Chapter 1

My phone ringing woke me out of a dead sleep. I blindly picked up my phone and answered it without seeing who it was. "Hello," I answered, voice heavy with sleep.

"Emma," a shaky young girls voice said.

Immediately, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Rachel," I said, and looked to my clock. Three in the morning. "What's wrong baby girl? It's three in the morning."

"I had that dream again," my little sister told me, her voice hitching in panic. "The one with the circus."

"Baby girl, breath," I instructed calmly. "Breath in and out." She started to breath deeply. "Alright, tell me what happened."

Rachel began to tell me what happened in the dream. Our mother cut off our communication when I went to collage and wanted to take Rachel with me. I gave her a hidden phone to call me if she ever needed to talk to me. She would call me if she had a bad nightmare and she's been having the same one for a few nights.

"I could feel his hatred and sadness," she declared, starting to panic again. "It was so real."

"Take a deep breath, baby girl," I instructed her again. "Listen, everything is okay, and you're safe. I'll even try to come down in a few days for a visit, okay?"

"Are you sure you can afford to do that Em?" she questioned, worriedly.

I smiled to myself at her concern. Rachel had never wanted to be a burden to me or anyone else. "Of course, I can Rach," I told her. "I always have time for my baby sister." I heard her laugh through the phone. "I promised that I'd always be there if you needed me. I've never broken my promises before, have I?"

"No," Rachel confirmed, tearfully.

"See, now get some sleep baby girl," I told her. "I'll see you in a few days, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed. "And Emma?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

I smiled to myself. "I love you too baby girl."

After we hung up, I ran a hand through my dark hair and sighed. I knew that I wasn't gonna get any more sleep, so I got out of bed and headed to my study. Throwing my hair into a messy bun, I sat at my desk and decided to get some work done. After filling out some orders for some of my overseas clients, I decided that I needed to do some errands. I took a shower and, after drying off, I got dressed in a black tank top, dark wash jeans, and black ankle boots with my red leather jacket. Suddenly, I got hit with a wave of dark energy.

I stumbled and braced myself against my table. It passed quickly but it had me worried for Rachel. As I put my ear pods in, I called my mom's phone as I locked up my apartment. She answered just as I got into my car. "Hello?" her tired voice came through.

"Hey momma," I greeted.

"Emma," she said in surprise. "Hey sweetheart. How are you?"

"I'm good mom," I told her, as I pulled away from the curb. "Listen, I got some time off of work and I was gonna come down in a few days for a visit."

"That sounds great honey," she said, but I could hear the forcefulness and relief in her voice.

"Her dreams are getting worse, aren't they?" I asked in concern. She sighed through the phone. "I can hear the pain in your voice mom. Don't lie to me please."

"It would be good to have you around Emma," she relented, but skirted around talking about her own pain. "I'm starting to get really worried that she'll be found."

"I'm not gonna let that happen momma," I told her firmly. "I promise. I have to go, but I'll leave in two days. I'll even pick her up from school, okay?"

"That would be great Emma," she said with relief in her voice. "I love you sweetheart."

"I love you too momma," I told her. We hung up and I turned on my music to calm down from the conversation. I did some shopping before going back to my apartment and doing some more work. I had just finished a call when I got hit with another wave of dark energy, this time it was much larger than the last. 'Twice in one day?' I wondered. 'What's going on?'

Closing my eyes, I tried to reach out to Rachel or our mom. But all I got was nothing. That was strange. I was always able to find Rachel, but it was like something was blocking me. And with my mom, there was nothing to find. That go my panic into overdrive. I quickly got a bag packed and came across a locked case that I hadn't touched in years. I sighed heavily before grabbing it. Grabbing some essentials, I locked my apartment, and put my bags in the bed of my truck. I quickly connected my phone to the Bluetooth before calling my cousin. It rang twice before someone answered.

"Romolo," a male voice answered in a thick Italian accent.

"Hey there Thunder," I greeted with a smile as I started to drive to my mom's house.

