Kagami Shirakawa had long ago come to terms with the fact that the gods would not bless her family with any more children. Not that she wasn't happy with the one that she had, but there were often times that she'd found herself wishing she had a daughter to dote upon.

Alas, fate appeared to conspire against her and her family. Tragedies, both personal and global, had forced them to reprioritise their lives. There was always a "when we get through this"-type of moment to wait before she could consider bringing a new life into their hectic world. Between her husband dropping out from school, the loss of the family's only car, and finally the majority of their extended family perishing in the Endbringer attack back in Kyushu, there had just been no end to the delays keeping James from having a little brother or sister.

Kagami hummed softly to herself as she gathered up the morning's laundry, carefully folding and sorting them between three growing piles. Life had finally returned to some semblance of normality, or at least a comfortable routine she could lose herself in and not have to think about her recent troubles.

She would wake up in the pre-dawn mornings and accept delivery of the day's produce from the nearby grocer. Toss everything that required refrigeration and freezing into the proper storage lockers and leave out the rest for sorting at a later time. Shake Saburo awake and take a shower. Get dressed and wake up her husband again as she started preparing the first set of vegetables and retrieved the previous day's leftovers for the day's soup stock. Continue until her husband was finally awake and coherent enough to take over with the preparations, then set about cleaning the restaurant floor and the flat they had rented above it. If it was laundry day—as today was—then collect and start the machines running whilst she cleaned some more. Simple. Easy. Requiring just enough of her concentration so that her mind couldn't allow itself to wander.

A shriek from upstairs was enough of a variance to break her out of her routine. Dropping the shirt she had been folding onto the appropriate pile—Saburo's—she began the trek to the second floor. James had been a fairly precocious child growing up, but after his accident he had become more withdrawn and much quieter. Kagami might have thought he was being secretive if he'd been a little older, but that would have been a ridiculous notion to entertain.

When the cry repeated itself, she quickened her pace, rushing towards the end of the hallway and the doorway that led to her precious child's bedroom. "James?" she called out worriedly. "What is going on?!"

"Okaa-san!" she heard her baby shout. She was brought up short as the door thumped, as if something had just pressed it closed from inside. "Um, hang on, Mum... my, uh, my room's too messy!"

Kagami tried the doorknob was wasn't too surprised to find that the door was barred shut. That didn't keep her from being... concerned. She banged her fist against the wood and tried the handle again to no avail. "James! I heard screaming!"

"I... just tripped! I was surprised!" He dropped his volume suddenly, but not quite low enough for her to miss his next words. "What are you still doing out here?! Hide!"

Kagami had always wished her son would be more outgoing and sociable, but his Japanese ancestry had made him sufficiently different enough that he had a hard time of making friends in his schools. After the accident that had claimed the family car, he had become even more withdrawn—almost secretive.

"I don't wanna," she heard the reply. It was as if James was speaking in a slight falsetto.

For a brief moment, she had almost thought her son had made a new friend. An actual friend. But her hopes were dashed when she heard the voice answering James' quiet demand. He was just talking to himself. Well, as things went an imaginary friend wasn't too bad. At least it showed that he was striving for some sort of companionship.

Her son's harsh whispers sounded from behind the door again. "Get out, now! Wait... no! Nonono not that way!"

Kagami's train of thought came to an abrupt halt as a blue head popped out of the door she was banging against. It was her son, a glowing blue version of her son. Yuurei. She could scarcely breathe—a ghost had taken the appearance of her son and had been in his room for who-knows-how-long?

The spectre's eyes seemed to light up as she noticed Kagami standing in her path. "Mama!" it cried out happily.

Kagami's eyes rolled up into her head as she keeled over into a dead faint.

"Huh," the ghost said, looking down. "Was it something I said?"

...

.

Shattered Glass
Epilogue

.

"We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves.
We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust." —David Levithan

.

In a dimly lit room, a young man rested. His dark, shaggy hair was spread across the pillow behind his head, all but ensuring that he'd have a rather interesting case of bed-head whenever he deigned to wake and sit up. A series of light taps against the doorway prompted him to do just that as his eyes blinked open and he sat up.

The door opened quietly to admit a tall brunette in a white blouse and denim jeans. She hit a switch against the wall to bring the lights up to full luminance and walked briskly towards the small table that served as a nightstand. Once there, she dropped a rather large stack of papers onto the table with a loud thump.

From his reclining position on his bed, James' face went as pale as the bedsheets he was lying underneath as he blanched. "You must be joking," he said in a dismal tone.

"I rarely get the chance to indulge," Elaine replied as she fetched a chair from beside the door and moved it into place beside the bed.

