Gering, Nebraska
June 1st, 2007
Late Evening

Teri looked up at the sky desperately searching for the Burgermeisters airship. “Rose Blossom! I've got to find her!”

She jumped into the air, only to fall back onto the roof of the grocery store. Her stomach roared with hunger causing her to double over clutching her sides as pain spread through her body. Her fingers fit between her ribs and her skin felt loose. As the pain slowly subsided, she realized that what remained of her clothes hung from body, they were normally skin tight but were now at least a size too large.

“I need food,” she whispered. “And help. They can call a superhero for me and we'll find Rose Blossom. Everything is going to be OK. Once I find her we can go to the beach, and we'll have so much fun.”

Crawling to the edge of roof, she spread her wings and glided down. She had to fly right in front of the sensor for the automatic doors to open. Inside the small grocery store there weren't many people, and none of them were looking in her direction. Flying over to the cashier who was dealing with a customer, she landed heavily a few feet away.

“Hi, I need help,” she began.

The cashier took one look at her and screamed in terror.

Teri used her last bit of strength, taking to the air and blindly flying away at top speed.

**

“What on earth are you screaming about?” Mrs. Paterson demanded.

Marcus pointed at where the... thing had been. “I-I saw something. But it flew away.” He rubbed his forehead. “I'm sorry about that, I guess I'm more tired than I thought.”

“Right. I hope you get to go home soon and catch up on your sleep,” she said, taking her groceries and leaving rather hurriedly.

Picking up the phone, Marcus switched it for the intercom. “Collin, please come the checkout.”

The red headed teen came strolling up a minute later. “What do you need boss man?”

“A bird or something flew in here, go see if you can find it.”

“A bird?” Collin said. “What about the boxes I need to tear down?”

“Take ten minutes and find the bird for me. Then you can do the boxes,” Marcus said.

“OK, boss man,” the teen replied. “Here birdy, birdy, birdy. Come out wherever you are.”

Rubbing his temples, Marcus wished, not for the first time, that Collin was a bit brighter. The teen was loyal and a hard worker, but couldn't find his way out of a paper bag.

**

Teri hid at the back of a shelf, gnawing on her third rice cake. She knew she shouldn't be eating it, but she was so hungry she couldn't resist. She was already feeling better thanks to her meal, and her ribs weren't quite so visible. Able to think clearly again she thought about the cashier screaming at her.

“I guess I did startle him. Most people don't see fairy's everyday, and I'm a mess,” she said to herself. “And some people are just really jumpy. That was it, I just need to ask him for help again, or someone else, yeah someone else would be better. And I'll apologize for eating the rice cakes. I'm sure they'll understand. And once I find my parents they can pay for the rice cakes. It's all going to be OK.”

She heard footsteps coming down the aisle.

Squeezing through the packages, Teri came to the edge of the shelf and saw a small boy walking well ahead of his mother. Her face broke into a big grin. He was so cute, and a child would be perfect to talk to.

“Hi, I'm Teri. What's your name?” she asked, flying down to wave at the boy.

His eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. “You're a fairy!”

“Yeah, I am,” Teri said. “Look, I need your mom's help, can you introduce me to her?”

A bag of granola hit Teri in the face. “Timothy, get away from that bug!” the mother shouted.

“But Mom, she's a fairy. She said she needs help,” the boy said.

“I don't know what type of bug that thing is, it could be poisonous. Come on, lets get out of here.”

Teri held the bag in front of her like a shield and watched the mother drag her son away, casting nervous looks over her shoulder. Tears welled up in her eyes. “What did I do wrong?” she asked.

“Gotcha!”

Teri screamed as enormous hands grabbed her from behind. She took off, flying forward as fast at top speed. Her attacker instinctively gripped her harder and shrieked in terror as his feet left the ground. Reaching the end of the aisle, she turned the corner and headed for the ceiling, whoever was grabbing her was flung off.

Teri hit the cheap ceiling tile and kept going. In the darkness of the ceiling, surrounded by electrical wires, pipes for the sprinkler system, and the metal frames holding everything in place, she felt safe enough to slow down.

Shaking from fear, exhaustion and hunger, she found a place to to sit. Staring into the darkness, Teri wrapped her wings tightly around herself and began to cry.

**

Marcus ran towards the sound of the screams. He didn't know what was happening, but it was his store and whatever happened was his responsibility. A customer dragging her child towards the exit glared at him, “You need to call an exterminator, you have a huge bug problem!”

“I'll be sure to look into it, ma'am,” he replied automatically.

“Mom, I said she was a fairy!” the boy said.