"Hey there Lightning," Romolo greeted back with a smile in his voice. "Now, I love to hear from you, but you usually only ever call when you need something."

"By my count, you still owe me a few favors," I countered. "I'm cashing in one now. I need you to activate code S135. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone."

"Are you sure Em?" he asked in a worried tone. "You said you were out, and you haven't exactly stayed in the game."

"You know me better than that Rome," I told him. "I've kept my ears open and my body sharp. I'll figure it out. Now, are you in my corner or not?"

"I'm in," he said immediately, and I could hear the excitement in his voice. "Call back if you need anything."

"I will," I promised as I hung up.

That night, I stopped at a motel to sleep for a few hours. Only, what I ended up doing was staring at the case I brought with me. It had been four years since I had anything to do with being what was in the case. It brought back memories that I would rather forget. I fell into a fitful sleep that night.

*Angel with a Shotgun*

My phone ringing was what woke me up, again. I didn't recognize the number but answered anyway. "Hello?"

"I'm calling for Emma Roth," a male voice responded. "Is she there?"

"This is she," I answered, my brow creasing. "Who is this?"

"My name is Officer Jones, Travers City P.D.," he told me. "I'm calling about your mother, Melissa."

My panic spiked, and my stomached dropped. "Is she okay?"

"I'm sorry," he sighed on the line. "We were called to your mother's house and found her body."

"She was killed?" I whispered. "What about Rachel? My younger sister, Rachel Roth, what happened to her?"

"We got the call from a detective in Detroit," he told me. "He said that she was there and that someone had killed your mother."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you, Officer. I appreciate the call."
"Of course," he said. "I am very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," I replied almost distantly. "Have a good night officer." I hung up before he could reply and tossed the phone on the bed. My eyes stung from the tears that tried to come. I tried to breath but just came out as a choaked sob.

Melissa may not have been my real mother, but she gave me the love and care that I really needed. My birth mother didn't really care for me the way that a mother should. Melissa and Rachel were all that I had anymore besides Romolo, and I scared me to think that one of those people were gone now. Once tear slid silently down my cheek. After that, the tears wouldn't stop, and I fell asleep crying for the only mother I'd ever really known.

*Angel with a Shotgun*

When I woke up again, it was from a dark energy. I grabbed my chest in pain and gasping for air. The energy finally subsided, and I could breath again. After calming down, I grabbed my phone and noticed I had slept for an entire day. I quickly called Romolo again.

"Hey there Lightning," he answered. "Two calls in two days, I feel special."

"I'm glad that you do," I told him, my voice a little scratchy after crying.

Romolo could tell there was something wrong with me. "What happened Em?"
I let out a shake breath. "My mom, Melissa, she…uh, she was killed," I relayed to him, my voice breaking. "Rachel is in Detroit, but that might be changing. I have to go find her."

"And you need me to fly in to take care of the arrangements," he concluded. "Of course, I can Emma."

"Thank you, Rome," I told him sincerely. "I know that I don't really say it enough, but—"

"Emmy, you don't have to thank me," he said, cutting me off and sounding quite serious. "You've always looked out for everyone around you. Even after what happened. Let me help, okay? I'll take care of everything for your mother, and you can call me if you need anything else."

I let out a breathy chuckle and whipped away the tear that escaped during his speech. "You always did know how to make incredibly motivational speeches."

He laughed over the line, and I made me smile to hear it. Romolo and his humor was the only thing that kept me sane at one point. "Go get your sister," he told me.

We said our goodbyes and I took a shower. After checking out, I sat in my truck and closed my eyes. I tried to find her again. It was faint, but she was headed towards DC. There was also another energy with her, but it was overshadowed by her own. I opened my eyes again and started the car. I drove as much as I could before I had to stop at another motel to rest. After another two days of driving and stopping to rest for a few hours, I finally made my was into DC. There was a part of me that knew my sister wasn't here anymore, but I had to see someone first.

My instincts lead me to the hospital. Following the faint energy down the halls, I stopped at a patients room and glanced in the window. A young woman with platinum blonde hair was lying in the hospital bed, hooked up to a ventilator. There was a young man sitting next the bed with short sandy blond hair, looking far too big in the uncomfortable hospital chair. I let out a deep breath to calm my racing heart before opening the door.

