Disclaimer: Don't own.

:}

Andre wasn't sure what to expect when he made it to the agreed upon classroom, the one in which he'd be talking with Meredith, except it seemed, somehow, she seemed to have guessed at what he was thinking. Not sure what else to do, and with most of his friends leaving so quickly after school, he just went, found the agreed upon classroom, and settled in.

"Yo, Dre, you just hanging?" Rolland, One of the faculty, asked.

"Yea, no big." Andre replied. "Meredith wanted to discuss something, and I didn't think THAT was worth checking out a practice room." He glanced back at the board. "It cool if we hang here?"

"Unless someone needs it for something else." The dance teacher said. The man was from New York, and while his area was modern dance, he'd been known to teach everything except ballet, where his laid back attitude clashed with accepted standards. They said he just wasn't mean enough. "So, I'm thinking you should be good. Just, know we're around if you need us."

"Will do." Andre agreed. 'Funny, you'd think Derrick would be seen looking, since this many open classrooms, I'm betting all kinds of chiz gets done in those clases. Plus, the flour bomber, not that safe a school. Man, if what I suspect is true, then we're like majorly vulnerable.'

"What'd Rolland want?" Tori asked as she entered the classroom.

"Just checking." Andre shrugged. "Don't know if I should be happy he is, or worried, cause there's no real security here. I mean, Derrick, he does what he can, but it feels like everyone slips chiz past him.'

"Yea, I asked my dad about that, and he said, a little mischief is apparently acceptable among the highly creative." Tori shrugged. "Just as long as we keep everything safe, right?"

"But are we?" Andre wondered aloud. "Are we really safe?"

"Derrick is really good at keeping secrets, and Rolland used to hench for Lord Mean, so he has some talents. Just glad he chose dance over villainy, cause his speed, he'd be a bear to catch."

"Sorry, what now?" Dre was floored.

"Oh, you didn't know about that, did you?" Tori laughed. "Long before Project redemption was working, let alone safely out of it's less then ideal first directors control, Lane had his own version. Minor meta's who'd already paid their debts to society would get jobs here, even getting help to find the kind of training they'd need, just cause Lane hated the idea of any meta youths being left unguarded. Or do you really believe, for one moment, my sister had that kind of reaction to some herbal gargle she'd found on line? No, Trina's self serving as all chiz, but the whole thing had been her plan to help get me into the school. Had no idea for a minute, long after I was in, but she'd planned it, and with Lane's help, executed it. I mean, so many things could have, should have gone wrong. But the performance worked, you played your part beautifully, and I auditioned without trying to. Guessing my luck held, cause I made a good friend in you when I joined the school."

"Okay, this is getting weird." Andre deflated. "What did Meredith tell you, and how the holy hell did she know?"

"Meredith is a minor meta who can read thoughts, but not like in the movies." Tori tried to explain. "They're like words, hanging in the air, and she speed reads just to stay ahead." The brilliant smile flashed. "Me and Trina, we know hella more then most expect, cause we're minor meta's as well. Trina's more resistant then most, hence why she only got banged up by that broken gimble, and why she recovered in like days. Technically, she'd fully recovered in like minutes, but we had to sell it, cause no one knew about us."

"And you?" Andre wondered.

"My abilities are, apparently, very subtle." Toi shrugged. "Lane has this long technical term, and I don't much care. Not affecting my ability to be a singer, so why worry, right? Anyways, Lane asked me to talk to you, given what you've figured out thanks to your talk with Marty, who by now you know is the Constable…"

"And he's known your family for a minute cause what? You're dad…" Dre started connecting dots.

"Because of me and Trina, actually." Tori corrected. "He knows dad from work, but he kept his eye on us cause of our abilities."

"Where do Beck and Robbie fit into this, and how does it affect Jade?" Andre pushed.

"Sigh, I was afraid of this." Tori said, pulling out her phone. "Mom?"

"Let me speak to him." Holly instructed. Tori handed Andre the phone. "Andre?"

"Yes." The musician felt weird.