Up ahead he saw Collin lying on the floor, clearly dazed and surrounded by packs of toilet paper. It looked like he'd been thrown into the display, but there was no one around and the woman he'd passed clearly hadn't done it.

“Don't move, Collin,” he said, kneeling down to get a look at the teen. “What happened?”

“I found your bird, boss man,” Collin said. “It's really strong.”

“It threw you?!”

Shaking his head, Collin carefully sat up. “No dude. I grabbed it and it took off like a jet. I tried to stop it, but whoa, it was fast. Like way faster than the time I tied myself to the back of my buddy's car and rode behind him on my skateboard. When it headed for the ceiling I was thrown off. I wonder if I can try that again, but with a skateboard, it was intense.”

“Go sit down in the break room, and when you feel better go home. Don't worry I'll make sure you get your full time,” Marcus told him.

Giving him a thumbs up, the young man staggered towards the back. That done, Marcus went to his office and after closing the door, phoned the MCO.

“Lincoln City MCO, how can I help you?” a bored voice asked.

“Hello, I think I have a mutant in my store,” Marcus said.

The voice became slightly livelier. “Is the mutant causing a disturbance or committing a crime?”

“My employee grabbed it and it,” he tried to remember what Collin had said, “it took of like a jet dragging him behind it. He was flung off into the toilet paper display.”

There was a pause. “You're employee grabbed the mutant, and the mutant ran away.”

“Yes! I think it might still be in the store.”

“Do you have a description of the mutant?”

Finally they were getting somewhere. “It's small, about the size of a song bird. I think it has purple wings. And it's very fast, I think it might be able to teleport as well.”

There was a longer pause. “Have you been drinking or using recreational drugs, sir? You can answer truthfully, we are not the police and the MCO doesn't judge people for their personal habits.”

“What kind of a question is that? I'm the manager of the GK supermarket in Gering. I do not drink at work and I do not use drugs,” Marcus said. “Now I believe this mutant is a danger to my customers and employees.”

“Was your employee hurt after grabbing the mutant?”

“He was shaken up, but he seems all right,” he admitted.

“And why did he grab the mutant?” the person asked.

“Because it's a mutant and shouldn't be here.”

“Sir, do you realize that simply being a mutant is not illegal?”

“But who knows what it was doing? Why was it even in here?” he demanded.

“I'd assume to buy groceries.”

Marcus stared speechlessly at the phone for a moment. “What am I supposed to do about the mutant?”

“Hope it doesn't press charges after your employee grabbed them. If it does come back and commits a crime or a disturbance feel free to call us then. Can I help you with anything else?”

“No, I think that's all,” he replied, slamming down the phone. “It looks like I'll have to deal with this myself.”

**

Midnight

Hunger forced Teri awake. Her head ached and it felt as if her stomach was tearing a hole through her. Lifting up a ceiling tile, she saw that the entire store was dark and deserted. She half fell and half glided down to the produce department, landing with a thud on a pile of apples.

Mechanically she began eating, not thinking, not caring, just trying to fill the emptiness inside of her. When she was finally able to think again, she realized she was gnawing on the apple stem and covered in sticky juice, the rest of the apple was gone.

“Ugh, I'm a mess,” she muttered.

She found a pack of wet wipes and cleaned herself up as best she could. Feeling a bit better, she flew back up into the ceiling and tore a small hole in the roof to slip outside. She didn't want to stay in the horrible store a minute longer than she had to.

Flying to the edge of the roof, she knelt down staring over the dark town and out onto the flat plains in the distance. Where was she supposed to go? She didn't even know where Gering was. More importantly she didn't know where Rose Blossom was. Rubbing her head she tried to remember what had happened.

There had been a girl. Burgermeister had been about to do something really, really bad to her.

“He was going to turn her into a fairy,” she said, staring at her tiny hands.

“That's right, he kidnapped the girl, and me, and Rose Blossom. He... he must have messed with my mind.” Her eyes flared a brilliant purple. “That's why I can't remember my parents or where I live!” Her fingers dug into the metal.

“So I remembered what he did to us. And I said, I said...” She hit her head. Why couldn't she remember?

She began speaking, the words coming to her mouth without conscious thought. “This is Teri, Burgermeister is a very bad man. Get to the escape pods, the ship is going down.”

“OK, that's a start,” she told herself. “What happened next?”

Sounds and images ran through her mind. There was laughing, it wasn't sane or happy, and there was the sound of metal snapping. A vision of an ogre slamming her into the ground appeared in her mind. There was fire and sparks. She heard Rose Blossom screaming her name. And then, then there was a horrible shriek and she was falling. She couldn't fly, she was too weak and tired. She could only spread her wings. She was tumbling in the wind, the ground so far below she couldn't make out any details, and it was cold, bitterly cold. Finally she was lower, with nothing but grass below her. But she'd seen buildings in the distance and tried to fly to them.

