“Oh Auntie Luce, you’re gorgeous!” Ariel chirped once the torture crew had finished with me. That crew consisted of my erstwhile niece, Ariel, who had decided that since I wouldn’t be a mommy for her I could be her Aunt. Well, I had rescued her from a really bad situation and promised that no one would ever hurt her again. So I guess that does kind of make her family. In a way. Ah, Hell, she is family, who am I kidding here?

Heather beamed. “You look fantastic, Luce!”

I gave her a look that would have fried most people, but she blithely ignored that while gushing about how beautiful I was in the outfit my so called friends had picked out for me. Okay, this was supposed to be my first, very first, real date. But Sean had seen me in conditions that no real girl would dream of letting her boyfriend see.

“Thanks.” I grumbled while giving the lacy white skirt of my outfit a little flip. “I feel like some kind of dress up doll that says ‘Mama’ when you squeeze her.”

“None of that, Luce.” Dani — Danielle — scolded me. “This is your very first date with a guy you really like! You have to look good for it.”

I so wasn’t going there at the moment, though I really wanted to shoot that one down. I ended up with a rather lame, “Sean has seen me in soaking wet rags and still likes me for some reason. Why is this all so necessary?”

“Because…” Heather looked at the others in the torture crew and waved so they all joined in with. “YOU NEED TO LOOK GOOD FOR YOUR BOYFRIEND!”

“Girl thing, right?” I questioned in resignation. I’d only been a girl for less than a year and was still a lot more comfortable in sweats, or jeans, or — lord help me — the school uniform.
“Pretty girls like to get all dressed up.” Heather told me with a grin that would have been evil if the girl wasn’t so damned — well — sweet.

“Hello!” I answered. “Pretty girl or not, I DON’T like getting all ‘dressed up’ and it’s really uncomfortable for me. What if someone sees me in this getup?”

“That’s the whole point of the thing.” Heather told me with a grin. “Pretty, no gorgeous girl, pretty clothes, great makeup and going on a date…”

“I’m not going to get out of this, am I?” I asked with a little grin.

“Nope.” Ariel answered simply and with a lot more authority than a twelve year old girl should be able to muster. But then again, she’s the most powerful Pyro-kinetic that has emerged so far, so I could give her a little ground there. “Auntie, you are going to have to put Sean’s eyes back in his head once he sees you because he won’t be able to move for the first few minutes.”

“Okay, I give up!” I told the evil gang and even held my hands in the air to show that.

“We knew you would, Luce.” Heather grinned. “No girl alive can resist being pretty.”

Pretty? Okay if the girl I am now had walked in front of me before my change I would have frigging creamed my pants just looking at her, especially the way she was dressed. Pretty doesn’t cover it at all.

All white. Everything, even my underwear.

Nice little dress that showed a bunch of my long legs even when I was standing up, long sleeves with lace running along the outside of my arms, tight bodice with lace accentuating the swell of my breasts without being really gross and advertising, a broad belt — also covered in lace — around my narrow waist, and a short, full skirt with lace at its hem. A skirt just made for frou frou. According to Heather.

Frou, frou is when a girl shakes her hips and her skirt shimmies and moves so it emphasizes her hips, bottom, and… Well, you get the idea there. It’s really sexy according to Heather and my evil little niece.

Oh, yeah, white stockings, and a pair of white, strappy sandals with a four inch heel just about completed the outfit.

Then there was the pristine white lace hair band tied in this too cute little bow at the top of my head.

I looked so damned virginal I was seriously considering killing someone just then.

The white contrasted with my complexion and just looked that much worse — oh, sexy -- sorry.

Heather handed me the white handbag that went with the outfit and I really thought about hitting her with it.

Oh yeah, the image in the mirror was a knockout. Five foot seven, nicely put together Asian babe in a dress that looked like a purity fantasy some religious nut would have. Or some pervert would have with a hard on for a cute Asian chick in virginal white with lots of lace.

Me? I was going with that last one.

“You guys really expect me to go out in public dressed like this?” I questioned.