"Was that a denial or a confirmation?" the patient asked.

"Yes," his visitor replied, prompting the bed-ridden cape to slump against his pillows. "How are you feeling?"

James glanced at his surroundings, taking in the various hospital furnishings surrounding him. "I'd like to say that I'm feeling fine, but I guess that's not exactly true? How long was I out?"

"Just overnight." Elaine settled into the chair as she picked up the first sheet from the pile, running her eyes over the form's headers. "How well do you remember the events of yesterday?"

"Not a lot, I guess. Some of it," James scratched at an errant itch against his forehead as he stared at the ceiling. "Mostly impressions—not any real memories, come to think of it."

Elaine nodded as if she had expected that answer. "Light concussion," she informed him. "You were within the blast radius of a moderately powerful explosion."

"Huh?"

"You got blown up," a maliciously cheerful voice explained. An electric-blue ghost girl floated down from her position near the room's ceiling. "Beaten by a lit-tle girl~ " Jamie chimed in a sing-song voice.

James looked over to find the Elaine's mouth pressed into a thin line as she watched the spectre settle into place above his stomach. He managed to catch her eye and discreetly pointed one finger at his counterpart, but the other cape shook her head slightly.

"Tianak," she clarified. "A parahuman from the Philippines with fairly high Master and Blaster ratings. She generally travels the world acting as a something of a mercenary, although she does not describe herself as such. Her ability allows her to produce... creatures that bud off from her exposed flesh—creatures that are semi-autonomous and are created with one of several possible abilities. Some are capable of short-ranged electrical discharges, some can spit or bleed acid... and some simply run to the closest target and detonate themselves."

"They looked like babies," Jamie said. She shivered. "Really creepy-looking babies." She brought her arms behind her back and dropped her head. She looked as if she'd be fidgeting with her feet, had she any legs in this form. "It was kinda my fault, I thought I'd found a civilian survivor of the battle."

"A common misconception," Elaine sighed. "Tianak's modus operandi is to insert herself into a location ahead of time, disguising herself and one of her products as mother and child. She was the other member of Nightwalker's parahuman assets after Duplex. However, it would be remiss of me if I did not point out that I had been given some clues regarding activities that matched her previous behaviours. Unfortunately, I did not fully process the information enough to confirm her presence in the area. If there is any fault to be had, it would be mine."

"Well, I'll accept the spirit of your apology, but... " James nodded towards the stack of papers she was leafing through. "If this is your idea of a peace-offering, I'm thinking I don't want to forgive you just yet."

"Hm." Elaine simply acknowledged the point as she drew a pen from her pocket. "I have already been debriefed by the proper authorities and they accepted my offer to assist you with your own report whilst you recovered."

The bedridden cape grimaced and lifted himself into a slightly more vertical position. He reluctantly held out his hand for the pen, "Thanks, but you don't need to worry about me. I'm fully prepared to take the blame for this fiasco."

"Ah. Very well then," Elaine said. She flipped through the stack for a few moments before pulling out one particular sheet near the bottom of the pile. "This will make things easier, then.

"James Shirakawa, also known as the parahuman 'Looking Glass'," she read. "As of oh-nine-hundred hours this morning you have been relieved of your duties as a government-supported cape."

...

Jamie looked around at the room she found herself in. The room was a pleasing shade of pastels in a cream and light blue color scheme. There was a rather comfortable bed with a footlocker—one large enough to hold all her meagre supply of clothes—placed at one end. A mid-sized desk with a computer ran along the wall next to the bed, with a large enough space for her to park her wheelchair before it without too much trouble. Even the floor was a smooth surface to allow her to easily move her chair around.

The problem lay in the fact that all of the furniture was a lightweight plastic. It was sturdy enough not to creak or otherwise move as she shifted her weight, but it was also bolted down to the floor to keep her from being able to rearrange any of it. The computer's screen was inset into the desk itself, with the rest of the hardware presumably inaccessible to her. The wheelchair itself would lock its wheels the moment it left the room, reliant on external radio control or an override from a guard to move itself around.

It was a nice room, but it was a prison—at least in Jamie's eyes. Her food was controlled, her visitors were controlled, and she was pretty much restricted in every way she could have thought of.

"When I asked you to stay with me if I was ever captured, I didn't think you'd already gotten me arrested," she grumbled towards the ceiling. She was stretched out across the bed with her arms placed behind her head, her legs dragging uselessly against the covers. She bounced her upper body slightly against the mattress, feeling it give way and bounce back. At least it was a nice prison...

"Well, to be fair, I didn't quite have this in mind," James protested from above her. "I knew Sunny was kind of ticked at you, but I hadn't realised she was this upset. I just asked her to find you some professional help!"

