Disclaimer: Don't own.

Warning, I'm breaking up a boring bit with my "Random acts of Heroism" shorts, of which I only have a couple, to give a more comic book feel. So, back to the story, for now.

:}

Vincent "Vinny" Capulet wasn't what anyone ever expected when they heard his name. Most people expected something out of a gangster movie, or maybe one of the more modern shows. Instead, they found a young Afro American who's mother liked the name Vincent, and who's ancestors had somehow or another acquired a very Italian surname. Vinny wasn't a bad kid, but came from a part of Compton that was functionally run by the gangs, and moved to Northridge because his mother hoped to escape that lifestyle. His father was in jail, again, and wasn't likely to be a major influence on his life for at least another two years, while the rest of both sides of his family had written his mother, and by extent him, off years ago. As a result, despite wanting to make his mother proud, Vinny felt a need to belong.

His powers, those had been a shock, coming from his fathers side. When his powers manifest, Vinny had called his father looking for any possible explanation. His dad had admitted to taking a series of drugs that were supposed to enhance him, only to get sick instead. While the man did recover from the treatments, he'd never tasted the power he'd hoped to, and so had returned to his life as a gang affiliated drug seller until he could find someone who could offer him that kind of power. He'd told Vinny "Use your powers. First, we come up with a plan, help me get the hell out of here. Then, we market whatever you can do, find us buyers willing to pay top dollar, and we live large. Just, first, you spring me, cause you've always been too weak to do this kind of shit on your own. Leave it to papa, let me do the thinking. You're mama, she was okay as a fuck, and was a decent enough whore, up until she stumbled into this whole mistress gig she has going on. Honestly, finding herself some white man with a taste of jungle fever to pay the bills, probably the best she'll ever do. Just as long as she remembered who daddy is, and shows me the proper respect, I don't care what she does."

Vincent hung up, finding the odd will to resist his fathers offer, both by the way the man had been a jerk to him and his mother his entire life, as well as how he treated his other kids he'd had from other baby mama's. Of course it helped that the Northrige Community Collage professor who had set his mother up as a mistress wanted him to go to school, go to collage, and be someone. The man had, to everyone's surprise, taken to trying to influence his lovers kid as a part of taking care of Virginia Capulet, mother of Vincent, and possibly another, if the man decided he wanted the full second family. Of course, the woman's relative youth helped. While Vinny was pushing seventeen, his mother was barely thirty one, an age disparity that had cause him pain his entire life, up until this new wrinkle in his life.

"You Vincent?" Someone asked, drawing him out of memory lane. Imminently Vinny shifted his stance, looking ready to throw down. After his talk with his father, he had no idea what to expect, and had learned to always be ready for trouble. Only the boy who'd spoken was not impressed. "Hi, I'm Andre. You were told someone would be by, right? To talk to you?" He flashed a smile, and Vinny's lack of trust deepened. "Well, just a quick FYI, I'm not the type to force anyone to do things they don't wanna. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that I have a best friend who's a metahuman. I wouldn't have a clue about the program. Instead, by looking after my friend, I wound up here, involved, and offered those aobove to try and talk you in, before the police feel that have to take that option away. I know you have a few charges hanging over you," he waved his hand, shooing away the charges, "but nothing so bad as to rip your life apart. Honestly, I'd have been in a very similar situation, only without the powers, except my parents, they put me in band, and I wound up going to Hollywood Arts. You should try it, hollywood arts. I mean, if you can do anything, and I mean anything, artistic, then try out, cause it does help, maybe having a future. I've heard a lot of kids who've been in the system are artists, can draw and chiz."

"You're best friend, he's a part of this recrutement?" Vinny asked, not trusting the boy. The were close to the same age, with this Andre just a few months older, and both were obviously African Americans in decent enough shape. But that was where the similarities ended. Dre wore nice clothing, had a car, showed the signs of wealth that, while not unheard of from the area, was definitely more then Vinny ever had. "And why'd they send you? Don't you know, I'm a very dangerous man, can make things happen."

"And I'm not alone." Dre smiled. "Trust me, you don't wanna cross paths with my bodyguard, cause they, lets just say, they're a heavy hitter, and not likely to just let chiz slide. Play your cards right, they could be your best friend. Play it wrong, and you'll find things go sideways, fast. See, I don't care how strong you think you are, I have the Black Dahlia watching my back."

Vincent felt the air flowing out of his lungs, fear and rage mixing to push him towards a decision. His desire to be free warred with his hope that this kid was lying, and that echoed in the simple reality, no way in hell he could hope to take The Black Dahlia. He didn't want to look weak, but EVERYONE knew how powerful she was, and no way his shape shifting powers would hold a candle to her. "You're telling me a shit like you knows the Black Dahlia?"