YES!” Came from all of them at once. Okay, I know when I’m beaten. I shrugged, took another look at the image in the mirror, and sighed. “You guys do know that payback is hell, right?”

“Oh, you’ll be grateful forever after Sean sees you.” Heather grinned.

“Say’s you.” I grumped then just had to give my skirt a little flip so I could see what that did.

I watched and silently cursed the bio-terrorists who had broken into that genetics lab seventeen years ago. The overflow had leaked into a nearby reservoir that a water bottling plant used. Contaminated bottled water got sent all over the country shortly after.

Most people who bought and drank that water weren’t affected at all. But pregnant women were, or more importantly, their children were. I lost my mom in childbirth, and every kid at the center can say the same, or that their birth mothers died shortly after giving birth.

For that alone, I would cheerfully gut those terrorists. I never got a chance to know my mom thanks to them.

Then to add to things, the children born from women who had made the mistake of drinking that water were intersexed. We all were born with the internal sex organs of the sex that we weren’t. Males had ovaries, fallopian tubes, and all that. Females had testes up in their bellies that were just waiting for the right moment to descend.

That would have been bad enough, but all of us children of the tainted water had powers.

Yeah, like the comic books. X-men, Teen Titans. We each had some unnatural power, but it didn’t show up right away. No, it waited and let us get used to what we were before kicking in. Which was usually around the age of sixteen.

And the real kicker there? When the weird power kicked in, the poor kid changed sex.

And sometimes race.

The upshot is that none of us can look in a mirror and see any resemblance at all to the person we spent fifteen or sixteen years growing up to be.

Sucks, doesn’t it?

Which brings us back to me complaining about how my friends had me dressed.

Three months ago I was a guy. Okay kind of a dweeb, and a definite geek. But a guy.

Now…

I’m this one hot looking Asian girl with long black hair that has the unnerving habit of doing things like handing me what I need to do things with, or just hugging me when I’ve had too much of being a girl.

Oh yeah, my real power. I’m a probability manipulator. We’re rare, which is a good thing, but I can literally change the things around me with a thought. I don’t even have to wave a hand to do it.

So on top of being a girl hot enough to have my old self performing self abuse in the bathroom while thinking of her, I have a power that is so scary I hesitate to use it.

Sheesh, being a teenager is a bitch.

Saved by the bell!

My phone chirped for attention and I groaned while pulling it out of my purse and reading the text that had been sent.

Need you on cleanup detail immediately. Your car leaves in five minutes. Be in the garage in three. Fine

Ms. Fine was not only a teacher at the Center, she was head of security, which included the cleanup details when something went south with an emergence, or just to take care of loose ends. She was gorgeous, so the name Fine fit that way, personality-wise she was about the coldest thing I’d seen outside of a freezer. But she was good at what she did.

“Aww crap!” I let out a sigh and gave Ariel a quick hug. “Sorry, honey, duty calls. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Are you going to rescue someone else?” The girl asked me quite seriously. Which was a fair question. I’d been on twenty pickups since I’d quite literally yanked the twelve year old away from a very nasty person with the ability to damp not only powers but a person’s brain. That one was well dead, and yes at my hands, so to speak. Of all the people I’ll ever have to kill, that one will rank among the top ten for ‘least regrets’ no matter who or what I come up against.

“Not this time, sweetie.” I gave the twelve year old prodigy a smile as I disengaged from the hug. “Just got to help clean up a mess is all.”

“Okay, Auntie.” Elfin features smiling, the little thing — who just happened to be the most powerful pyro-kinetic we’d encountered yet nodded. “Work comes first, I know.”

“No, luv.” I corrected. “Family comes first. Unless you’re in my position right now. “Do me a favor and let Sean know I’ve been called away, would you?”

“Sure!” She chirped while pulling out her own phone. Six weeks since she got the thing and she still played with it like a brand new toy.

“Study that history while I’m gone.” I told her.