She reached out with one hand and waved a finger through the air as if she were writing. "Note-to-self, anytime James gets the idea to help, run for the hills."

"At least it's not as bad as it could have been," James said. "It could have been an actual prison cell instead of a psych ward."

"I'm not crazy, I'm not crazy~" Jamie sing-songed to herself.

"As far as the staff knows, you're talking to yourself," James pointed out helpfully.

"Nonsense, they know what you are." She waved a hand to indicate the modified furnishings, "Why else would they have set up all of this stuff you can't move around? And even if you did, they're light enough that we couldn't use them as weapons or to bust down the walls. Nope, we are well and truly stuck here until somebody decides to let us out. On the bright side, I think we have internet."

"Small favors," James muttered.

Just then a speaker near the door chimed with a single musical tone. The tone repeated itself twice, followed by a fourth tone at a slightly higher pitch as if it were the starting light for a racing game. At the same time the fourth chime sounded, the door hissed open and a tall woman dressed in a casual-looking sweater and skirt combination stepped inside. The kind, motherly look she was probably going for might have worked if her hair hadn't been pulled back into a severe-looking bun.

The pair of helmeted, faceless guards flanking her—both armed with PRT-licensed foam sprayers—might have also done their part to dispel that image.

"Patient two-zero-five-four, Poltergeist?" the woman asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"s'Jamie," the girl muttered. "I've been told I probably shouldn't use that other name anymore."

The woman gave no sign that she had heard her, instead directing one of the guards to retrieve the wheelchair and push it against the bed where Jamie could slide into it. "You have a visitor," she informed Jamie. "Would you please come with us?"

Jamie levered herself into a sitting position, eyeing the guard warily. "As if I have a choice?" she asked rhetorically.

...

"Relieved of duty?" James repeated blankly.

"Indeed," Elaine replied. "As you may or may not have been aware, there was a third-party present on the battlefield during the recent conflict."

"Yeah, you just told me about—"

"Not Tianak. An unknown parahuman interfered with both side of the conflict, although we are attempting to ascertain if their involvement may have preceded the confrontation itself." Elaine turned her head slightly to stare directly into James' eyes. "We have assigned this unknown parahuman a temporary Master-slash-Stranger classification. He or she has demonstrated the ability to take control over other capes and while there have only been two known victims as of this time, it has been decided that the most stringent safeguards should be put into place."

James and Jamie traded glances with each other, only for Elaine to call their attention back to her with a snap of her fingers.

"Please listen carefully." The female cape's voice had taken on an odd pitch, as if she were reciting lines from a script. "James, this unknown cape has called themselves 'Poltergeist' and managed to take over both yourself and the parahuman known as Duplex. Can you tell us anything you may know about this individual?"

Even as she asked the question, Elaine was minutely shaking her head.

James blinked and glanced at Jamie again. His counterpart looked just as confused as he was. "Err... no?"

Elaine leaned back slightly. "That is disappointing to hear," she said. "Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, Master and Stranger protocols are in effect. This means we cannot hold the victims responsible for their recent activities. For Duplex this means he will not be charged with any crimes for his involvement with Nightwalker's group. He is currently under voluntary custody at another facility whilst they sort the details."

"And I get suspended?" James asked.

"As another one of Poltergeist's victims you are also under no small amount of suspicion. It is a matter of record that you assaulted a fellow hero whilst in the line of duty. Until we can determine the full extent of Poltergeist's influence, you are relieved of your day-to-day activities," Elaine clarified. "You are still able to participate in engagements against threats of A-class or above at your own discretion, or in actions against lesser threats whilst under the supervision of a trusted cape."

"Supervision by a trusted cape," James repeated slowly. His eyes tracked back to Elaine's. "Such as, someone like... you?"

"If you wish it," Elaine said neutrally, although James though he could detect a slightly pleased expression on her face. "In fact, I am certain that as time goes by without any further incidents—and memories fade—you will find your restrictions gradually relaxed if not removed altogether. However... should this unknown Master-class parahuman ever make a reappearance, things may not go quite as well for you."

And just like that, any trace of approval vanished as Elaine's eyes and voice took on a flinty edge. "It is therefore in your best interests that Poltergeist never show his or face again." Although she kept her eyes squarely in line with James', Jamie was the first one to look away nervously. "Have I made myself clear?"

"Yep," James nodded.

Jamie squeaked something that might have been a yes'm.

...

Jamie let the guard roll her into place against the table. Although she spotted the old-fashioned telephone receiver sitting on its surface immediately, she still fidgeted in her chair for several moments before finally lifting it from its cradle and placing it against her ear.