"You don't have to believe me." Dre shrugged. "Honestly, you don't have to do chiz. Right now, you keep your nose clean, and odds are you won't ever be forced to participate in the Metahuman Training Program, be a part of Project Redemption. Only, you know, Dahlia is, and you know, I'm working with them, as much as a normal can, and I get to know all kinds of chiz cause of that. Chiz that says you could get a lot from playing along. Plus, Dahlia, she was the one sent to retrieve you, before we found out you still had a choice, and I was just along for the ride. You know, cause you looked like you needed a friend."

Vinny's eyes scanned the area around him, not seeing anything worth seeing. However, that inner voice was screaming, reminding him that she wove the darkness, and could hide in plain sight, just as long as she kept her concentration. "If I say no?" He ignored standard crap 101, about being his friend. 'It's the kind of jank Blue steel probably told him to say.'

"I walk away, leave you to your fate." Dre said, arms held up defensively. "And for the record, you always have a choice. Just, sometimes, the other options aren't that great. But I'm here to sweeten the pot. See, I have an in at Hollywood Arts. If you have any talent at all, I can get you an audition, maybe speak a few words to the right people. No guarantees, but it's a public school, a magnet school, but public, and mostly free. Scholarships available to those who need it, and I can help with that too. You, you're sister…."

"I don't have a sister." Vinny snapped. "Okay, kinda sorta, just not by blood. And yea, she's hot. Just, she's like a sister to me, and I'd be fucking pissed if anyone hurt her." It felt good, falling back on something familiar.

"Just a normal guy who plays a dozen plus instruments." Dre promised. "Total gentleman. Hell, my best friend is a girl… Just not Dahlia, cause she's scary. But if something happened, I'd be honorable. However, your sister, she doesn't need to come with, I just, I'm trying to offer the carrot, avoid the stick."

"Can you help with my pending probation?" The scared meta asked. "Maybe keep them from separating my family again?"

"Let me talk to someone in the program." Dre promised. "No promises, but they can help. Plus, a good school, with a future, that looks great for probation. Think about it."

"Just…" Vinny held his breath. "Let me see her, the Dahlia, and I'll think about it."

"As long as your not trying to look down my dress." Came from right behind him. His eyes tracked to the long, dark dress, and the pale skin barley hinted at beneath. And for the first time in a long time, he believed, and felt he could trust Andre, because the woman behind him terrified him beyond his ability to speak. Beyond her power, her reputation, something about her screamed dangerous to a level he never could mimic. Only, Dahlia being there meant Andre told the truth, and even in his fear, that meant something too.

At Project Redemption, Holly frowned as she watched the technician working. "You're really gonna just let him be?" David wondered.

"Admittedly, Phantom's side reading wasn't legal, so I had no justification to fire him." The woman in charge of the project said. "However, it was enough to get you guys investigating, and your friends did find evidence he'd been hired through the dark web to spy on us. Or rather, they'd hired him, since he worked here anyways, to leak whatever he could find out. Just glad he hasn't given away anyone's true identity. Yet." Her eyes hardened towards the end. "I've deliberately fed him some stuff, while our hackers have watched the sites, and we did find us quite a hall of stuff we weren't supposed to have out there. Just, what to do about him now? If I was ruthless, I'd have him wiped, cause he knows most of the alternate identities. Too bad I don't yet trust Dahlia with that delicate a spell mix. Mister Cadabra knows how, but refuses the wipe. He instead put in blocks to prevent the man from selling anything too delicate. Either way, I need to deal with him, but whatever I do, it's too late, cause specifications on Bastion and Dahlia are out there."

"And they're wrong." David smirked. "Not about Bastion. We've been expecting her development to go kinda similar to what it has been. No, they got Dahlia wrong, cause Jade, far more potent then anyone expects."

"Okay, spill." Holly glared at her husband.

"I reached out to this spirit I kinda know, and it got in touch with this ancient Moa thingy, and that reached out through the underweb, and bottom line, Jade got help from the Fay because they've molded her into a changing." His wife watched him for any signs this was some kind of joke.

"So, The Black Dahlia isn't fully human any more, right?" She'd asked.

"The Fay blood she's been given lets her flow hella more power, while the human blood and soul she has gives her more versatility." He recited to her. "Useful to the Fair one's. Not sure what they want, but I do know they feel they have time..."

"I have a fucking Fae?" Holly groaned. "That means dealing with the Twilight Court. You, more then just about anyone, except maybe Sikwitz, understands the problems with dealing with the Twilight court.'