“That doesn't really help brain,” Teri muttered to herself.

“So I don't know where I am besides a town name and state. I don't know where the airship was when I broke it. I don't know if Rose Blossom made-” She stopped talking, tears forming in her eyes again. “No! I don't know where Rose Blossom landed. She's OK. She's smart and she can fly. If she didn't make it to an escape pod, she flew out of there, just like me. She's OK. I just need to find her. Then we can go to the beach and have fun, and eat hot dogs and everything will be fun and we'll be happy.”

Looking out over the dark and lonely town, she whispered, “I'm going to need help.”

She violently shook her head. “I tried to get help. They acted like I was a monster. I even asked nicely after they yelled at me.”

Teri fell silent for a long time.

Was everyone going to treat her like a monster?

She couldn't really remember how mutants were treated, just that a lot of people didn't like them even though they were so cool. She knew that there were superheroes and people liked them, but she didn't know how to become a hero.

If she was yelled at, had stuff thrown at her, and got called a bug just for asking for help, how could she learn how to be a superhero so that everyone would like her?

“Maybe I should have stayed with Burgermeister,” she whispered.

She wanted Rose Blossom.

Rose Blossom would sing to her, hug her, make her smile. With Rose Blossom she could be strong and protect her friend against anything. That's what superheroes did, they protected people who couldn't protect themselves.

What was she without anyone to protect?

“A monster.”

Silence reigned.

“I don't want to be a monster,” she finally said.

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked up into the sky, wanting to see the big airship, even if it meant she had to fight Burgermeister again.

Was he even still alive? She'd wanted to kill him. She'd wanted to kill him so much that she'd forgotten everything else.

If she was being truthful, she still wanted to.

“He must be alive. I didn't see the body, so he's still alive,” she said.

Burgermeister would come for her. She was one of his people. She was his fairy. He needed her for his plans.

He would know where Rose Blossom was. He'd know where the goblins and elves were too. He'd need all of them to accomplish his mad dreams. He probably had some devise in her that would let him follow her all over the world. Or at least to where she landed. It would fit his paranoid ideas.

She couldn't leave.

She had to stay right where she was so he could find her. Once he found her, she would break every bone in his body until he told her where Rose Blossom was. Then the two of them, and the others if they wanted to, could go somewhere nice and safe, like the beach, where they could sing and dance and play all day long. Best of all she could be a superhero, taking care of her friends.

Maybe they could even find her family. Her family wouldn't call her a bug, or scream at her, or throw thing at her, or grab her. They'd hug her and kiss her and keep her safe, and everyone would be happy.

She just had to wait for Burgermeister to find her.

It wouldn't take long.

Flying towards the hole to go back into the store, she took one last look at the stars in the sky. "I'll find you Rose. I won't let you down again."

**

Teri thought about how to survive until Burgermeister arrived. First of all she needed a place to live. She couldn't sleep on the shelves or anywhere the horrible people could find her. And she couldn't just sleep in the dust of the ceiling.

Flying around the store, she discovered a pile of flattened boxes. A quick search found a box that was a little taller than she was, and very wide. Taking it to a corner of the ceiling, she awkwardly pulled it up, and got to work setting it up, which wasn't easy with it being so much bigger than she was.

That done, she used her claws to make a small hole for a door. It wouldn't keep the dust out, but she had an idea for that.

Heading back downstairs, she grabbed a big pile of soft washcloths and some pins. One washcloth made a door flap, pinned in place with three bent needles, the rest were put in the corner for a bed. Climbing into the pile she allowed herself a small smile at how comfortable it was. It wasn't as nice as warm moss, but it was almost as good.

Next she grabbed some food, granola bars, oranges, apples, bananas, sugar free cookies, juice boxes and a bottle of water. They were piled up opposite her bed for later. A box of crayons, pencils, paper, and some books were next. The books were mostly romance, which made her roll her eyes in disgust, there was always too much kissing in them, but she'd need something to read.

An hour later, she flew along the aisles wondering what else she could need. She didn't know how long it would take for Burgermeister to arrive, and if she was missing something she could get it during the next night, but she felt there was something she should have.

Her eyes lit up as she came to the small toy aisle.

Flying back with her new home, she carefully put her two new possessions in the bed. Getting between them, she smiled at the dark haired Barbie doll and gave it a kiss. "Goodnight, mom." Rolling over, she hugged the Ken doll. "Goodnight dad."

Snuggling down, she wrapped her arms around the two plastic dolls, closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep.

