Chapter One:

The Unbidden Rescue

Cole had texted me his new house's location, so I decided to go over for a visit. Lance stayed home with Kayce, but told me to say "Hi" for him.

Lance and I lived in the suburbs of New Marias, whereas Cole and Lucy were living in the middle of the city in an apartment block not far from the cathedral. I only had to knock on their door once before Cole opened it and shoved me inside, then slammed it behind me.

"Trouble already?" I asked, smirking.

Cole sighed. "You don't know the half of it." He'd barely changed over the last seven, eight years that we'd lived in New Marias. If there was anything really different about him, I'd say it would be his shirt colour. Seriously. "How come all neighbours have to be so nosy?"

"Don't even get me started. I gave gardening a try, since Kayce loves the outdoors so much, and I think I butchered my backyard." I rubbed my temples. "Those neighbours said that I'd burn water… Which I did before I took a class."

Cole smiled, and we hugged briefly. "Missed you, Jo."

"Missed you too," I said. "You know, if you were like a proper superhero, you'd wear a mask so you wouldn't have this trouble!"

"Those're comics, not reality." Cole smiled and led me to the couch. "How's Kayce?"

"Your granddaughter?" I asked, smirking.

Cole frowned. "Oh God, just don't get me thinking about all the relations this family has… Lucy's technically your step-mom now…"

I tapped the arm of the couch with my fingers as my thoughts took me away, like they usually did. "Cole, I wanted to talk to you…"

He tilted his head. "What about?"

I sighed. "What am I gonna do about Kayce? She'll have to know soon enough, and she's gonna have powers of her own."

"You told me about that," Cole pointed out. "You went to the future, but we didn't know, because you came back before Kayce ever landed on you from her time. I woulda liked to've known her then."

"You guys'll get along fine, I'm sure." I noticed that my hands were fidgeting together now. "Cole, I just… If she finds out about… me, and you and Lucy, I don't know what she'll do. She's a child!" I managed to stop myself from fidgeting. "When I saw her, in the future, she said that she didn't want to be a freak. Every time she looked at me, or the older me, I saw fear in her eyes." I shook my head. "I don't want to scare her! She practically worships you, so I was thinking…"

"You thought I could help out." Cole leaned back in his LazyBoy. "I wish I could, Jo. I really do, but I'm busy. The friggin' paparazzi are everywhere, and if I have any chance of getting Trish into preschool, I have to lie low for a while." He shrugged. "At least New Marias is almost crime-free, huh?"

I nodded, trying to conceal my disappointment. I'd become good at concealing my emotions, except when I was happy, for Kayce's sake. I needed to show her how her mother could be strong.

Cole and I talked for a while longer before I decided to leave. As I went through the door, however, Cole stopped me.

"Joan," he said, "why'd you name your child after your enemy?"

I chuckled. "I wondered that myself, when I met my future self." I smiled. "I understand why now. It's… acceptance. And Kayce can change the taint in that name, so it won't put fear in anyone's heart, but love."

Cole ruffled my hair. "You've definitely grown up, Joan."

"Oh, please. I'm as violent as ever. Just you wait," I told him with a grin, "I'll be back to kicking ass in no time.

It took me about ten minutes to get back home by car, as I wasn't allowed to fly anymore, as told to me by my husband… Damn him, sometimes.

When I finally pulled into our driveway, I stayed inside the car for a few minutes as I thought. I'll deal with Kayce's powers when the time comes, I decided swiftly. I'd better just enjoy what I have now.

A tap at my window brought me out of my thoughts. Lance was there, so I rolled down the window.

"Yeah?" I said.

Lance smiled. "Hey, I just got a call from the studio. They want an emergency practice. Think you can take Kayce to her playdate?"

I nodded. "Sure. Dairen's house again?"

"Yep. I swear, these kids'll be best friends when they grow up," Lance said. "She has to be there at around three."

I looked at the clock. It was 2:49pm.

"Is she ready?" I asked him.

Lance nodded. "Yeah. She's just tying her shoes."

I smiled. "Man, I couldn't tie my shoes until I was, like, fourteen."

"Hey, she gets her brains from my side," Lance quipped, grinning like an idiot.

"At least she doesn't get your ego." I laughed at Lance's pretend hurt face and then heard Kayce get into the car. "Well, I gotta go then."

Lance pecked me on the cheek. "See you at home, babe."

"You too," I replied as I rolled up the window.
I pulled out of the driveway and looked at Kayce through the rear-view mirror. She had her backpack, and she'd done her hair into a braid. My kid knew how to do hair, and I had no idea where she got it from.

Probably from one of her grandmothers, I decided. It better not be from Lance though.

I saw a traffic jam up ahead and mentally cursed promising Lance that I wouldn't use my powers (though he wasn't the one who made me promise it). I sighed and waited, trying to calm my mind from the honking horns and angered shouts from annoying people.

"Mommy, are we there yet?" Kayce asked.