"Please come directly to my home, and we'll discuss it there. Meredith will make sure you get here unmolested." Holly instructed him. "Say yes, and I'll tell you what I can. Here."

"Yes." Dre said, before being told to give the phone back to Tori.

"Okay, I can go with you, or I can go to Jade." Tori noted. "I so wanna go with Jade, but I'm thinking you'll need a friend for this. Gonna text Jade and let her know I'm heading home, and hope to see her later."

"Bastion, right?" Andre said.

"What now?" Tori looked confused, even as Meredith walked towards the room.

"Not Jade, Cat." Andre filled in. "Day after that monster attacked Venice, where she currently lives, Cat missed a day. And sure, there was that covert story, about how she was near, and the doctors needed to keep an eye on her, except she now has probation, and this Bastion is one of the cities newest heroes. Plus, saw a picture, and that girl isn't that tall, meaning Cat would be a perfect physical fit."

"I'm thinking this discussion need to happen someplace else." Meredith told them, letting Andre know she'd just arrived. "Dre, you have a car?"

"Yea."

"Good, my ride is off doing something else." She told him. "Tori, you coming?"

"Thinking he needs a bodyguard." Tori told the short girl.

"Hoping he doesn't." Meri said. "Okay, lets hit the road."

Jade was expecting to spend some time with her girlfriend, albeit at Project Redemption. 'Not my patrol day, so no big. Just, go to the project, do some training, and maybe let my girlfriend accidentally grop me in my room. God, pathetic much, Jade? I'm the man in this relationship, so I should be the one pushing the pace. Only, not thrilled to be taking risks, what with me and Vega's history. Plus, her mom, right there, so…'

"Dahlia, just heard about a ship in distress, and the Coast Guard has requested some extra help." One of the guards told her. "They have a ship on rout, but claim things are critical, and they suspect lives are in danger, so they might need you, so….I'm giving you the coordinators."

Jade wasn't even in costume yet, but didn't hesitate. She rushed to her room, using a simple spell she'd agreed only to use in situations like this to shift her outfit, and less then a minute later, was on the roof, flying out towards the sea, and a freighter that was sinking, and if the what she'd been told was correct, may well have a cargo hold full of illegal immigrants being shipped in under the cover of a false manifest..

'Ships sink real fast sometimes, so no time to play nice.' Koval told her. 'Use the water to get there quicker. By the ancient pacts, water connects with water. Any source will do.'

The Black Dahlia dove into the first pool she saw, all while weaving a spell to slip into the realm of water, and out again, out in the deep ocean, or at least near where the ship was last seen.

Voices called to her, by name, and in sweet tones, as she momentarily touched the other realm. Honeyed voices that urged her towards speed, and told her that the cargo was people, and they were still alive, locked in the hold, while the ship was filling with water. "Prevent the tragedy, save the women." They specifically told her. "Innocents looking for a better life, enslaved for the lust of men, they're time in limited. Locked in their doom, still alive, and watching their hope drown as the chamber fills up. Hurry, and remember the strength of water, for it will serve you well."

Dahlia emerged from the ocean water, and initially didn't see the ship. Moments later, upon seeing the half submerged vessel she realized how far down the freighter had sunk, and willed herself up into the air, to survey the problem and decide on what to do. 'No one can get here in time… I need to somehow pull one hundred plus tons of ship out of the water. How, I'm not that strong…'

'Remember what the fae fold said, and use the strength of water.' Koval told her. "Call upon the water elementals, and have them lift the ship. Water is strong, and has always been a willing aid in the lifting of objects for humans."

Jade wove her next spell, calling several huge water elementals to help. The water churned and moved, as the elementals formed, and seconds later, the ship lurched as it lifted a touch up. Jade watched with anxious eyes as the ship moved upwards, slowly emerging from the waves. Inside, she directed the water to push out of the holds, and in her mind, saw what the water saw. Only outlines, but women, and an empty ship save for those locked in the hold.

