Dad watches in awe when my power drops onto his arm, healing over the torn flesh. I move up his arm, unwinding the gauze as I go. Every few seconds, my own skin begins to heal over the letter opener so I have to wiggle it to slice open the wound again. When I get to his shoulder blade, Dad leans forward and examines his arm, twisting it around in awe.
“Holy shit.” I think that was from Crimson. The tension in the room subsides, replaced with curiosity. The cut in my arm closes when I pull out the letter opener and hold my depowered arm next to Dad’s newly healed arm. The flesh is smooth and unscarred. “Nova showed me this the night I found her. Our power can heal depowered skin so it won’t have to heal slowly like a human’s body does. You don’t have to be scarred like other depowered villains, Dad. We can heal you. You could still be president.”
“I need a minute to think,” Dad says. “My power...my daughter...This is overwhelming.”
“Let’s give him some space,” Max says to Nyx and Crimson. “Our pizza will be here soon. We’ll stay in the living room while you guys...sort this out.” He motions our Hero friends to the door, leaving me with Dad and Nova.
As weird as all of this is, I am happy that my dad is finally home. I’m happy he’s alive. Nova helps me lay him on the floor and we work together to heal his arms, chest, face and legs. His face heals into the face I’ve grown up knowing. He’s back. And it’s going to be okay.
The awkwardness scale shoots to fifty gazillion when all that’s left to heal rests under Dad’s boxers. I bite my lip and wonder if I should just close my eyes and go for it.
Nova laughs and empties the pencil cup onto Dad’s desk. “Sir, we’ll pour some power into this cup and then you can use it to heal… you know, your butt cheeks and stuff…”
Okay now I can’t help it. I laugh. Dad laughs.
Nova and I stand in the hallway, suppressing giggles and waiting until Dad calls us back inside. He’s fully clothed now and if it weren’t for the lack of power resonating from his body, I’d think everything was back to normal. Too bad life is about as far from normal as it’ll ever be.
Dad’s handsome face is restored but the muscles in his biceps aren’t taunt like they used to be when he holds out his arms. “I need a hug,” he says. “From both of you.”
I crash into his arms and hold him tightly to me. My heart aches with memories of the last time I saw him flailing on the depowering machine. I won’t ever be able to forget that. Other images flash through my mind. Revenge. The unburdened desire to make everyone pay for what happened to my father. But Aurora is already dead. The idea of tracking down her family members and killing all of them is so enticing, I have to shake my head to clear it. Heroes do not kill.
The timid anxious power that fills the room isn’t mine. I pull back from Dad and look behind me to where Nova stands, twisting her fingers together. “Come on,” I say, motioning to her. “It won’t kill you to get a hug.”
She takes a few steps forward, awkwardly holding out her arms as if she’s trying to shake hands with two people. Maybe the girl hasn’t actually hugged anyone before. We grab her into our hug. She comes out of it like a champ.
Tears pool in Dad’s eyes. “Maddie,” he whispers.
“Maddie?” I repeat, lifting an eyebrow.
“Maci and Maddie. It’s what Sophia wanted to name you girls. Though I guess you go by Nova now.”
My sister nods and scratches her elbow. “Nova,” Dad says, testing the name out. “How did you know that power would heal my injuries?”
She bites her lip. “Honestly, I don’t know how you didn’t know. All the villains know about it.”
Lines appear in his forehead. “Will it work on human injuries as well?”
She shakes her head. “They’re a different species entirely. You don’t have power anymore but you’re still born as a Super, so it works on you.”
I open my mouth to say something but then quickly shut it. That half breed boy with the translucent skin. If Dad didn’t know about the power healing trick then he probably doesn’t know that Supers have bred with humans before.
Dad’s arms wrap around our shoulders, squeezing us to his chest as we head out into the living room. I decide it’s better not to mention anything about that just yet.
One freaking Super problem at a time.
Spark walks from one end of the KAPOW’s Portland, Oregon entrance to the other, his professional nose sniffing all around for a hint of Corey London’s unique scent. Some NYPD officers has lent us their finest K-9 German Shepherds to aid in the search of our missing Supers. Spark is the most handsome animal I’ve ever seen. Plus he doesn’t talk back like Crimson does, so he makes an even better Hero partner than a real Hero. Too bad we can’t recruit him to the Hero Brigade.
I wait patiently while he does his thing, sniffing the shirt Corey’s mom gave me from his laundry hamper and then proceeding to search for the same scent in the area. It’s no surprise when Spark sits, staring at me with that same dejected look of failure that he’s had at the last dozen places I took him. I give him a treat anyway, kneel down and ruffle the fur on top of his head. “It’s okay, boy. We tried our best.”
Crimson calls my BEEPR. A holograph of the top half of her body appears in the air above my wrist when I answer the call. “Any luck?” she asks. Her disembodied torso disappears for a second as she bends down to pet her borrowed K-9. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy? I love this dog. I want, like, fifty of them to come live with me.”
I shake my head when she returns to the holograph window. “We haven’t picked up a scent at all. I have one entrance left to check.”
“I noticed,” she snorts. “Lover boy’s place, right?”
“His name is Evan and yeah, I saved his place for last. I know there won’t be any scent there so I figured I could hang out with him for a bit. The restricted access has been lifted, or so I’ve been told.”
Her eyes look down as she scrolls through the map on her BEEPR. “Max and Nyx are still searching so you’ve got a little free time to get your smooch on before we meet back at your place. Try not to look too sweaty and disheveled when you come back, okay?”