**

Lincoln, Nebraska
June 2nd, 2007
Early Morning

The phone was ringing, quite noisily and annoyingly.

From under a mound of pillows and blankets someone groaned. “Go away.”

Instead of going away, the phone quite rudely continued to ring. Groaning more loudly, the mound shifted and moved. Slowly, a hand covered in short black fur, reached out, grabbed the phone and dragged it under the blankets.

“Mouser, superhero and bodyguard, speaking, how can I help you?”

There was a brief moment of silence.

“Bill,” the mound growled, “what time is it?”

There was another moment of silence.

“I got home three hours ago. I've gotten about nine hours of sleep in the last four days. In that time, I managed to get electrocuted in the ass, had an unplanned haircut, had my whiskers burned off, and got yelled at by a flash in the pan pop singer with the common sense of a suicidal lemming and the brains of a meth addicted sponge! This had better be really important or I will get out of bed, hunt you down and gut you like a mouse!”

A longer moment of silence ensued.

“I can't meet them in two hours, they're on the other side of the state. Have you ever even looked at a map?!”

Yet more silence occurred.

“Look, if I get on the road now, I'll end up driving through some farmers cornfield. Let me get another hour,” she paused. “No, five hours of sleep and I'll leave this afternoon. If they're in danger get someone to move them to a hotel, and take it out of my fee. I'll meet them tonight.”

There was short silence.

“I don't know when I'll get there. It depends on how many cops try to pull me over for speeding,” Mouser said. “Now go away and do your thing, while I get some more sleep.”

The mound of blankets were pushed off revealing a very catlike face and ears. Placing the phone back on the nightstand, Mouser glared at the hated sun and hissed in displeasure. “I hate my life sometimes.”

Pulling the blankets back over her, she was snoring seconds later.

**

Early Afternoon

Mouser crawled out of bed, cursing the world in general and Bill in particular. Her long, fluffy tail hung limply behind her, and the titanium bracelets on her wrists and ankles felt heavier then usual.Still mostly asleep she headed for the shower.

Staring at the water, she realized that there wasn't enough time to properly wash and dry her fur. Cursing even more, she closed her eyes and a minute later where a sleek, well muscled, black furred, cat woman, had been standing, was a tall, thin, very human woman with straw blonde hair. The only way to know they were the same person, were the silvery, feather-like brands that ran from her collar bone down to her stomach and the bracelets.

Hopping into the cold shower, Mouser hurriedly washed herself, and more importantly woke up. As soon as that was done and she dried off, she returned to her cat woman form. Heading for the kitchen she turned on the kettle preparing one of her rare cups of coffee. While the water was boiling, she put on a pair of shorts and a crop top. The feeling of clothes over her fur was uncomfortable, so the less she wore the better in her opinion.

A cold piece of steak was all she needed for breakfast, purring happily at the intense, salty flavour. By the time she was done eating, and checking her phone for the details of the new job, the coffee was ready.

“Time for the fun,” she said. She drained the cup in one long gulp, trying to ignore the bitter flavour.

Her heart began to beat rapidly, her limbs shook, her tail stretched straight out behind her, and her pupils widened. She took a slow, deep breath, released it, and did it again. Slowly, her heart beat returned almost to normal and the shaking stopped.

Where she had been exhausted before, she was now wired. Her fingers twitched, wanting to do something, and she began bouncing in place. “OK, that's my caffeine limit for the month!” she said.

Practically bounding around her apartment, she repacked her travel bag with clean clothes, made sure all her gear was charged up and headed for the door, grabbing her motorcycle helmet, modified to keep her large cat ears free, and headed out the door.

No one she passed in the apartment complex gave her a second glance. She'd lived there for years and surprisingly most criminals avoid causing problems where a known hero lives. So almost all of her neighbours were quite happy to have her around. There was one neighbour who gave her dirty looks whenever they had to share an elevator, but that one was allergic to cats, so Mouser gave her a pass.

Strapping her pack onto the back, she hopped onto her motorcycle, a really nice crotch rocket that she'd gotten modified at cost, from an old boyfriend, she peeled out of the parking lot and headed out of town. When she hit the outskirts of the city she pressed a button, causing the motorcycle to roar and the landscape became a blur.

Yowling with glee, Mouser forgot her recent annoyances and focused on the joy of the moment.

**

Late Afternoon

Pulling into a nice looking roadside restaurant, Mouser jumped off of her motorcycle and began stretching the kinks out, enjoying the attention it got her. She finished it off by jumping ten feet into the air, doing a back flip and landing as if it was nothing, which to her it wasn't.

“Now time for food!” she said.

Inside the restaurant almost everyone turned to look at her, She was tempted to make a big display, offer them autographs, hand out some of her business cards, but she was a bit too tired and definitely too hungry to bother with it.