"Hey," she said, finally lifting her head to stare through the glass and the girl sitting opposite her.

"Hey there," Karen replied with a small wave. Her habitual smile was still present, if smaller than normal.

"What are you doing here?" Jamie asked. "I mean, not that I'm not glad to see you but this is sorta counter-productive, don't you think?"

"Eh," Karen shrugged. "I promised you that I'd visit you no matter where you ended up, didn't I? Of course at the time I was sort of picturing a group home or whatever apartment Sunny had dumped you onto, but I'm sure a psychiatric ward still works."

Jamie turned around to give James a narrow-eyed stare, one hand raised to cut off any side comments.

The spectre held his hands up defensively. "I know... I know, 'you are not crazy'."

Grinning in satisfaction, Jamie turned back towards her visitor. When she saw Karen's curious expression, however, she felt the smile slip away from her face and she ducked her head in apology. "Thanks. For coming to see me, I mean. You didn't have to—in fact I wouldn't blame you if you just left me behind and never saw me again—not wanting anything to do with me."

Karen's smile turned somewhat brittle. "I did consider it, to be honest." She looked away, unwilling to meet Jamie's eyes. "I mean, you did kinda get a bit weird there... and to be honest the way you seem to have fixated on me is more than a little bit creepy."

"It wasn't like that!" Jamie protested. "I just... I wanted to have a friend of my own so badly..."

Karen was silent for several moments. "A month ago—maybe even a week ago—I wouldn't have believed you. But if what James was saying is true... you didn't really have... anyone, did you?"

"Not really, no," Jamie admitted. She glanced over her shoulder. "Everything and everyone I knew was tied up with James over there. I guess I just wanted to be my own person... in the worst possible way." She turned back towards the glass and bowed her head. "For what it's worth, I'm so sorry."

"Mmm..." Karen hummed thoughtfully.

"So..." Head still bowed, Jamie flicked her eyes back up to the other girl. "Can you forgive me?"

"...I'm thinking about it."

...

"Wait, just wait a moment." James held up a hand to stall Elaine's continuing explanation. "How does this work? I mean, not that I'm not sort of glad that I'm getting off so lightly, but to be perfectly honest, I've sort of been running through this type of scenario in my head ever since I... realised the extent of Poltergeist's abilities."

Elaine arched an eyebrow. "That long?" she commented.

"Er, yeah," the other cape replied sheepishly. "What I mean is... why am I being forgiven so easily? Relatively speaking, that is."

"I understand," she interrupted him. "The fact of the matter is that we have a very short window of opportunity to allow the situation to be resolved in this manner. Many of the capes with more seniority than myself—those who would ordinarily be making these decisions—are currently occupied elsewhere at the moment."

"Occupied?"

Elaine hesitated briefly, then pressed on. "An Endbringer attack began roughly ninety minutes ago. Leviathan, United States, somewhere along their eastern shoreline. The Protectorate has deployed their usual forces, which includes much of their local capes as well as their higher-profile leaders and accompanying teams. On this side, the Suits and the King's Men are closely monitoring the situation in the event that the on-site capes call for reinforcements. As it is, they do not have the time nor energy to spare for—what is in the end—a relatively minor scuffle."

James' head slumped against his pillow. "Endbringer attack... Bloody hell, that's lovely timing. Wait, why didn't you go?"

Elaine smiled bitterly. "I'd like to point out that most water-based powers tend to not work well with a hydrokinetic of Leviathan's strength, but to be honest I'm afraid I may have lost my nerve."

James blinked. "You were afraid?"

"...anxious. I was anxious."

Jamie nodded sagely. "She got cold feet."

"Don't you start."

...

"See, the thing is," Karen began, "I know I'm not exactly the easiest person to get along with. I like to push other people's buttons a bit too much for their comfort. It's why I don't have many friends of my own. Also, I'm a geek. Most people don't expect girls to be geeks. It threatens their little worldviews."

Jamie shifted uneasily in her chair. "But, that just means we understand where we're both coming from, right? I mean, our situations aren't exactly the same but the end result is?"

"Maybe. I'll admit I definitely understand where you're coming from. But there's a difference between understanding and forgiveness." Karen tapped a finger against the table and began to run it around in a circle. "I won't say you've earned my eternal wrath... but you did do some pretty messed up stuff. It's not so easy to let that slide."

"I guess," Jamie admitted reluctantly. The previous days' events ran through her mind. Assaulting Karen and her sister. Attacking Wu's gang when they tried to retrieve her. Going off to help Flurry and her allies to beat the bad guys, only to turn on them when things didn't quite go her way.