"They're mostly neutrals." The police hero said, trying to stay calm. "Jade's still our weapon, or big gun, and a hero in the making. No, Tori's luck was what caused her to be accepted by the court, back when she was doing the strong arm enchanting. No complaints, cause they gave her a safe rout to achieve her goals, while enhancing her powers. Just, we need to stay on top of this, cause while her development will be slow, she's got the eyes of the Fair One's firmly on her."

"Joy." Holly groaned. "So, we feed that technician to the Fae?"

"Nope." The man popped the P. "That guy was one of Masters hires, so we let the fallen head of Project Redemption know of this development, and that he's ultimately responsible for that mans inclusion. And don't worry if Masters tries to blame you, cause the data we're recovering from the dark web, it goes back years…"

"Masters never really cared about his charges, so…" Holly nodded. "Betting his friends take care of our technician…"

"Oh, don't worry, they will." David chuckled. "I'll just make sure it's not fatal, or otherwise breaks the law. Masters may have been a monster, but he'd always been about public safety. Thinking he won't want a valuable source of information silenced when we have the possibility of learning who was behind all of that mess from a couple of weeks back."

"I don't wanna deal with him." Holly looked suddenly tired. "Will you please?" She shifted to her sexiest stance.

"God, Holly, not the Bambi eyes. You know how embarrassed I get when we get frisky in a public place."

"My office is hardly public." She joked, but understood. He was a good man, and sometimes, her enjoying her manipulations left him a touch flustered. 'Besides, I don't need the reputation. We'll finish this up at home, after he's spoken to Masters.'

A short time later, Mike Masters sat in his exile, suffering the indignation of watching what that woman had done with his program. 'Of course Dahlia is powerful. But what happens when she has a choice, where her life or physical health might be on the line, and she chooses to run, or hide, or act like the scared kid she really is? No, we needed to break her down, make her ours, and THEN all that power would have been ours, to use as we felt needed. And Bastion, to make her a public hero, when she'd be so much more useful as an under cover operative, tearing up problem communities and organizations….' A buzz brought him out of his thoughts. "Yes?"

"Mister Masters, you have a visitor." His secretary informed him. Moments later, David Vega, officer and metahero, walked into the office.

"David? What brings you here, slumming?" Mike Masters inquired.

"This think tank, they hired you to work as their metahuman expert?" David wondered.

"The job was easy enough to arrange, once my job in probation was in jeopardy." Mike shrugged. "Since I technically quite for a better job, my friends protected my reputation from those damn feds, and I can work with the city again, in the future, once your wife fucks things up enough."

David laughed. "You've always underestimated Holly's abilities to manipulate the situation."

"Then why isn't Warpath following in your footsteps?" Mike wondered.

"Because she'd far more useful thinking she's only part time, while helping train those who wanna be full time." David said. "She brought us the Velvet Phantom, and talked Dahlia into casting some kind of spell that gave Phantom a killer healing factor. Plus, her ability to read people…"

"So she's convinced Dahlia to work with the police?" Masters wondered.

"You saw what she did to…" He was waved off. "Sorry, still painful? I'm guessing even the window seat and high five figure salary doesn't make up for the way the feds just took everything away from you?"

"It hurts, but I'll survive." Mike said. "So, what brings you to my door? Hoping it wasn't you wanting to hash over how well things seem to be going."

"Phantom found a spy in our ranks, and it was one of your hires." Somehow, the police officer hid his smirk as the air flowed out of the former head of Project Redemption. Things were in motion now, and David suspected he'd never fully find out the repercussions, even as he filled in details to the man who just found out he'd been betrayed. 'It's wounding him deeper then losing Jade. Man had his pride, I guess...'

A few days later, Vincent walked into the new school, not sure how things worked out this way, or this quickly, except it had. 'If they put me in a group home, I get to keep my school, but don't live with mom any more. Instead, I've agreed to work with Project Redemption, and as a result, I'm staying with mom, and going to this so called magnet school, Hollywood Arts, the school for posers and wanna be's.'

Honestly, Vinny felt his art wasn't up to any real standards, not to mention this was a performing arts school. But when he auditioned, he found a sympathetic audience, and praise for his skills in drawing and street art. 'Turns out, they have a program for this kind of shit. Just, it's gotta have hella high standards to get in, and somehow, they got me in. So, no pressure, right?'

"Vinny, my man, great to see you." Andre greeted him. "So, you have any trouble finding the place?"

"No, I had me a ride, and they were nice enough." The boy shrugged. "Course, I'm only here cause Misses V has her connections here. She reached out, made sure I was considered, made sure I was accepted, and made sure I had me a ride in to school each morning."