As the door closed softly behind me, the man looked up at me and his blue eyes widened. "Emma?" he breathed in surprise.

"Hi Hank," I said softly, slowly walking over to him. He stood up as I came over and grabbed me in a hug. I gasped in surprise but returned the hug. "It's been a long time."

Hank pulled back and looked me up and down. "Four years," he stated before chuckling. "You look like shit."

A smile pulled on my lips and a chuckled escaped. I probably did due to my crying. "Better than you and your broken hip."

He scoffed at me before I gave him a pointed look. "You always seem to know don't you," he sighed.

I gave him a small smile before touching his forehead with two fingers. My eyes flashed white before I pulled my hand away and did the same with Dawn.

"What did you do?" Hank asked as I sat on the edge of Dawn's bed.

"Healed you both," I responded. "But Dawn waking up, that's on her. What happened to you guys?"

"Some weird family," Hank told me as he sat back down. "They were after a kid that Dick brought with him."

"Dick was here?" I asked surprised. I had made sure to keep track of each of my friends over the years. The only one I couldn't find was Dick.

"Yeah, and the kid's name was Rachel," he told me. "He left to go find her."

When I didn't answer, he looked at me confused. I was staring at him in a daze. Hank put a hand on my arm, and it snapped me back to reality. "Hey, you alright?"

I turned to look at him. "Tell me what happened," I demanded of him. "From the beginning." Hank looked hesitantly at me. "Hank, Rachel's last name is Roth, right?"

"Jesus, Em, I don't know," Hank sighed, running a hand through his short hair. "She was thirteen and had purple hair. I was too angry that Dick was there that I didn't catch a last name. Too upset about what he did to you."

I smiled sadly at him. Hank and I had been best friends along with Dawn. Dick Grayson and I had been in a relationship four years ago, and I thought it was going really well. When he left, I was crushed. Hank had been furious as Dawn just held me as I cried. I placed a hand on his shoulder to have him look at me.

"I appreciate you defending me, even if I'm not there," I told him. Hank chuckled while I brought up a picture of Rachel and I on my phone. I showed it to him and watched shock come into his eyes before he looked at me. "Rachel is my little sister. I need to know what happened."

With a heavy sigh, Hank told me everything. The job that he and Dawn were doing, then to how Dick showed up with Rachel. Rachel's powers breaking up the fight he and Dick got into, and I gave him a deadpan stare at that one. Hank just rolled his eyes at me as he continued. Hank told me about Dick coming to help them when the two got cornered. Then to learning that Dick was gonna pay them to look after Rachel and finally to the strange family that attacked them.

"There was two adult and two teenagers," Hank explained. "One male and one female of each. They fought in sync and had insane strength. And whenever they took a hit, it didn't even faze them."

"That's never a good sign," I muttered.

Hank scoffed, before looking over at Dawn. "So, she'll really be, okay?" he asked hopefully.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. "Physically, yes," I answered softly. "She needs time mentally to come out of the coma though. I may be confident in my healing, but the mind is a lot trickier."

"Thank you," Hank said, his voice thick with emotion. He put a hand on mine and squeezed in gratitude.

"You guys are family Hank," I told him, and gave him a warm smile when he looked up at me. "I don't really have a lot of real family or at least not super close. If you ever need any help, just call and I'll come, okay?"

Hank stood and pulled me into a tight hug. I returned it, taking comfort from my long time friend. "Don't forget yourself," Hank whispered to me. "We are all here for you too. You can come to us as well."

I smiled softly as I pulled back from him. "I'll do my best Hank," I told him.

We said our goodbyes and I made my way back out to my truck. I sat there a moment and closed my eyes, trying to reach out to Rachel. I found her energy going towards Ohio and immediately knew where she was headed. Covington, Ohio, and Saint Paul's Convent. I sighed as I opened my eyes and turned my truck on.

I was going to get my sister back.