She had been sure—in the heat of the moment—that all of these actions had good reasons behind them, but now she couldn't even understand what she had been thinking. Admittedly, Wu's minions weren't exactly paragons of virtue and she wasn't going to shed any tears over their broken bodies... but at least they were acting to help another person. What could she claim?

"I know I've done some things which can't even be taken back."

Karen nodded seriously. "Definitely. I mean, you got Sunny and Wu Lung together. That is something I absolutely cannot abide."

"Wait, what?" Jamie lifted her head in surprise.

"I mean, I was kind of knocked out for most of it, but in between the times when she'd be fussing over me, she would seek him out and... and talk to him! Like he was a normal person! Not even one slap!" Karen slumped against the table's surface.

"Er..." Jamie eloquently replied.

"She should be hating him! I thought she did! My whole worldview has been compromised! Jamie, what have you done?!"

"I—I'm not following..."

"That creep has been holding a torch for my sister for years! And you gave him the excuse to do something all noble and get his psycho claws into her. And it's all your fault."

"What."

...

"I've got a question" James said.

Elaine paused on her way out, one hand already on the door handle as she turned around. "Yes?"

"What happened with Tianak anyhow? The cape that uh... blew me up?"

"Ah." Elaine crossed her arms and leaned back against the door. "As I mentioned before, I was not entirely aware of her presence, so her assault caught me off guard. If it were not for Jamie stumbling upon one of her children, we may have been completely surprised."

Jamie threw out her chest and cocked her head. "Praise me more!"

"As it was, her discovery was the excuse Tianak needed to launch her attacks. Jamie was unable to react in time and did nothing to contribute beyond finding her and earning her wrath."

"On second thought, forget I was ever there."

"...and, well... I may have mentioned that some of her creations can act as suicide bombers."

"I blew up."

"You blew up," Elaine confirmed. "On the bright side, you were not engaged by one of her acid spitters."

James shuddered at the mental image of the possible outcome. "So how did you beat her?" His eyes flicked towards the doorway. "The same way you... drove Poltergeist away?"

"Fortunately for us, I had possessed the foresight to enlist Volley's aid prior to entering the battlefield. It took him some time, but he was able to contribute to our victory at that crucial moment."

"Volley was there?" James perked up. "Wow... and here I thought he had trouble getting around."

"Ahem," Jamie coughed into her hand. "He wasn't really present. Think about it, Big Brother. Why do we call him 'Volley'?"

"Because he likes to stand off at a distance and rain down... " James trailed off as his brain caught up. His eyes widened as he turned towards Elaine for confirmation. "From that far away?"

"It did take him some time to calculate a firing solution that would be accurate enough for the distances involved, but he came through in the end." Elaine had that 'pleased but not quite showing it'-expression on her face again as she recounted the achievement. "It is almost fortunate that the villain showed up when she did, else he would have expended all of that effort for naught."

James glanced towards Jamie.

"Big booms," his counterpart explained. "And very shiny. I liked."

"Tianak retreated at some point during the barrage," Elaine said. "Whilst we were unable to track her movements, the area of effect was enough to destroy all of her remaining assets."

"So... we won?"

"It would be more accurate to say that we did not lose horribly. Nightwalker's original gang still got away with their ill-gotten gains. We were able to capture one parahuman from their side, but five others from ours were temporarily taken out of action." Elaine gave him a pointed stare. "If you feel up to it, we can begin tracking him down as early as tomorrow."

James hesitated and threw a glance towards Jamie. "Actually,I've been thinking... "

...

"I can't imagine Sunny was too pleased with you being here."

"Yeaaah... you could say she had some issues with my decision," the other girl drawled. She made a face, "New beau aside, she's... not very happy with you at the moment."

Jamie nodded glumly.

"I mean, you only assaulted both of us with a parahuman ability, then kidnapped me and took me into a run-down shack out in who-knows-where."

Jamie's head dipped closer to the table's surface as she slumped over at the reminder. "Y-yeah... I guess I did."

"I mean, she probably hates your guts right now..."

The parahuman's head had fallen against the table, cradled in her arms.

"...doesn't want anything to do with you."

"You can stop now... " a pitiful voice emerged from behind her arms, barely audible from the handset.

Karen gave Jamie a tight smile as she slowly crawled her way back into an upright position. "Anyhow, even if she's not liking it, at least she's fine with letting me make my own decisions. Y'know, unlike some other people."

Jamie's face fell. "You're enjoying this," she muttered darkly.

"I wake up each day looking for ways to amuse myself. It's the only way I can remain sane." Karen reached up to adjust her glasses. "Hint, hint."

Almost in spite of herself, Jamie felt a small smile growing on her face. "Thank you, Karen. For looking out for me. And if she'll accept it, pass my own thanks and apology to your sister."