“I will.” She pouted but I knew she’d do it. Shoot, the girl would do anything I asked, which was a little embarrassing, but I’d brought it on myself. ‘Save someone’s life and you were responsible for them for the rest of your life’ the Chinese were fond of saying. They were right. I took a great deal of interest in Ariel’s schooling and training.

But I’d been doing that with a lot of people lately.

“Damn you, Colonel.” I grumbled as I left the commons area. “I never wanted this damned job, but you gave it to me anyway.”

What job is that you ask? Master Sergeant in homeland security: special talents division. Which means that I handed out shit, kicks in the butt, encouragement, and kudos as needed. To every kid in the Center as it was needed. Kristyn was constantly kidding me that I didn’t have that ‘drill sergeant’ voice but I did have the attitude.

Master sergeant. Me. Who about a year ago had been a regular geeky guy just wanting to get through a day at school without getting stuffed head first into a trashcan or worse.

MASTER SERGEANT XIANG TO THE GARAGE ON THE DOUBLE! Came over the intercom as I hurried to reach just that destination. You try moving really fast in four inch heels and see how well it works for you.

“On my way.” I told my uncaring phone as I neared the garage. “Should be there in another few seconds.

Out of my way.” I waved my ID at the guard watching the door to the garage, and just blew past the guy before he really had time to realize I’d been there. But they were used to that by now.

“Hey Sarge.” Corporal Leonard Donahue grinned when he saw what I was wearing.

“Not one word, Leon, not one word.” I warned him when he started to say something about the way I was dressed. “This wasn’t my idea.”

“Had an emergence about twenty miles from here. It was nasty, really nasty.” He informed me while still managing to leer at me in my ridiculous outfit.

“I was going out on a date, okay? Now Details.” I snapped out while looking them up in my phone. The info was there, but I always like the get the take my squad has on the thing, too. Plus it got him and the others in my squad, to quit staring at me.

“CDC is in place, quarantine signs are up.” Leon crisply informed me. Witness have been rounded up, and are going through debriefing now, pickup team has stood down and are on the way back. The kid didn’t make it, Sarge.”

“Shit.” I know the language didn’t fit my image just then, but we’d been losing far too many newly emerged recently because some had gone rogue, or just didn’t survive the changes they went through.

“Sarge, we’re ready to roll.” Cpl. Donahue informed me.

“Load ‘em up, Leon.” I answered then glared at the others on the team. “What? I was going out tonight. Do your damn jobs and quit staring at me. And don’t say a word, if you know what’s good for you.”

Just to make it worse, I straightened my skirt while I was telling them that.

“Loaded and on our way.” I informed the ever present Colonel, Ms. Fine and Kris. The first one acknowledged the second sent a terse ‘good’ and the last one actually giggled before she responded. “I want the vids on this one, Luce.”

Oh, yeah. Luce. That’s me. Lucinda Evangaline Xaing. One time pasty white, skinny little nerd guy. Now? I’m officially a girl of Chinese/American descent who is also — Kicking and screaming all the way — undisputed third in the chain of command at the Center. Oh, yeah, people tell me I’m gorgeous, as in model quality there with my delicate features, honey colored and unblemished skin, green eyes, and long black hair. Hair that actually does things beside just lay there. Well, at least I’m taller now. As a guy I was around five foot five, as Luce I’m five foot seven. I’ll take that and do my best to deal with the rest.

Like I have a choice. Not in my appearance, that change happened all on its own when I emerged, or my current rank. Both were kind of thrust upon me without my real cooperation but that’s life among the emerged at the Center.

The rank? Well I was officially Master Sergeant Lucinda Evangaline Xiang, seconded to Homeland Security for the duration. Meaning life in my case, I supposed. A bit less officially I was just under Colonel Harris — the head honcho of the Center, and Kristyn Keyes who held the official rank of Warrant Officer. I was waiting for the day we actually got some captains and lieutenants into the mix so I could stop being number three. Hell, I’d settle for a Midshipman right now. But with my luck, Harris and Kris will promote me when more leadership material shows up.