I smiled back at her. "Soon, honey. Got your toys?"

She nodded with a smile. "Yep! Dairen said he wanted to see my Lucy doll!"

She's gonna die if she ever meets Lucy and Cole, I thought absently. Fan-girl to the extreme. Just wait until she hears that Cole's her grandpa…

"That's nice. I think I'll have something to drink with Dairen's mom, okay?"

Kayce nodded again and then stared out the window, but soon she had unbuckled her seatbelt and stuck her face against the windshield.

"Kayce! Get to the back and put your seatbelt on!" I exclaimed.

"Look! Mommy!" Kayce pointed to the cars ahead of us. I squinted so I'd be able to look farther and—holy crap—I saw cars being flipped ahead of us.

And whatever was flipping them was barrelling towards us.

I unbuckled myself and grabbed Kayce as quickly as I could, but it was already too late to get out.

"Hold onto me!" I ordered her.

She wrapped her arms around my neck tightly, and then we were sent flying through the air. I angled my body so I'd take the blows as we were tossed around in the car, until we finally landed around ten metres away from where our car was originally. I still had Kayce in my arms, and I crawled out of the broken body of the car as best I could, still getting glass in my arm despite my caution.

I sat us both on the sidewalk and started to pull the glass from my arm when that thing came back and totalled our car again. I sighed.

"Never a dull moment in New Marias," I muttered as the car flew past us.

Kayce watched the giant monster, and then looked to me. "Mommy, Cole's coming, right?"

I looked at my watch. "He should've been here by now…"

Suddenly, I heard the unmistakeable sound of sniper shots. The monster got clipped and bled, and then looked to the direction where the shots were fired. A man in a cream trenchcoat, hood up and a smoking sniper rifle in his black, fingerless-gloved hands was standing on one of the totalled cars. I shook my head as I recognized him instantly.

"Who the hell're you?" the giant monster exclaimed (which I also recognized to be a man in a rather large suit, or something).

"I should ask you that question," the man said as he slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder. "You're disturbing the peace of New Marias. You know how hard that was to get?"

The monster-man roared and charged at the man. He easily flipped over the giant and smashed the monster's face into the road.

"It took a few years, dude. Go terrorize somewhere else." He touched the giant's head, and suddenly he was swallowed up by shadows. The man brought his hood down and smiled. "Have a nice fall," he said, as the monster appeared above him and fell into the road, unconscious.

Kayce pointed at him, her look in utter awe. "Is he another superhero, mommy?"

I nodded. "Yep. His name's Alec Chance."

At the sound of his name, Alec looked over to me. His stubble had been tamed, it seemed. Probably because of Dana. He suddenly grinned and walked over to us, his arms spread wide.

"Jo! Nice to see ya!" he greeted.

I got up and hugged him tightly. "Back from Italy again, are we?"

He let me go and nodded. "Yep. Dana and Violet're actually heading to your place right now. Vi wanted to meet her cousin!" Alec rubbed his chin. "Well, meet again, but they probably don't remember each other…"

I felt Kayce tug on my shirt. I smiled and picked her up. "You remember Kayce, right?"

Alec seemed to be looking at his memories instead of my kid. "Don't tell me she's alive again! After what that—!"

I flicked his head. "My daughter, Alec. My daughter Kayce."

It looked like a flip had been switched in his head. "Oh! Right!" He held out a hand to Kayce. "Hello there, Kayce. I'm Alec, but you can call me 'Uncle'."

"Uncle?" Kayce repeated as she tenderly took Alec's hand. "Are you related to us?"

Alec's eyes lit up in surprise as he felt Kayce's iron grip and her strange understanding of things. "Kinda," he said with a grin as he squeezed her hand a bit tighter. "I'm married to your mommy's sister."

Kayce thought for a moment, but she remembered Dana well. Everyone on my side of the family had gotten along really well with Kayce, and she remembered them, even if she was young.

"Auntie Dana!" Kayce exclaimed. "I remember!"

Alec smiled. "She'll be happy to hear that. Where're you guys headed off to?"

"Well, we were heading to a playdate when that thing came and totalled our car," I explained, pointing to the unconscious body of the giant.

"I could try to fix it," Alec suggested readily.

I pointed to the junk heap that was barely recognizable as our car. "I don't think you can. I was a mechanic once, remember? I know that thing's lost."

Alec nodded. "Sorry 'bout that," he said. "Well, we'll walk to your place then."

I nodded. "Sounds like the best decision." I was happy that Alec remembered that I wouldn't use my powers in front of Kayce.

I put Kayce down and she held my hand as we walked with Alec, asking him all kinds of questions. Mostly about his powers, and the gigantic gun on his back. At one point, I flicked Alec in the forehead for almost mentioning my nodachi (which, by the way, I had made Zeke get rid of all the quicksilver inside of it, so I wouldn't be blind again).

All in all, it seemed that, if I stayed on the sidelines or not, someone or something would always find me.