"Do it yourself. You're not in here forever, are you?" Karen flashed her another grin, this one more authentic. "I think your guard-person is giving me a scowl, so my time must be up."

"Will—" Jamie blurted out before she could stop herself. "Will you... come visit again?"

Karen paused as she half-rose from her chair, tilting her head in thought. She nodded. "Sure."

...

"You are certain?" Elaine asked.

James scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah... I want to try to see what I can come up with on my own. I mean, I'll do it if you want me to, but otherwise..."

"You wish to find your own path. Something you've chosen to do for yourself," she concluded.

"Yeah."

"Did you already have something in mind?" Elaine asked curiously.

"Well, kind of? But not really. I mean, I've spent so many years doing just one thing... trying to find something to replace that is just..." James shrugged helplessly. "I mean, I considered copying you and trying to run a homeless shelter or something..."

Elaine blinked. "Me?"

"—but I'm not sure I could take in strangers as easily as you probably could."

"Back up one moment, I believe now should be a good time for you to tell me exactly what went on in this... other world of yours."

"It's Jamie's, technically. Anyhow I was also thinking maybe take up wildlife photography. Can you imagine the kind of shots I could get if I can tell the animal what to do? That'd be pretty neat."

"Cameras are just a bit expensive..." Jamie pointed out.

"I know, but I've still got some money saved up. Anyhow, aside from those two ideas I haven't really figured anything out. It's harder than I thought it would be."

"You could take up skateboarding," the spectre suggested.

"That is an awfully random suggestion," James countered.

"Well, your ideas suck! Find something more interesting to do!"

"It's not about what you think is interesting, it's what I think!"

"Do you really think sitting around taking pictures of squirrels is interesting?"

"...no, I suppose not."

"See? You've got no clue. Now then, what about..."

...

Elaine leaned back and watched the show as the bedridden cape and his counterpart began squabbling over their future plans. Perhaps she should have put in her own thoughts before their conversation had degenerated into... this. At the same time, however, she found it oddly relaxing to watch the two fighting over a relatively unimportant subject like any other pair of siblings.

She would certainly need to be on her guard around the two in the future, especially Jamie. But for the moment Elaine allowed herself to indulge in the feeling of a job well done. Poltergeist was no longer present—there was only Jamie. So long as that remained the case, she could relax. Though James would probably not ever realise it, Elaine had staked her career on that assumption.

She had been the only cape present capable of putting together a comprehensive report of the day's events. She had been extended a level of trust by her old mentor and those above him, a trust she had betrayed by protecting these two.

By all rights, James and Jamie should have been arrested and placed under heavy security. For Jamie it was because of what she was capable of—Master/Stranger protocols were given one of the highest priorities in field actions by those who followed them for a reason. A moment's mistrust could make or break an engagement between multiple powered individuals.

For James, she had to take him at his word that what he was saying about crossing universes was true. Volley had been correct that day—some of the best Tinkers and Thinkers in the world had not yet cracked the secrets to dimensional travel, at least as far as she knew. If James' abilities were to become public knowledge, there was no telling what organisations around the world might attempt in order to have access to his powers, or the chance to study him.

If their abilities ever came to light, Elaine would probably find herself under no small amount of suspicion. It was only natural—she had worked side by side with the two for years. She obviously should have ferreted out their secrets after so much time together, and the fact that she had never reported it would be a black mark on her record. Despite the very real threat hanging over her head, Elaine still felt a rather warm glow in her chest as she quietly opened the door and slipped out into the hallway, leaving the two to their little tiff.

You'll always be a leader to me, Flurry.

A leader had to take care of their subordinates, did they not? As she walked along the hallway, Elaine decided that Karen would most likely have approved of her course of action.

...

"Patient two-zero-five-four, you have a visitor," the speaker buzzed just as Jamie was inspecting the nightgown she had found in the footlocker..

"What? Aren't these supposed to be scheduled in advanced or all at once during visiting hours?" Jamie complained. "This is very inconvenient for the prisoner, you know!"

"Please cease all activity and step away from the entryway to allow entry of your guides."

"I was just about to take a nap and I can't walk. And your 'guides' should not be armed like Special Forces if you expect anyone to take this place seriously."

The speaker wisely chose not to engage her in a battle of wits, clearly knowing it was outmatched. Instead another doctor or nurse or whatever arrived with another guard—only one this time—and helped her into her wheelchair. She was brought back to the same walled-off visiting center as before, but despite the similarities in the situation Jamie found herself struck dumb as she entered the room.

Seated on the other side of the glass was a woman who was probably middle-aged, but she looked far older. Her hair was grey with streaks of black, rather than the other way around, and stress lines carved their way across her face.