A moment later, before the water was fully out, she was in the ship, healing spells flying, as she tried to save dozens of lives. Jade put her full force of will to put out the remaining fires, those the ocean hadn't already quenched, as well as to move the ship to safety, and to help the far too many women and girls stuffed into the hold. 'Damn, so many people.' Jade thought as she shifted, having saved lives with area spells, and now needing to do something to stave off the loss of more lives. 'Guessing the boiler blew. Girls are lucky they weren't all killed, and I've done what I can for the injured and the dying. Some women, they died from the explosion, or the rushing of water, but most of them were just far enough away. Now I need to fix the boat so I can dismiss the water elementals.'

Jade soon found the large opening where the boiler had been. 'Why are the elementals helping me?' She wondered as she watched the waves showing her the hole, attempting to bend some metal back in place, while outlining where the explosion had blown metal off the boat. 'No time, Jade, focus. Need to conjure some metal, elemental plane of earth, and summon enough metal to seal the hole. Won't last long, but…'

'The water is telling me to make sure the metal helps displace the water right.' Koval informed Jade. 'Save the women, they say. Follow these perimeters…'

Jade did as she was told, shifting metal from the far too dirty water instead of conjuring more, and using that metal to seal the breach. Heat and fire helped melt the metal, while the water did it's job too well. Minutes later, the ship was floating on it's own, as the women started to move about outside the now open hold. The crew was long gone, having taken the far too few lifeboats to safety, while their cargo panicked and drown.

'The Fay helped you.' Koval told her. "They respect you, as a warden of the lands, and they chose to help you.'

'Not sure why, but I'm glad they did.' Jade thought back. 'This required skills I don't have. These women, some of them are younger then I am. And the smugglers, did they even call for help, or call this in, and just leave?'

'Call your authorities, and find out.'

Jade used the radio, somehow working despite everything, and quickly discovered that no one told them about the sinking ship. A passing ship had seen the engines blow, and alerted the authorities. 'So much for the kindness of human nature.' Jade thought darkly, even as the would be slaves tried to thank her in languages she didn't understand. The few who spoke some English started to translate, and soon, Jade understood just how terrified the women had been. "How'd anyone know that there were people on this boat…?' She wouldn't get her answer until later.

The coast guard arrived, and after briefing Dahlia on what had happened, they took charge. "Sad thing is, most of these girls, just gonna be shipped back to places where they were desperate to leave." The Captain of one of the ships told her, even as a tug boat was being routed to help move the now derelict ship into port. "Still, they're alive, and while it's not my place to say, if any of them can help us find the one's who were behind this, they might be allowed to stay a while."

"Hope things work out for them." Jade said. 'God, this is janked. Those women, just wanted a better life, and they were transported, to be used, and then, for whatever reason, abandoned to their fate. I so wanna help, except I need to get back to Los Angeles, cause I get the feeling there will be repercussions for what this whole indecent.'

Andre found himself walking into the Vega residence, unsure of what to expect. "So, you and your sister, both Metahumans?" He repeated again.

"God, I wish I'd brought my car today." Meredith groaned. "HAD to want to get a ride from Trina, cause I thought, have some fun, almost best friend type times with her."

"Working hard not to sound like you're crushing on her." Andre joked.

"She's not into girls, and I…" The short girl sighed. "Okay, three quick things. One, I'd love the chance to show her I'm the woman who could convert her, but I know what her interests are, and honestly, you'd have a much better shot. Girls has the second worst taste in men I've ever met."

"Please tell me…" Tori started.

"It's okay, cause you have great taste in women." The shorter girl jumped in. "Not that I'm into Jade like that. I have my quirks, and Jade, not setting me off like Trina does." She flashed a smile at Tori before addressing Andre again. "To answer the question you thought about on the drive over, I read thoughts, kinda like a book, and no, the thoughts are not written in English. Honestly, I have no idea what they're written in. Kinda like computers. I read someplace that most run on assembly, or something like that, and the programming languages we're used to hearing about, all just a method of translating our interests into the simplistic code that lets the computer run. I read the thought impulses we have, and that's almost beyond language. I do get accents from people who speak other languages, cause people do think in their native tongue, but I can still understand their thoughts."

"I never…" Tori started.

