Chapter Three:

Curiosity Killed the Cat

"I don't like coincidences," I told Cole and Alec. "I don't like it when things just 'happen' either. If the government's gonna try and take my kid away from me, I have to help."

Cole shook his head. "Hell no. Kayce's your responsibility, and leaving her without you is like just giving her over."

"Lance'll be here. He's just as qualified as me." I tapped my foot. "Why're they doing this to Conduits…?"

"I dunno, but somehow they can see who has the gene too," Alec said. "You said you went to collage with that guy. Connor, right? Well, if he was brainwashed, it's totally possible that they put implants in his eyes to look for DNA resemblance in Conduits."

I nodded. "That makes sense. But why the star on his chest?"

"It looks flashy?" Alec offered.

"Or maybe it's a diversion and there's a tiny hidden camera in the star." Cole let the electricity jump across his hands. "Maybe so they can remember the faces of Conduits who get away. The two other men with Connor had similar stars."

"Well, if that isn't a beacon for 'US Government', I don't know what is." I started to pace. "What the hell could they want from Conduits? We've done nothing wrong. We've protected normal people without having to be asked. This just… It makes no sense!"

Cole nodded. "We'll definitely need to do some digging. Thankfully, Zeke's already on it. I'll let you know if anything happens."

I sighed as I watched Cole go. We weren't as close as we used to be, mainly because I gave up the life he was leading so I could be there for Kayce, and avoid the future that I'd previously visited.

Alec clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, Jo. Just get back to Kayce. I'm gonna find a place that Dana and Vi can hide out. Chillax."

I smiled. "Okay, Alec. I'll see you in a bit."

"Oh, and about you're wall…" Alec grinned. "I'll come back tomorrow and take care of it."

"Thanks."

Alec studied my face for a second. "What's up? It looks like something's keeping your mind from here."

I shook my head. "Don't worry. It's nothing."

"If you say so." Alec shrugged and headed out.

I sat on a lawn chair with my head in my hands as thoughts came and attacked me again. All I could think about was Kayce, and how I'd probably screwed up the future by replacing it with this one. My younger self, probably when I'd still lived in Empire City, would yell at me and tell me that Kayce wouldn't mind if I used my powers. But I could already imagine my reply. Kayce was three, and so I didn't want to scare her. She didn't even see me fight with Connor!

I groaned and let my head fall back to watch the clouds. I could just imagine what the neighbours were thinking, too… None of their damn business, I thought automatically. God… It used to be that the heaviest thing on my mind was a powerful villain. Now it's the neighbours…

I felt a small hand take my own. I tried my best to smile for Kayce. "Hey, hon. Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Mommy, are you hurt?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Fit as a fiddle."

Kayce frowned. "Why'd they come after us? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, baby. You did nothing wrong." I let her sit on my lap and just held her there. I had to admit; when I found out I was pregnant, I hadn't been more scared in my entire life. Now, it just seemed that it was another one of my crazy adventures. "Don't worry about it."

My mom and Helen stayed over to help me clean up. We did a lot before Lance came back and bluntly asked if the neighbours asked if they could buy my Ducati again. We decided it'd be best if we stayed in a hotel that night.

As I tucked Kayce into bed, Lance came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, then rested his head on top of mine to look at our daughter.

"If you need to go," he said, "then I can watch over her."

I shook my head. "Cole will tell me if I'm needed. I'm not going to aimlessly run into a fight where I can get killed. I want to be in Kayce's life, not like when Garyn was around."

"Yeah, but you held that guy off for fifteen years to protect Kayce."

"And that was fifteen years that I'd never get back. In that timeline, I never saw my daughter grow up, never got to hold her or tuck her in, or tell her that I loved her."

"Well, thank God you fixed that." Lance kissed the top of my head and then crawled into bed. "Jo, don't beat yourself up for something that isn't your fault. We'll get through this; we always do."

I smirked. "I hate it when you're rational."

The next day, I got a phone call. Alec and Cole had pinpointed Connor's location, and were going after him. Even though I offered to help, they turned me down. Stupid male pride.