My musings were cut short, mercifully, when the SUV sped up once we were off Center grounds and on the highway. It was time to get back to business, I can complain anytime.

“ETA ten minutes.” Donahue informed me.

“Locals?” I questioned.

“John Law is chasing a lead we gave him.” Donahue answered. Meaning that the local law enforcement people were chasing something harmless to them and not cluttering up the real scene. “Coroner won’t get there for another half hour. He had a flat tire.”

I nodded as we pulled into the lot of — oh, joy — a mall.

“Witnesses secured?” I questioned, just making sure of that one. Never take anything for granted, even when it’s been said. Witnesses are people and keeping them all out of the way and ready for questioning and eventual release is like herding cats more often than not, at least one usually slips the nets every time.

“Secured, Sarge.” He answered. “Eraser is working on them now.”

“Good.” And before you get all outraged, the witnesses weren’t being eliminated. They were questioned, questioned again then someone with the power just got rid of all those nasty memories for them. Clean, neat, and it saved the poor normals a lot of nightmares. An eraser can do just that, erase selected memories and leave the person worked on with a blank spot, but one that can be explained easily enough with trauma.

“Secure the area.” I told him, knowing that the locals wouldn’t have been able to do it and the eraser wasn’t capable of that without raising way too many questions while the CDC people had mostly hung temporary signs to make the area look like an official disaster area.

“On it, boss.” Donahue assured me as my team exited the SUV.

I simply walked into the mall and found a bench close to a fountain then made myself comfortable for a few minutes while contacting Kris, Fine and the Colonel to let them know what was going on.

“This was a bad one, Luce.” Kris informed me.

“I know.” Letting out a sigh I waited for the signal from my squad that things were ready for my particular talents. “Force fields in a single plane. Cut things, and people into neat slices before she used the power on herself.”

“How did we miss this one?” She asked, not expecting an answer. “It was so damned close to us!”

“Shit happens, Kris.” I answered with a sigh. “Our precogs can’t spot everything all the time.”

She didn’t answer and I didn’t press things. It’s always painful when we miss someone emerging, especially when that emergence has such disastrous results.

“Ready for you, Sarge.” Leon’s voice came through my ear bud.

“On my way.” I responded while almost lazily standing so the gawking guys could get their fill as I walked towards the target area. I even flashed a smile at a couple of the cute ones but moved on before they could zero in on me.

One of the guards keeping the gawkers away moved to intercept me as I approached the area. “Sorry, miss. This is a contaminated area, you’ll have to leave for your own safety.”

I gave him a weary look and showed him my badge. He took a quick double take between me and my ID photo then tried not to smirk.

“Not a word.” I warned the guy as I moved past him.

“Oh, Christ.” I breathed once I’d reached the cleanup zone. It was an upscale formal store, and a lot of the dead had been trying on prom dresses. I wanted to cry, but had to hold it in. That would come later.

“Keep people away, Leon.” I unnecessarily ordered my corporal, which gave him the chance to get away from the carnage. “But if you’re going to hurl, do it now.”

He did, but wiped his mouth and his eyes before nodding. “On it Sarge.”

Take some leave when we’re done here, Leon.” I gently ordered while touching his shoulder to give comfort I didn’t feel like I had to spare. “Go talk with Doc Tipps. I know I’m going to do that.”

He didn’t answer, just nodded and gathered a couple of grunts to help him watch the entrance and help to keep any new shoppers or the curious away.

I put all the body parts back together, as well as I could. Cleaned up most of the splattered blood and other less mentionable things, and did my best to fix the damage a plane force field could cause. At least the kids’ loved ones would be able to recover intact bodies instead of the mess I’d walked into.

“Can’t you make this not to have happened?” A private, new to the squad asked me and his agony was clear in both voice and posture.

“If I could, don’t you think I would?” I questioned gently. “I can’t change what has happened. I have no power over the past. Only the now. God, you don’t know how much I wish I could go back and stop this.

But I can’t change the past.” I shrugged. “And I can’t see the future. So what I’m left with is fixing what I can and not worrying about what I can’t.”