"Okay, lets get a couple of things clear." Dre said. "First, no gang behaviors here. We have a hidden police presence that I didn't even know about, up until I got involved with the project, and I'm just a normal. No powers here, nothing to say I'm special. But I got me…"

"Babysitting duty?" Vincent asked, feeling like he knew the score.

"More like watching out for you, and several others." Dre corrected. "A babysitter watched cause your not competent. Me, I make sure your covered, just in case, as well as giving you a friend here, cause let me be honest, some of the other meta's they have hidden around here, scary as chiz."

"Dahlia?"

"Yea, she goes here." Andre nodded. "If V has em, then odds are they're here. Just, be careful, cause you have no idea how crazy talented they can be." He hesitated. "Then again, you're pretty talented yourself. Mister Alexander, Lane, he's been giddy at the prospect of someone as gifted as you going into the traditional art program. See, Traditional art, street art, that kind of chiz, it has connections to so much of the special effects used in movies and television these days. Mat paintings and the like. Anyways, I'm not in your any of your classes, but a couple of my friends are, and I'll introduce you."

"Any of them…." He held his breath.

"Not sure." Andre shrugged. "See, we don't go and tell people, unless we have too, and me and you, we just don't always need to know. However, while I can't say if they're meta's or not, I can tell you, Jade's in one of your classes, and she's dating another of my best friends. So, be nice…" A nervous chuckle followed. "Who am I kidding, Jade's, well, jaded, and not to be underestimated. So, I'll ask her to keep an eye out for you, but she won't help you unless there's something in it for her. You, I'd love to see you find yourself some other friends, and I'll introduce you around, but my main friends, they're actors and musicians and really into the performing arts parts of the school."

"Be honest, you know all the meta's at this school." Vincent accused. "I mean, your job it to help cover for them, so of course you know."

"And just like I haven't gone sharing your abilities with everyone, I don't go telling them what the don't need to know." Dre promised. "So, let me introduce you around, cause today is gonna be a great day for us both. He started leading the new boy on a tour, showing off the painted lockers.

Lane intercepted the two. "Vinny, great to see you again. I personally can't wait to see how your skills develop." Then to the other boy. "Dre, I'll take it from here."

"But he…." Vincent tried.

"Relax, I'm also affiliated with the project." Lane whispered. "So, let me show you around, and introduce you to the faculty. Gonna be great, cause we've been wanting to move more into traditional art here at Hollywood Arts, but the performing arts part, that's been where the donors are, and you, you're like a godsend. I'm really hoping your early work shows the kind of promise your audition pieces did so we can use it to expand that part of the school." Vinny wasn't used to being the center of attention like this, but he did understand being used for another goal. He was starting to feel like maybe he did fit in, in his own way.

They walked off towards the boys first class, with Andre watching. "So, what happened with Mister V's assignment?"

Meredith stepped out of the shadow. "What gave me away?"

"I couldn't see you missing a chance to read the new guy." Andre told her. "You wanted to know what kind of guy he was, didn't you?" A smirk flowed onto his face. "Still looking for that guy for Trina?"

"I found him, the moment he could do this kind of work and keep his yapper shut." Meri shot. "No, I wanted to know if he was just a project, or a possible friend. I'm not worried about me, I get along great with everybody. But some of us, say Jade, they need friends, cause the one's she has, complicated."

"And?" the Musician asked.

"I take some of those art classes." The friendly girl said. "Not good enough for Lane, but I like to think I have some talent. However, that boy, he's terrified. His whole life, he's been disappointed by everyone, and the only person who's ever really been there for him has been mama. He's worried he's not good enough, that this whole thing will blow up in his face, and that the gangs will track his ass down here and demand he use his abilities to help them." She blinked. "He had a lot on his mind."

"You had time, and did some deep reading." Dre smiled.

"I had Dahlia do some divinations." The second generation hero confessed. "What? Surface thoughts don't always give me what I need. I had to improvise. But the fear, that's real, and close to the surface. Lane'll do what he can, but he gets, er, excited when he has a chance to expand the school. After all, the more types of art we do, the more types of kids we can help, right?"

"So, what happened with the spy?" Dre asked.

"Won't know for a few days." She shrugged. "But we're relatively sure he never gave away just who we were, cause that would have meant repercussions. No, man was in it for a quick buck, and that's about it."

"Good." Andre nodded. "So, you have a class with Vinny?"

"Yea, the same one Jade's in." She smiled. "Gonna love being in that room. So, what'd you do for Gradstein's assignment?"

:}

So, just another day in the life, right? Got a touch more, but Vinny, he was an important part of closing this story down, bringing in an outsider to the project. Betting he won't be the last.

Thoughts?