Amelia Aringheri was 5 years old, and was always having nightmares. No matter what her parents did, they couldn't comfort her, because they didn't believe her. They told her it was her imagination, just bad dreams, but she knew differently.

Every night, little Amelia would succumb to sheer exhaustion, and would fall asleep. But her mind didn't dream as others' did. When Amelia went to sleep, her mind would show her terrible things, visions of violence and pain and monsters with human bodies but evil eyes. Amelia would wake up screaming and crying, because even though her five year old mind didn't understand the images, she knew they were bad.

One night, Amelia slept over at her grandma and grandpa's house. Amelia liked her grandpa; he would slip her candy when her parents weren't watching and said that it was their little secret. Grandma even made sure to keep Amelia's favorite ice cream for when she came over.

That night, Amelia woke up from her nightmare and ran crying to her grandpa, who pulled her onto his lap and asked what was wrong. He listened quietly as she told him about the loud bang she'd heard in the dream, and about woman named Hero running into the fire because someone had hurt her friends.

When she was through, her grandpa wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, and told her that it was ok to be scared, because he saw those things too when he slept. He told her that they were special people with special abilities, but not to worry, because Grandpa was going to fix it, and that soon, she would never have to see those things again.

When Amelia fell asleep in her grandpa's arms, he tucked her back into bed, and went to make the call that be hoped really would make everything better.

Grandpa always got what he wanted, because Grandpa answered to another name: Charles Aringheri, CEO of Pegasus Enterprises, and arguably one of the wealthiest men in the world. And he had just promised Doctor Hero Ramsey a blank check to make his granddaughter's nightmares go away.

0o0o0o0o0

Gabriel came with me several weeks later when I toured new, state-of-the-art lab granted to me by Pegasus Enterprises. It was a relatively small section in a much larger facility used by the company, but it was much grander than anything I or my team had worked in.

Most of us had to quit our jobs to come work here, as the University refused to have anything to do with the flight risk our project had proven to be. Angela had accepted our resignation with grace and had given her blessing, assuring us that our jobs would be waiting for us when we decided to return.

"This is amazing," I breathed, craning my neck to see everything. It was glass and steel, but had advanced security and network systems, and a cappuccino maker that I was trying very hard not to drool over.

Steven, who had remained my intern, was just as awed as I was, but Gabriel just harrumphed. "I could snap through this so-called security in minutes."

I rolled my eyes but laced my arm through his. "Hush, you. With this grant, I've been able to hire a bigger team and get better supplies."

"He's just jealous that our tree house is bigger than his," Steven snorted. "A lot bigger."

I frowned, glancing between them. "Is this some sort of weird penis-envy thing?"

Gabriel shot me a look. "Yes," he said drolly. "I'm terribly threatened that a man who can't even legally drink yet might one up me."

"Hey, man. I'll turn 21 in a year, but mini-Gabriel isn't going to get bigger."

"You know, I have several abilities I haven't used in a while," Gabriel said innocently. "I wonder if I should try them out, just to make sure they still work."

Steven laughed, but looked at me in panic when Gabriel just arched an eyebrow at him. "He can't really do that, can he?"

"It's like babysitting, only I'm not getting paid," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Dr. Ramsey!" I turned to see a little girl with startlingly lovely black eyes running towards me. She was covered in cloth from head to toe; even her tiny hands were covered in thin gloves.

"Marcella!" I knelt down as she ran into my arms and hugged me, careful to avoid contact with bare skin. "How are you, sweetheart? I haven't seen you in so long."

"I got a Spongebob game for Christmas," she said with the glee of 8 year olds. "You'll play it with me, right?"

"Of course, I will," I reassured her with a grin. "But where are your momma and Miss Sarah?"

"Momma is coming, and Miss Sarah said she had to do paperwork." Even as she spoke, her mother rounded the corner and smiled at me in relief. I stood and waved.

"Dr. Ramsey, it is so good to see you again. I was worried when I heard about the bombing." She hugged me fiercely. "You were not injured, I hope."

"No, I was fine, Graciella," I said tightly, not wanting to remember. "But you look lovely, and Marcella seems very well." I grinned at the little girl, and she grinned back. "Are you here for a tour?"

Marcella nodded enthusiastically, making both me and her mother laugh. "Sarah said we should come in and get acquainted with the new place," Graciella answered. "But who is with you?"

I flushed bright red. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. My manners have completely escaped me. Graciella, this is my boyfriend Gabriel. Gabriel, this is Graciella, and Marcella. Marcella is helping me on my trial. And you already know Steven."

"Hola, Marcella. Cuantos anos?" That Gabriel miraculously spoke fluent Spanish shouldn't have surprised me, but it did. But then, come to think of it, he'd mentioned that he had spent time in Mexico once.

Marcella hid her face behind her hair and peered at him shyly. "Ocho."

"Eight is my favorite number," he exclaimed with a smile, switching to English. "It's the best one."

"Graciella!" Sarah, the graduate assistant assigned to Marcella, came bounding around the corner. She had been working with me on the project since the beginning, and had been one of the few who hadn't needed prodding to return. "I finally finished your security clearance, so there shouldn't be any further issues."

"Sorry about all the new security," I said. "But this is important work, and we would rather be safe than sorry."

Graciella frowned at me. "Do not apologize, querida," she chastised gently. "You have been through great deal, and I feel better knowing Marcella has protection from those monsters."

I smiled at her. "I do, too. Now, come on. You can see the rest of the lab."

"How are you progressing with the device," Graciella asked as we walked.

"That's actually why you're here today," I said with a smile. "The devices have passed the final round of testing with flying colors, so we're here to customize Marcella's device to her brain pattern. If all goes well, she'll have her own within a week or so."

"So quickly," Graciella asked uneasily.

Sarah hastened to reassure her. "Since this is for use on humans, the FDA had us subject the devices to every test imaginable. They're perfectly safe. Worst case scenario is that Marcella will simply retain her ability until we fix the hypothetical problem."