Behind the chair stood a stern-looking man with closely cropped hair. He shared the same worry lines and grey hair as the woman and he had one hand gripping onto her shoulder tightly—support for himself, or for the woman, it was hard to say.

The woman's eyes were brimming with unshed tears as she held the receiver to her ear expectantly. Jamie was wide-eyed as the guard rolled her into place. She didn't even realise she had completely frozen up until the same guard picked up the handset and bumped her arm with it.

She took it from him with shaking hands, slowly bringing it to the side of her face even as her face never left the eyes of the person sitting opposite her.

Jamie gulped, her voice cracking slightly she squeaked out, "...Mama?"

ooo

"I hate this."

"I can't help that."

"Stupid window. Stupid guards. Stupid prison. Those were my parents! They should have let me go with them!"

"I don't think that's how it works, Jamie. Psych ward, remember? Still... it's nice to know you haven't been forgotten."

"It's almost worse! At least I could have made a clean break! But now—now I know they're out there. Waiting for me. That makes being in here so much harder."

"You've still got me."

"Whoop-dee-doo."

"Seriously, try me. I'm not going to help break you out, but ask anything of me and I'll see if there's anything I can do."

"..."

"Offer's available at any time. Just saying."

"..."

"...what's with that look?"

...

Kagami Shirakawa had long ago come to terms that her son was not given to random displays of affection. She had no clue as to why the gods had decided to gift her son with powers, but her James seemed to have matured fairly quickly once he had grown into his abilities. Even as a child he had worked and trained harder than many adults that she knew of. His power didn't seem to have an appreciable offensive aspect to them, so she understood that he was trying to find a way to make up for that gap.

He became serious, hard working, always choosing to solve his problems on his own without having to depend on anyone else. He grew distant from his parents, as if the emotional gulf between them could keep them from harm. His power, the little ghost that followed him everywhere, seemed to be the opposite. She seemed to embody all of the adolescent cheer and innocence James had left behind. But even then, James seemed reluctant to allow Jamie to interact with his parents for any lengthy period of time.

When James had finally brought companions over to their restaurant, Kagami had felt a renewed hope that he was finally reestablishing a social life. Even if she had slight suspicions as to the nature of his new friends, given their obvious disparity in age, she jumped at the chance to make them feel welcome. To encourage them in their association with her boy.

Unfortunately the previous year had seen the return of James' isolated lifestyle. The few shreds of information she was able to pry out of him no longer contained tidbits and anecdotes regarding his teammates. There were no longer any breaks between successful missions, instead he was out on patrol every day of every week. What little free time he had was gone.

The last few weeks had been even worse. James had suddenly decided to switch to a nightly patrol, increasing the time he spent away from home even further. He no longer helped Kagami and her husband with their restaurant, so the opportunities she had to spoil her child were reduced even more.

She was almost relieved to receive a phone call from one of James' old friends. The girl had clearly been worried about her son and from the oblique way she phrased her concerns, Kagami had suspicions that she was aware of James' paranormal status. She also vividly recalled her as the sole female in his previous circle of friends.

Kagami had wondered if this Elaine was single. Her son needed all the help she could give him, the way his life was going.

Still, James was not a boy prone to fits of affection. That was why, barely a day after her son came home after a short stay in a hospital—how she hated those parts of life—she was surprised to find James coming down the stairs with a slightly pensive look on his face. "Mama?" he asked.

Kagami blinked. He hadn't called her that in years. She paused in her cleaning and allowed the towel to rest on the table's surface. "James?" she asked him in the language of her homeland. With the rest of her extended family deceased after Leviathan's attack so many years ago, she liked to keep as many reminders of her home as possible. Her gaze fell to his arms, noticing a tiny ball of fluff nestled within.

She groaned. She really would have preferred that he bring a girl home, but a pet was at least something. Still, she had to keep up appearances, jabbing a finger at the walking allergy hazard. "How many times must I remind you?" she chided him. "Jiemi-nigou stays upstairs!"

She had been quietly amused when he had decided to name the kitten such a thing. Jamie-Version Two. He obviously had no imagination when it came to naming things. First his ghost was an altered version of his own name, now he'd named a pet after that. She despaired for his future children.

James looked uncharacteristically flustered—Kagami would almost have said shy if she had thought her child capable of such a thing. "Sorry, Mama," he replied. "Just really quick, and I'll even help you clean up afterwards, if you want me to."

James offering to make time for her? This was new. "Are you... alright?" she asked. Had her baby been injured more seriously than she had thought? That couldn't have been it, he was in pretty bad shape after last year and she couldn't imagine anything worse than that. "James?"