Taking a seat, she waited for the waitress to come, and waited, and waited a bit more. By the looks she was getting from the staff, and the way they were whispering to themselves, she had a fair idea of what was going on. She was about to leave when she heard something interesting from the kitchen. “Call the MCO!”

“Oh boy, this is gonna be fun!” she whispered.

She tilted her ears a little to better hear what was going on.

“Hello, we have a mutant at our restaurant. It's causing a disturbance. It looks like a human cat. Yes, that's right. It has black fur, a long tail, silver tattoos, and-” The woman stopped abruptly. There was over a minute of silence, when she spoke again her voice was full of disbelief. “You want to talk to it? I'm sorry, to her?”

Mouser grinned like the Cheshire Cat as the manager came out holding a phone. The woman was pale and clearly freaked out. “Um, I have a person who would like to talk to you.”

“Oh really? I wonder who it could be.” Taking the phone, she loudly said, “Mouser, superhero and bodyguard speaking, how can I help you?”

“Hello Mouser, are you having any problems?” Larry Meyer, the head of the Lincoln, Nebraska MCO asked.

Seeing the startled look on the womans face, Mouser decided to rub it in. “Well Larry, I've been waiting here for at least ten minutes to place my order but no one will even look at me. And now they're wasting your valuable time to. The service is frankly atrocious, and I need to get back on the road to help out a family that's in trouble halfway across the state. Can you be a dear and help me out?”

Meyer sighed. “Give her the phone back, I'll deal with this.”

“Thank you sweety, I knew I could count on you,” she said. Placing the phone in the stunned womans hand, her grin somehow got bigger. “He wants to talk to you.”

The manager, clearly in a daze, walked back to the kitchen. Two minutes later the waitress hurried over. “I'm very sorry about the wait, your order will be on the house. What can I get for you?”

“I'll have the trucker steak dinner, very rare, and what would you recommend for desert?”

**

Early Evening

Mouser arrived at a small house on the outskirts of a nowhere town. Looking around she didn't see anything out of place, a big transport truck sat outside, beside a good size vegetable garden, her nose twitched at the smell of chickens. The door opened, revealing a heavily built man holding a pistol at his side.

“Hello, Mr. Larson. My names Mouser, I was told you needed some help,” she said, walking up to him.

He stared wide eyed at her for a moment, then shook his head. “Thanks for coming, you can call me Jim. Come inside and we can talk.”

The house was old fashioned, worn and clearly needing a renovation, but it was tidy and well kept. Mrs. Larson was watching her nervously, while a teen sat huddled under a blanket on the couch. She could smell an odd, muddy dampness coming from the teen, and his breathing sounded off, much deeper and slower than regular.

“Hi I'm Betty, can I get you anything,” Mrs. Larson asked.

“A drink, milk if you have it, and if it wouldn't be too much to ask something to eat. I've been driving most of the day and haven't had much,” she replied, not taking her eyes off of the teenager. “So what exactly do you need? All I was told was you needed someone to help you take a long distance trip and you were expecting trouble.”

Jim motioned for her to have a seat. “It's Richard. Our son. He started getting powers a month ago. He could jump really far, and sometimes did it without meaning to. We got him out of school for a bit, doing the homework and take home tests so he'd still pass. We thought give him some time to get his jumping under control over the summer and he could go back next year.”

She nodded at that, pleased that the parents were being sensible and not panicking. When Betty came in with a tall glass of milk, she gratefully took a sip. “And then?”

“But then two weeks ago he started to change.”

Now she knew why they wanted her. “Changing how?”

Richard took off his blanket, and Mouser had to fight hard to keep the surprise from her face. The boy was turning into a frog. His skin was moist and turning a pale green, his eyes were bulging out, his neck had practically vanished, and his mouth looked to be growing wider with the skin on both sides being almost translucent. From the way his legs were positioned, it seemed like they were changing as well. No wonder they were being cautious.

“He can't talk very well anymore, his tongue is too big for his mouth,” Jim said.

She nodded in understanding. “So, what exactly do you need me to do?”

“We can't go to the doctor here, a few too many people don't really like mutants and a handful of them might try something. Betty has a sister up in Canada, and she said that things were better for people like Richard up there, not great, but better.”

Mouser interrupted. “Does he have an MID yet? Or a passport?”

“No, we never thought he'd need a passport, and we don't trust the MCO. We've heard some of the things they do to mutants.” He raised his hand as Mouser opened her mouth. “After talking with my sister-in-law, she got us in touch with some superheroes in Canada. We explained it all, and they pulled some strings so we could meet them at the border and they'd help get everything all set up. So we just need to get there. But it's long drive, and we need to stop regularly to wet down Richards skin and do some other things.”