“That must be like living in Hell and being able to see Heaven.” He told me.

“Oh yeah. You don’t know the half of it and I hope you never do.” I nodded then cleaned the blood off my dress and shoes before leaving that abattoir. “We’re done here. Let’s go home.”

“I’m recommending that squad all get immediate forty-eight hour leave, and some heavy psych time with one of the docs.” I told Kris once we’d returned to the Center and I was able to report in person. “Not even our clean-up crews should have to see things like that.”

“Yeah, I saw.” Kris walked behind me and massaged my shoulders. “One of the worst I’ve ever seen. How you holding up?”

“About this far,” I held two fingers less than a quarter inch apart, “from going stark raving bonkers.”

“Normal then.” She grinned and I had to laugh.

‘Pretty much, yeah.” I admitted then looked her right in the eyes while I asked. “Is something in me broken, something that other people have that I’m just missing, Kris?”

“Why do you ask that?” She questioned, returning my stare measure for measure.

“Because, even after something like what I just saw and did,” I shook my head, “I can still make jokes with someone.”

“Defense mechanism, hon.” She told me while placing her hands on my shoulders and giving them a squeeze. “Something hurts so we laugh at it to take some of the pain away. It’s human, and you aren’t lacking something everyone else has. You just deal with it differently than most people is all.”

“Why is that?”

“You’ve seen the elephant, honey.” Kris hugged me. “Just like I have. We’ve both done the dirty deeds, the nasty, unthinkable things, so others wouldn’t be forced to do it. To keep people we don’t even know safe, but it is part of the job, like it or not. Off and on we even get to do that for people we actually care for.”

“Yes, I know.” Letting out a sigh I pulled back a bit then moved in to give her a hug. “But I still don’t know that in my gut. It just hits me off and on, and I wonder about my sanity is all.”

“The colonel likes to say that sanity is a relative thing.” Kris shrugged then mocked the stern face our commander generally showed all of his subordinates. “Relatives make you insane.”

“Damn it, you hauled me out of a really good funk there.” I grinned.

“Glad I could help.” She laughed and gave me a long looking over then shot me one of those girl to girl grins. “Niiiice outfit, by the way.”

“Not you, too!” I groaned.

“Something about you in virginal white and lace…” She teased while grinning at me. “Bet your squad just LOVED that when you showed up for the mission.”

I just glared at her in response.

“That would be, ‘Go to Hell, SIR,’ if it’s any help Master Sergeant.” She chuckled at my expression.

“Whatever.” I waved that off and turned to leave the room.

“Oh, Luce?”

I turned to see what she wanted now and Kris smirked, shook her head, and told me. “That outfit is too CUTE!”

Does every noncom want to kill their immediately superior officer?

At least once in awhile?

We had actually gone about three weeks without an emergence, which was odd, but not entirely unheard of. Then in one week we had five show up. Go figure.

Guess who had the basic orientation rotation for the week those five newbies showed up? Yup, moi. Oh, joy, oh joy. So I was standing in my office — yes, I had a real office, with my name and rank on a plate by the door -- looking at five confused, gender switched, and half terrified kids.

Which brings up another inane thought here. When exactly did I stop thinking of myself as one of the kids?

Well, that would be something for later on. Right now I gave the group my best reassuring smile, waved them to seats and took one myself.

“Hello and welcome to the Center. I greeted them once I’d seated myself in a chair that wasn’t behind my desk but facing the seats they had taken.

“Before we go much further, I’m Lucinda Xiang but people generally call me Luce. I saw you all staring at my nameplate by the door and wondering, so I’ll tell you right now that yes you are in something of a military facility here. I, and all of you, now work for homeland security. And no, we aren’t going to try taking over the world, or imposing our ideas of what is right and wrong on the general population of this country. The only sinister thing at all about us is that we’re a well kept secret just now. That’s for our own protection as much as anything else. You aren’t prisoners here and once you get a handle on your new abilities and personas you’ll pretty much be able to come and go as you please. There are a few restrictions but they aren’t too awful, and I’ll explain those later.