"Most people don't think to ask those things." The often friendly girl noted. "They did during testing, which is why I know my limits, but most people don't seem to bother."

"And three?" Andre asked.

"Constable." Meredith said. "The fact that you fished his ID out of him is worrying, so I called someone, and they said to bring you in." She glanced around. "We wait here until they show, and let them handle the heavy lifting of explaining what you need to know. So, relax, do best friend type things with Tori, and I'm sure they'll get here soon enough." Andre was left wondering how the sweet little thing had become so menacing.

Moments later, Holly walked out of the office, phone in hand. "And how many? Close to four hundred? I thought the idea was one person per ton of cargo capacity? Whatever, they still alive? Okay, keep me informed." She hung up. "Okay. Dahlia saved a sinking ship fifteen miles out from the Los Angeles Harbor, and we now know they were smuggling Asian women for the U.S. slave market. Close to four hundred women and girls for the sex slave industry, to be spread out across the entirety of the U.S." She sat down at the kitchen table. "Apparently, one of the girls was a cop, and the crew had found her, tossed her overboard, then worried that the police might be waiting for them. Dumping all the bodies might have worked, but there also might have evidence, like pictures of the girls being loaded on board back in Bangkok. So from what our the coast guard can guess, they decided to blow the engine, claim a maritime disaster, let the whole thing sink, and claim the insurance. False cargo anyways, so why not, right?"

"So they had a cop on board?" Andre wondered.

"No, they'd tossed her overboard hours before." Holly said. "Not sure what happened to her. I'm reaching out, cause the Thai police, I'm thinking they'd wanna know what happened to her."

"That's good." The boy said, looking nervous.

"Not gonna ask how I know this?" Holly wondered.

"No, you're a police mans wife." The musician said. "Okay, a little suspicious, but not outside the realm of possibility. Besides, I have no idea what you do for a living, and…" He looked for the right word.

"Geneticist by training, but right now I run the police youth metahuman training programs, which should be called something like that, except we use so many departments and code names and god it gets complicated." The mother explained. "And I'm here cause Meredith reported what she'd read, and I scolded her for doing some light reading at school, but she reported your dealings with Constable, and your theories about your friends."

"And you're here to deny them?" Andre challenged.

"No, cause I recruited both boys." Holly didn't blink. "Beck is helping test a combat simulator, while Robbie is helping with some of our low powered meta's, cause he can be funny when he wants, and they find him easier to talk to then our staff."

"And how does Jade fit into all of this?" The musician wondered.

"Easy, she wound up dating my daughter, who by now you know is a metahuman herself." Holly told him. "Minor as my children are, I still insist on them being involved with the programs, which brings me to you." She sighed. "I need to be sure you'll keep their secrets, so I'm gonna have Meredith monitor you."

"He asked about Rolland and Festus." Tori told her mom.

"More like you gave them away." Meri said, a smirk on her face.

"Those are outside my department, which is infuriating, given that many of my kids go to Hollywood Arts." Holly explained. "The police were able to place four former henchmen at Hollywood Arts, all of whom had gained minor metahuman abilities from their previous work, and use them as the heavies to keep you guys safe. Festus can eat just about anything, and if it's the least bit spoiled, he gained inhuman strength and endurance. Rolland can shift his metabolism, move at ten times the normal human speed, except he has to feed his body afterwords. The others, we'll let you guess. Just, between them and the two, count em, two former apprentices of Mister Abra, that school is as safe as anyplace in Los Angeles can be."

"What we're saying is, we won't erase your memories, but you gotta keep the secrets." Meri told Andre. "And if you do date Trina, treat her well, cause I can be mean when I'm angry."

"Whoa, what happened to the friendly girl who was always so helpful?" The boy back peddled.

"She's still here, offering cupcakes." Meredith said. "Just...Yea."

Tori, meanwhile, had slid up to her mother. "Jade saved a ship full of women?" She whispered. "God, the day I head home to deal with business…."

:}

So, thoughts? Looks like Jade saved a few hundred lives, and maybe learned something. But Andre, will his life ever be the same again? Only future chapters will know for sure.