“And you're worried that someone will see him and you'll either have an H1 hit squad, the MCO or the KOP coming after you?” Mouser said.

“Yeah.”

“I'm going to want the name and number of these superheroes to make sure everything is kosher. And I'd feel a lot better if we drove back to Lincoln and Richard got his MID there.” It was her turn to raise her hand as he started to object. “I know the MCO has a bad reputation, I avoid South Dakota like the plague because of them, but the ones in Lincoln are honestly good guys. Still, if everything checks out, we can ignore that. Where are you suppose to meet them?”

“A dirt road that crosses the border on the Montana-Alberta. They're expecting us in the next few days, we just have to call an hour or two in advance and they'll be waiting for us,” he said.

“Not the worst plan in the world,” she admitted, “at least we'll be able to skip the Dakotas. Can you be ready to go around ten tomorrow?”

He frowned at that. “I thought you'd want to leave earlier than that.”

“Nope. If we leave after nine, most of the people who would care about us will be at work. We can slip away a lot more easily, and be well away from here before anyone notices anything odd,” she explained.

“OK. I figured we can use my truck, it's pretty comfortable in the back of the cab, and it will have enough space for all of us.”

“I'll be riding my bike,” she said. “You will be following a ways back, using one of my radios to keep in constant contact. With your son in the back of the cab, no one will see him while you're driving. I'll stick out and all the attention will be on me. When you need a rest stop, I'll go in first and make sure everyone is looking my way while you guys do your thing as quickly as possible, then get back on the road. As soon as you're out of sight, I'll take off and catch up a few miles down the road.”

“Are you sure? That doesn't seem very safe for you.”

She grinned. “If I wanted to be safe, I wouldn't be a superhero. Now don't worry if anything happens it will be all on me, and I can handle it. This'll be fun.”

**

Gering, Nebraska
Late Evening

Marcus placed his final camera at the end of the aisle, and double checked that it would have a clear view. There were twenty of them, all set up to activate at the slightest movement, if the mutant was still in the store he would catch it on camera.

Most people would assume the mutant had left, but he'd combed over the security cameras from the previous night, and he was sure he'd seen it. It had only been on camera for a second, zipping past the camera, almost too fast to see, but it had been there, with it's creepy wings and too small body.

Once he had concrete proof it was there, he could get help removing it.

**

The door finally slammed shut.

Teri looked down from a crack in the ceiling, she'd been waiting for the horrible man to go away so she could get stuff done. She was tired and grumpy from not sleeping well during the day, and had been tempted to just throw him out of the store a few times, but that wasn't what superheroes did. No matter how nasty he was, he hadn't done anything illegal. So she'd been forced to wait in the dusty, dark ceiling, trying not to be noisy.

Flying down, she had to hold her shirt on with both hands. The fabric was so worn and shredded, she'd ripped it apart while rolling around in her sleep. A few specially placed knots and threads from a washcloth let her avoid going topless, but it wasn't exactly sturdy. Her pants weren't much better.

Going up and down the aisles, she felt and tested every fabric she came across. Most were really rough and scratchy, even the ones that claimed to be extra soft.

“Am I going to have to wear toilet paper?” she asked herself.

Finally, she resorted to ripping open packages and found something that didn't feel like rough canvas. Grabbing the box, she flew up into the ceiling dropping it off just beside her box house, and flew down to grab a pocket sewing kit.

She read the packaging as she cut it open with her claws. “Bamboo sheets. Huh, I didn't know you could make sheets out of that.”

Pulling out a bit of sheet, more than enough to wrap herself up like a mummy, she cut it off and dragged it into her home. Turning on a small flashlight, she spread the fabric out on the floor and began drawing a very basic design on it using crayons.

As she worked her mind wandered.

“Come here, TERI,” an old woman said, her face lost in shadows.

The old woman chuckled. “Yes I did. They learned when they were just a bit older than you. Everyone should know how to sew a little. You shouldn't need to buy a whole new outfit or call for help if you lose a button or need to fix a little hole. Now sit and pay attention.”

“She was a smart, old lady,” Teri said, eyeing the design. “I think she's my Grandma, but she could be an aunt or something. Are you going to give me anymore hints, brain?” Nothing came to her. Shrugging she got down to cutting.

**

Holding up the open back dress, Teri was quite happy with the results. It was a little ragged around the edges, claws weren't the best for neat cuts, and the scissors were far too large for her to use, but it wasn't like many people were going to see her. The stitching was nice and tight. Even though the needle was almost as long as her arm, she had been extra careful with it, she couldn't have it fall apart in the middle of a fight. That would be embarrassing.