Some of you already know that there are other groups out there picking up kids like you and some of them are not nice at all.” I went on because three of the five in front of me had been forced to defend themselves from some unsavory types before we picked them up. “So there are other organizations out there, some government, some private, all the way to real criminal outfits who are actively taking kids like you to use as assassins, general bullies, or to subvert the going order of things. Our job here is simple. We’re supposed to keep things like that from happening, or fix the damage these groups manage to inflict.

In spite of what some of you might think,” I softened my voice and let out a little sigh, “The Center is here to Protect. Protect you while you’re learning about your new selves and abilities, protect our loved ones and friends, and to protect the whole country. I know that’s a lot to swallow just now, and believe me, I’ve been right where you are now so I am very well aware that it is far from comfortable. All I can ask right now is that you give us a chance to show you that I’m telling the truth.”

“Uh, Ma’am, or is it Sir?” One of them raised her hand as if she was in a class room. “I have a few questions…”

“Only a few?” I grinned at her and the others. “I understand and I’ll do my best to answer them in a little while, all right?”

At her nod, and receiving the same from the others I went on. “Now I know you all saw that Master Sergeant on my nameplate. So for starters here let me say that I’m not an officer!” I stopped and thought about how many times I’d seen that said in movies, or read it in books and stifled a giggle. No way was I going to say that I worked for a living. But I was tempted. “My name is Luce, and that’s what I expect you to call me. If you call me ma’am, I look behind me to see who you’re talking to. I’m Luce. Nothing more, just Luce.”

The group I was orientating was three very uncomfortable looking girls and two guys just as bad off. With another small sigh I shook my head and smiled at them. “Okay, kiddies, facts of life for people like us coming right up. None of us are who or what we were before we got here, me included.

So, we can either piss and moan about how unfair it is.” I gave them a grimace that showed pain and idiocy all at once — I’d practiced that one in the mirror several thousand times — and shrugged. “Or we deal with what we have now and go on living.”

They all looked at me as if expecting something else and I grinned. “Don’t ask me for answers there, I’m still dealing with it, too.

But we all have some very good people here to help us through the tough times.” I went on. “So what if you were an uber jock and now you’re this pretty, petite little girl? Or maybe you were a cheerleader and the campus queen but now you’re some gorilla with muscles on your muscles? Whatever we are now is what we are going to be no matter how much we bitch, and trust me, I’ve done the bitching part already — and it doesn’t work. Bottom line here is that you deal with the changes or you don’t. Don’t and I’m going to be one of the people picking up the pieces and I’m tender hearted and cry when I have to do that. So do me a favor and do your best to adjust, okay?”

I could tell that none of them really believed the tender hearted bit. Oh well. Once in awhile someone sees the truth.

“Any Questions?” I always regretted that one, but it was part of the deal. Then again, I had promised to give them answers…

“What about my — our — parents?” The girl who had started to ask things earlier questioned. “My Dad lost mom when I was born and never remarried, him thinking I’m dead is going to destroy him.”

Oh that one hurt, it always does. I didn’t even try to hide the pain in my voice when I answered that one as gently as I possibly could. “Yes, it will be hard on everyone involved but all of us have to go through it, as much as that sucks. My own father is getting along with his life, my step mother, the only Mom I ever knew is doing the same.”

I could see the start of a protest on her face and raised a hand to stop it. “I know, I do know. But what are you going to do if you do go back home? Tell your dad that you’re his lost son? How are you going to explain that you’re a girl now, and even a different race? He wouldn’t believe you no matter what you tried to convince him, at least not really.

Which brings up the protection thing again.” I sadly told them all. “I’ve mentioned these other organizations who are after us, and if they can’t take us, they’d just as soon kill us so no one else can make use of our abilities. If any of those discover who your true families are, it would put the ones you love in a lot of danger because most of the rival groups aren’t good at all and wouldn’t even blink at using your parent’s as hostages, leverage to make you come to them.