So I stayed in the hotel room with Kayce while Lance was working from his laptop, checking his lyrics and his notes. Strangely, Kayce really loved to sing, so that was another thing she'd inherited from her dad. But I wasn't about to shove her into show business just because of who her dad was; I wanted her to live free, not hounded and pressured.

"Mommy," Kayce said, "do you and Cole know each other?"

I arched an eyebrow. "What gave you that idea?"

"You were talking about him with daddy last night…" She smiled guiltily.

"Eavesdropping, were you?" I sighed. "It's… complicated. I'll explain it to you later, okay kiddo?"

Kayce considered this for a moment before she nodded. "Okay…"

I smiled and ruffled her hair. "Kayce, you'll understand one day. Just do something for me."

Kayce tilted her head. "What?"

"If you're ever afraid, I want you to take deep breaths, and remember that mommy's going to be there for you, no matter what. Keep that thought in your head; I won't ever let you down if you do."

"Okay." She smiled and hugged me quickly before she went back to playing with her action figures. I stood up and checked my phone for messages. "And mommy, I love you."

I smiled. "I love you too, Kay."

I checked my phone and found a phone message from both Alec and Cole. I checked Cole's first, since it'd come first.

"Joan, I'm not sure if you'll get this, since the reception's bad here," the message started, "but I need to let you know. They're brainwashing every Conduit they can find. Alec's been hacking through their files, but I'm not sure how much time we've got left. I'll get Alec to send you the files and the info. We'll see you soon."

The message ended. I frowned and looked to see if I'd gotten any e-mails from Alec, but there were none. I shrugged and decided to check the message from Alec.

As the message started, I heard a door slam and some people yelling. Ragged breathing was coming from the other end, with a few quiet and inaudible words, but I recognized Alec and Cole's voices.

"Hey, Jo, I'm not one-hundred percent sure that you're gonna get this," Alec whispered hoarsely into the phone. "Still, I might as well warn you. I can't get the files to you. I just got blocked, and we've been tracked. Connor's here with a few of our star-spangled friends, but they're definitely gonna catch us. We'll try our best to get outta here. I'll use the shadows with Cole. If ya feel like helping now, we're in—."

I heard something slam, and suddenly the guys were yelling and I could hear Cole's electricity jumping from his fingertips. The fight went on for about a minute before the sounds stopped. I looked at the screen and saw, "Message ended" on it.

I covered my mouth as my jaw dropped in disbelief. Alec and Cole worked so well together; for them to not be able to send information to me, or get out of a fight that long meant that they were in some deep shit.

Lance noticed my look. "Jo, what's wrong?"

I quickly handed him the phone. "Plug this into your computer. Trace where the last call came from."

One of his eyebrows rose, but he listened. After a few tense minutes, a location jumped onto the screen.

"Laredo, Texas," Lance read. "The centre of Mexican drug trafficking. Why would Connor be there…?"

I shrugged. "Look, Lance… The guys're in trouble."

"And you want to go help 'em." Lance smiled. "I got it. You go. I'll let Lucy and Dana know about the situation, and I'll watch Kayce. Just try to come back in one piece, okay? I mean, it's been a few years…"

"Only three," I reminded him. "After a lifetime of fighting, I don't think it's gonna leave after three years."

I noticed that Kayce was looking at us curiously. I walked over to her and kissed her on the head.

"Kayce, mommy's gonna be gone for a while," I told her. "Listen to daddy while I'm gone, and be nice to your cousin. Wash your hands before each meal, take a bath before bed—don't forget to wash your hair—and get to bed on time."

Kayce nodded. "Where're you going?"

"Somewhere so unexciting that you'd die of boredom," I answered swiftly, so she wouldn't think about trying to use her "tricks" to convince me to bring her along. In all honesty, I thought Laredo was going to be pretty fun. "I'll be back soon. If I hear you've misbehaved, then I'm taking your Cole and Lucy action figures away."

Kayce hugged the two action figures to her chest. "I'll be good!"

I smiled and ruffled her hair. "That's my girl!"

In all honesty, it took me about ten minutes to get ready to go. I had to drive back to the house, grab my messengerbag, my nodachi, and change into fresh clothes for the trip. That done, I ran to the edge of New Marias, and that's where I activated my fire to fly.

"Laredo, here I come," I said.