Putting the dress on, she found it was a bit loose around chest and stomach, but nice and tight on her hips, while the straps around her shoulders were almost too tight. That was OK, it would keep it from coming off while she flew. It was backless to let her move her wings, and she'd kept the skirt kind of short and loose so she could move her legs freely. It was a little too short for her comfort, since she didn't have any underwear, but it wasn't like she was going to be sitting down in front of anyone. So that was fine.

Now that the work was done, she decided to do something fun.

Taking the box of crayons she began drawing on the wall. She didn't think as she drew, letting her mind go blank. When she snapped back to reality she was looking at a life size drawing of Rose Blossom. It wasn't great art, but it looked pretty good to her.

“Hello, Rose Blossom, look at what I did tonight,” she said, spinning around to show off her dress. “Do you like it? I need to make a few more, and if I can figure out how, I'd like to make some underwear. It's a little drafty right now.”

Sitting down beside the drawing, she closed her eyes and thought of the fairy garden. “I think I need some furniture for around here. The bed is nice, but I need more than just that. What do you think, should I make a chair or a couch? I'd try to make a bean bag chair, but the beans are almost as big as me!”

She kept talking long into the night.

**

Gering, Nebraska
June 3rd, 2007
Early Morning

Taking a large sip of his coffee Marcus watched the videos from his cameras. He'd come in extra early even though it wasn't his shift so he could remove the cameras before anyone found them, and it had paid off.

He watched as the flying menace stole a set of sheets. What it could possibly want with the sheets he had no idea, but it certainly couldn't be good.

“I've got you now, mutant,” he muttered.

**

Western Nebraska
Mid-Morning

“All right, do you have everything you need?” Mouser asked.

They were leaving a little later than planned, but Mouser had been busy on the phone. First she'd checked to make sure the heroes they were meeting, a Paulette Bunyan and Grinder were legitimate, and then going over every little detail with the heroes themselves. Another hour had been used confirming that what they told her was accurate. It was well past ten now, but since they weren't on a strict schedule, Mouser was happy to leave late, if it meant the trade off went smoothly.

Jim handed a cooler full of snacks and drinks up to his wife in the big rig. “We're good to go.”

“Great. You're radio is all set up, it's specially made to prevent any regular eavesdropping. If you need anything, see something odd, or just get a bad feeling, hit the button and start talking. If you can't hit the button, say Mouser and it will connect us.” She'd already gone over the details the night before, but it never hurt to repeat things that could mean life or death. “And if you fall too far behind it will start beeping. I'll be tracking you through my helmet, so you should always be within five miles of me, but pay attention and follow the route we made.”

He nodded. “I've got it memorized and written down. I'll stick to it until you tell me otherwise.”

That made her smile. It was always nice to be guarding someone with a brain, who respected her expertise. “All right. I'll take off now, and in one minute you follow me.”

She checked over her bike, making sure her pack was secure on the back, and her weapons were in their proper sealed slots. Now that she was on the clock Mouser wasn't wearing her usual comfortable clothes, but well padded and armoured motorcycle pants and jacket. They were bright white with pink trim and a roaring big black cat on the back. Putting her helmet on she checked that the tracking system was working on the HUD, and did a quick mic check.

With everything ready, she hit the road at a reasonable speed.

Passing through the town, she made sure not to do anything that would attract attention. She even kept her tail down and somewhat hidden by her bag, not that it mattered much, she only saw a few old people on the street, mostly kids who stared at her motorcycle and the elderly who ignored her. A glance at the tiny display on her helmet showed that the Larson's were right where they should be.

When they were both out of town she said, “Lets keep everything nice and slow and follow the speed limit. Don't want to bother the police today.”

“Ten-four,” Jim said.

With that done Mouser let her thoughts slip away, allowing her instincts to guide her and warn her of any possible dangers.

**

Near La Grange, Wyoming
Afternoon

“Mouser, we need a bathroom break,” Jim said.

“All right,” she said, a quick glance at her HUD showed they'd been driving for about three hours. She frowned at how slow they were going, following the speed limit sucked. “First decent place we come to, I'll pull in and get all eyes on me. Once I give you the all clear you get out, get the job done and get back in the truck ASAP.”

It was the middle of nowhere, so they'd probably end up stopping in the blink and you'll miss it village of La Grange. She'd have preferred avoiding towns, but beggars couldn't be choosers. Picking up a bit of speed she got ready to make an entrance.

Twenty minutes later Mouser pulled into a small gas station that said it had public bathrooms. She filled up her tank at the pump, and then strode into the store, tail held high. She grinned at the teen behind the till, who was trying and failing to not look at her body. This was going to be fun, she thought, as she unzipped her jacket a little and leaned over the counter, enjoying the sight of his jaw dropping.