James set the kitten down against the floor where it mewled unhappily at the loss of warmth and tried to climb his trouser leg. "I'm fine Mama," he said. "I just... can I get a hug?"

Kagami blinked and turned her head to glance out the window. Nope, the sky was not falling. She looked back at her son and her heart melted as she saw him fidgeting nervously. "Of course, baby!" Two long steps and she was standing before him, staring up into his face. Was he always this tall?

James lifted his arms timidly, but lowered them when Kagami raised her own arms in preparation. She caught the hint of reluctance and sadly lowered her arms, waiting for him to make the first move. There was the slightest of pressure as James wrapped his arms around her shoulders, as if trying out something completely new, or at least long out of practice.

The pressure gradually increased as James settled in, then suddenly Kagami was nearly bowled over as her son collapsed against her and hugged her fiercely.

"James!" Kagami exclaimed. "... James?" Was this her son? Had he been hit by some sort of emotion power in the last conflict?

"I'm sorry Mama... I've missed you so much!" James said quietly. "I'm so sorry for being a bad child."

This was... strange. But Kagami wasn't one to let an opportunity pass by. She brought one arm around to pat her son across his back and reached up with the other to cradle his head against her shoulder. "That's alright, dear. I love you anyways."

James hiccupped once, as if choking back tears, then abruptly stiffened in her arms. He pulled himself out of her grasp and she reluctantly let him go, watching as he ran a sleeve over his eyes. Oh dear, she thought to herself. Maybe I went a step too far?

She decided to take pity on her boy and changed the subject. "Now then, you mentioned you would help me clean up after your kitten, yes?"

James rubbed at his arms awkwardly. At least the hug seemed to have done him some good, he seemed to have returned to acting how he usually did.

She was just a bit slightly confused when he turned towards the kitten as if it had suddenly grown horns and a devil's tail, muttering something that sounded awfully close to, 'you witch'.

Jamie-v2 mewled happily right back at him.

ooo

"That was a low blow."

Mew. It's payback.

"For what?!"

You lied to me again.

"About?"

That crystal-shard-type-thing in your little bridge. You said you could break it. You blackmailed me into listening to you!

"Err..."

Myaa~ Yeah, you had no clue what it was, did you? I took a look last night, nada. You bluffed me. I can't believe you!

"Claws... claws! Stop with the claws! Ow, fine! I'm sorry, okay? But seriously, are you complaining about my results?"

...I guess not. But... it's not quite what I'd imagined it would be like.

"We'll get through this. Just be patient. I made a promise a long time ago that I'd get you your life back."

I think I'm going to hold you to that promise.

"I'll follow through. Trust me. But... yeah, for your version of Mum and Pop to just leave you there... I mean it's nice that they came to visit but even I thought—"

Sigh... Silly Big Brother. It's not your fault.

ooo

(a/n)—aaand that's it. done. it's resolved. happy endings for all!... except for the still-having to keep stuff secret... and being in a prison/psych hospital. shrug? hum, i had a lot to this chapter is 8k words including the author's notes. i had a lot i had to 'clean up' with... oh well.

thanks to my reviewers, i know i'm probably not what a lot of you are used to (i never pm'd replies, but i generally don't do that in the first place, so don't feel like i was singling anyone one.

anyhow, as a reward, shout out to all the people who did review, a big thanks to all of you for keeping up with the story and letting me know people still read it, as well as some nice comments on what you all thought.

first all the people who reviewed multiple times/chapters (as of this posting, in no particular order):

esran
packbat
someone010101
langer101
tapiocatalks
fazed343
inconspicuous llama
john galt
keyonte0
veloren

and all the rest of you one-shot people:

clarvel, en, edao, evan, ironsoul, luke wren, madd0ct0r, razorsmile, ristridin, shawnmorgan, solidstach ,unmaker, zarohk korobase, zebigdeadkitty

again, thanks to all of you. and a special mention to panderp and soulpelt from the irc channel.

actually, not soulpelt. he's mean and wont let the stupid 30-year divergence rule alone. hissss.

will there be a sequel to shattered glass? i don't know. i haven't planned one, but then i never planned a sequel to looking glass, hence why it's just a oneshot. then people started bugging me, Worm kept moving forward, and the characters started building themselves up in my head. i had a story to tell. so i did it. if nothing else, this has been my longest stand-alone story to date. i'm feeling very accomplished at the moments.

do YOU guys want a sequel? let me know. was there anything i failed to explain fully, something you'd like to see more of? a particular character you want more backstory on? let me know in your reviews. i can't promise that i'll address them all but at least it'd give me something to brainstorm about.

cheers. and thanks again to everyone who read.