Page 104 of No Capes

“Where’s Dad?” I ask.

“You just missed him.” My sister places another water glass in front of me and resumes her spot by the counter. “He’s resting upstairs. He pulled his back trying to escape from the library, and we’ve had to keep him on an IV for hydration. His doctor said he should have his perfect health again tomorrow. Jamie’s with him now.”

“Tomorrow?” It has to have been more than a day for my dad to recover from his injuries.

Damian looks at his chips and Arielle picks at her nails, both clearly thinking of the best, diplomatic answer.

“It’s been four days since,” Fox answers. “Today was the first day you could make it out of bed, no matter how many IVs we gave you. After the authorities came, I didn’t want to risk having our identities discovered by going to the hospital. We collected Damian’s and your masks, put you in regular clothes, and called a private doctor.”

“You’ll meet Dr. Karen tomorrow,” says Arielle.

“Are you sure she doesn’t think we’re Supers?”

“Yep.” Damian taps his head. Right.

“Where’s Brynn?” I ask.

“Grocery store,” says Arielle. “I offered to let everyone stay here for a while, so we can be together while things settle down.”

Fox places a stack of newspapers beside my water. “This is everything that’s happened.” His fingers linger on the papers, his other hand rests on my shoulder.

“Phil?” I ask. The news regarding his end must be good, if we’re living in his heirloom house relatively unscathed.

Arielle purses her lips. “He vanished.”

“None of us was fast enough to catch him,” says Fox. “With his force-fields, he got too much of a head start.”

I slump at the table, noticing everyone else has the same hunch in their shoulders. While we’d brought the case against Phil, he won’t serve any time for it unless he’s found. At the very least, people know about his misdeeds, and Capital City’s leaders will convene to decide how to move forward.

I didn’t kill them,Phil had said, claiming no responsibility for my mother’s death, but what would he say if captured?

Looking back at the newspaper, I scan the headlines. The front page includes a photo of Dark Static, his suit soaked from rain. He’s pulling Golden Ace up from the mud.

“Rivals No More” the article starts, explaining how Dark Static and Golden Ace each helped to fight Phil Bridges.

When did photographers show up?Possibly as soon as the authorities came. Journalists find scoops like this miraculously fast.

There are no actual quotes from either D.S. or Golden Ace, but Flare and Materio have paragraphs of input.

“It makes you think about what you see on TV,” said Flare.

“If it weren’t for Static and Gold,” commented Materio, “our city wouldn’t be here today.”

“Our city wouldn’t be here today,” I repeat.

“They want their names in the clear,” Damian replies. “They can’t have the city knowing they helped Phil.”

“Morons,” Fox mutters.

I read on. At the words “D.S.” and “Hero,” my heart swells. When I read about how grateful the city was toward D.S. for returning the food to everyone, he’s a hero to me too.

Then I read the next story.

“Her Super Surprise” written by Molly Woods. She couldn’t have known it was me, but that’s the catch to being Super.People think they know you, even if it’s only the parts you want them to see.

There’s a new girl in town,the article begins, and she’s making a splash.

I laugh.