Emily used her powers on the side to help thwart crimes, and she always took a portion of the spoils for herself; she dubbed it her "fee," and that had gotten her into trouble with the police on a few occasions. Still, she was proud of herself. She had been able to teach herself how to use her abilities, hoping to one day strike back at the gang that had killed both her parents and her uncle, forcing her to take refuge with the Langdons, family friends, when she was twelve.

As Emily scrolled through her phone briefly, her door cracked open and Grace stuck her head inside. "Dinner's ready, Emily."

"All right," Emily replied, tucking her phone into her pocket. "I'm coming." She exited the room and shut the door behind her, following Grace and Jill to the room that served as the dining room for the family. Albert was already seated, his hands folded together. He smiled and nodded.

"Hi, Emily. Anything exciting happen today?" he asked, scratching his graying brown hair.

Emily shook her head. "Nothing to speak of. You?"

Albert slowly nodded again. "You could say that. I'm almost done with the piece of tech I've been working on for Wayne Enterprises."

"That's good," Emily commented as Grace slid a plate of food to her. The smell was enough to get Emily's taste buds ready. Grace had to be the best cook Emily knew, and she tried to learn as much as she could from her.

"Yes, but it's not the exciting thing that happened," Albert continued. He paused, then looked to Grace, who returned the look. "Today, when I was discussing this piece of tech with Lucius Fox, the head inventor in Wayne Enterprises, he mentioned to me that Gotham—the city government—is working on an initiative to fight crime."

The family had already begun to eat, and Emily paused. "Like . . . superheroes?"

"Not necessarily," Albert continued. "There are some people who they've reached out to with powers, but others are just skilled, ordinary people." He paused briefly again, searching for the proper words. "Grace and I were invited on."

"You were?" Emily asked incredulously. The couple wasn't necessarily old—Albert was thirty-seven, and Grace was about that age herself—but they didn't come across as being in the crimefighting age to Emily. "I didn't mean it that way . . ." Emily started to correct herself, realizing she hadn't said it in quite the best way.

Albert grinned. "Don't worry. We sort of thought the same, and I told Lucius as much."

"Wait—you told him? What happened to keeping our powers secret?" Emily asked, eyeing both Albert and Grace suspiciously.

"This was a special occasion," Albert replied. "Besides, Lucius is a good friend. He invited me initially on my skills as an inventor alone, but when he did, I told him about my powers."

Emily slowly nodded. "But if you both think you're too old, then why are you bringing it up?" Albert and Grace exchanged another glance, and then Emily's eyes widened. "Wait—you mean—?"

Jill piped up loudly. "Emily's a superhero!"

"What? N-no, no I'm not!" Emily cut in. "Are you serious? They want me?"

Albert sighed. "Not initially, because you're only sixteen. But I told Lucius about your powers and your skills, and he talked to some people and they agreed." He looked into her eyes. "In short, yes, they want you for their team."

"Now, you can take all the time you need—" Grace began, but Emily was already grinning from ear to ear.

"Me? Fighting criminals?"

"As Grace was saying, you can take all the time you need—"

"Oh, I don't need to. I want to do this. Badly."

A brief pause and another eye exchange between Albert and Grace, and then Albert spoke up again. "Are you certain? You don't need to decide right now."

"No, no, I am. I definitely am."

Albert grinned. "I can't say I'm necessarily upset at the prospect of having my daughter being a crimefighter, but I will say be careful and please—take fewer risks."

Emily felt a tinge of red touch her cheeks. She had been known for skimping on her battle plans in the formulation stage. "I will, don't worry." She eyed Grace, who was sitting in silence. "Grace? Aren't you going to say anything?"

Slowly, Grace lifted her head and offered a slim smile. "Isn't it funny? I'm sort of on the flipside of the coin here. I can't help but feel a bit worried."

Emily reached a hand across the table to clasp Grace's as Albert spoke up. "I never thought I'd see the day where Grace would be the one who'd want to back out of a noble calling." His smile slowly faded, and he added, "But I'm serious, Emily. We're both very proud of you. You still have a few kinks you can work out in your powers, but overall, you're a much greater master of your abilities than either of us ever were, even in our prime."

Emily grinned. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "So . . . when does this all happen?"

A/N: Well, here we are everyone. The last character, Emily Thomson, has been introduced. The meeting will be the next chapter! I'm so excited to actually begin this adventure. I hope you all enjoy it. Also, if any of your submitters have anything else you'd like to see changed or potentially show up for your OCs, feel free to let me know through a PM. Leave your thoughts on this chapter and character in the reviews, and I will see you all next time.