The best and I know from bitter experience the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do is let your previous families go.” I couldn’t, and didn’t bother to try to hide my own grief over that, but went on. “To keep them safe, you can never go back to them, at least not as their sons or daughters. In time, you can go see them, but that’s just to watch things from the outside to show you that they’re doing okay and you’ll be able to watch over them as you like, from a distance though. That alone takes more courage and determination than I can express right now, but it is the way things have to be whether we like it or not.

It’s okay to cry.” I rose and gave the girl a tender hug. “It hurts and all of us here know how much it does, we’ve all gone through it and in many cases still are.

Hell,” I gave them a lopsided grin as I passed the tissues around. “I had a breakdown because of that very thing that is still legendary around here. I’m sure you’ll be hearing about that one soon enough. The point is that everyone here, even the normal humans know what you’re going through and are here to help you get through it.

I’m here to help you get through it.” I went on with a firmness that I still didn’t really feel deep inside. But I was committed to that and I’d be damned if I was going to do a half assed job of anything I was supposed to do. “If you have concerns, worries, outright night terrors about what’s happened that you aren’t comfortable telling someone who hasn’t gone through what we have, my door is always open. Come talk to me, yell at me, cry on my shoulder or break some of the knick-knacks I haven’t gotten around to putting in here yet.

The point is, if something is really bothering you at a level that interactions with others like you or time isn’t helping,” I flatly told them, “talk to someone. A trusted friend or me, or the professionals we have here to help you. I’m no shrink, but I’ll listen and do whatever I can to help. Just keep that in mind, okay? We don’t want to lose someone just because they felt like no one cares.”

At their nods I grinned. “Now for the really fun stuff.

Since none of you have finished high school,” I told them with an evil grin, “you’ll all be doing that here. Along with individual classes for your powers and general physical things like basic martial arts, weapons training, and physical training.”

They were giving me that ‘deer in the headlights’ look, so I shrugged and gave them my best rueful grin. “What can I say? We all need to be at the top of our capabilities, or we may not survive the next few years, that includes finishing high school, getting a handle on your powers, and being tough enough to fight if you have to do that. It’s not easy, I won’t even try conning you into believing that, but it is necessary. We’re going to work your butts off, leave you so tired and aching that you’ll wonder if you really did die and go to hell, cram stuff into your already overloaded brains, and in general do our absolute best to make sure you’ll be able to survive out in the cold, cruel world when you get back out there.

For what it’s worth.” I grimaced. “I’m still finishing high school, too. And bitching about the physical training, and feeling as if my head is going to explode from all the things that are being shoved at me. So I’ll be right there suffering along with you guys, believe me.”

They all managed some kind of acknowledgement to that and I even got a few giggles and chuckles for my pains. “But I get the dubious privilege of also being around to encourage you, kick your butts if you aren’t performing up to the standard we know you can do, and bully you into doing what you need to do to be able to survive in this scary — Hell, fucking terrifying — world you’re in now.

You can cuss me, wish I’d drop into a nice deep hole, or had never been born.” I gave them my very best evil grin. “But I will NOT give up on any of you. Ever. So don’t give up on yourselves. You can hate me if you like in times to come, and some of you probably will. I can live with that if you learn enough to survive.”

I got nods from all of them when I had finished, and gave the group my very best reassuring smile as I rose from my seat and waved towards the door. Oh, yeah also trying to ignore the lustful flashes of expression I caught from most of them as I did. I was actually getting used to that kind of thing. Finally. Sort of.

“Okay, you’ve all got your personal schedules, right?” I questioned and at their agreement I waved to the door again. “So get moving. You all have appointments for psych evaluations, general aptitude testing, and powers testing to get through. Either Kris or I will be speaking with each of you individually within a day or two, once things have started to settle down and your test results are finished. See all of you later.”

Once they’d left I sat behind the desk that I still had problems thinking of as mine, and just stared into space for a few minutes without thinking of much at all. I think little breaks like that are the only thing keeping me sane. Or as sane as I’ll ever be.