“I'm wondering,” she said, drawing the words out in a long purr, “do you have any catnip?”

“Uh,” the cashier was momentarily speechless. “No. I don't think you can find catnip in town. It's not exactly,” he gulped, “a big seller.”

“That's a shame. I guess I'll just have to look around and see what you do have,” she said. Turning away from him, she scanned store and looked out the window. No one was around, and the bathrooms were just at the back. Her hands moved suggestively over her hips, pressing a button connected to her radio, signalling the all clear.

As she browsed the limited supply of junk food, the Larson's pulled up outside. Taking two types of jerky she went back to the till, swinging her hips and tail for all they were worth. “Can you help me,” she asked, leaning on the counter. Somehow her jacket had become more unzipped and she was only wearing a sports bra underneath.

“Yeah.”

“I'm not sure which type I should get, hot or hot and spicy.” She held up the two packages and looked deep into his eyes.

The door opened, and Jim came in with Richard, who was wearing a hoodie and using crutches to walk. Jim made sure to stay between the cashier and his son, not that it was going to be a problem considering the cashier was staring at her cleavage.

“I- I'm a fan of the mild kind.” The young man blushed as the words left his mouth.

“I would have thought you were a hot and spicy kind of guy,” she said. Putting the hot jerky back, she went to the freezer and picked out an ice cream cone. Waving to the teen, she unwrapped it, then took a long lick, shivering a little as the cold hit her.

Then the exact thing she didn't want to happen, happened. A Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper pulled up.

Cursing silently, she headed back to the counter. “Can you tell me how much farther it is to Cheyenne?”

The trooper walked in and stopped dead at the sight of her. Pretending to ignore him, she kept her eyes on the teen.

“About an hour, just get on the the 85 and follow the signs,” he told her.

“Thank you. You're such a polite young man,” she said, placing her fingers on his hand for just a moment.

The trooper clearly not approving of what he was seeing, stepped well into her personal space. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

She licked her ice cream cone and looked up into his eyes. “Just getting a few snacks for the road, officer. Is there a problem?” She heard the toilet flush and wondered just how far she'd need to push things to keep the attention on her.

“Where are you headed?”

“Why? Do you want to come with me?” she asked, looking him up and down while licking her lips.

He scowled. “Just answer the question.”

“Well since you asked so nicely, I'm going to Salt Lake City to see my sister. And if you're interested, I'll be stopping in Cheyenne to meet some friends tonight.” She looked at him suggestively. “Would you like my number, I could use a date?”

Jim and Richard came out of the bathroom, pausing for a moment at the sight of the trooper. Fortunately both of them got moving, giving Mouser and the trooper plenty of space.

The man didn't take his eyes off of her. “What's your name?”

“Samantha Mouser, it's a pleasure to meet you,” she answered.

“Let me see your license.”

Pulling her wallet from her inside pocket, she couldn't resist goading him a little more. “Oh you want to know where I live? Maybe you want to come over for a little weekend party?”

He snatched the license out of her hand. “Wait here.”

While the trooper went to see if she was who she claimed to be, Mouser watched Jim get the big rig onto the road and head out of town. Breathing easier, she turned back to the teen. “So how much do I owe you?”

By the time she'd paid and finished her ice cream, the trooper was back. Handing back her license he didn't look happy. “You can leave,” he said.

“Why thank you, kind sir.” She blew a kiss to the cashier and winked, before heading out. She'd have to hurry to get past the Larson's again.

**

Neal got into his car and glared at the freak as she drove away. He could have made up some charge to bring her in, but at best it would have kept her in a cell overnight, and she might call a lawyer, then it would be his ass on the line. At worst she might be a rager and kill him. Sighing in disgust, he had to admit he wasn't equipped to deal with a mutant.

Getting his cell phone he called the MCO, they'd know what to do about her. And he was willing to bet she wasn't going to Cheyenne.

**
MCO Office, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Late Afternoon

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” MCO Director Susan Brown said, happy to find an excuse to take a break from the dull memo from New York.

“Director, we just got a call about the cat woman passing through Casper,” the agent said.

“So the trooper was right,” she said. “Contact the Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota MCO, and let them know that she may be heading towards them for unknown reasons. The mutant might be doing something in Casper, but she could just be driving through, so we'll send a team to Casper with orders to be ready to move to assist in a nearby state if asked.”

The agent nodded, but paused for a moment. “Director, couldn't this be the real Mouser, from Nebraska?”

“That's unlikely,” she said. “This is clearly a mutant with fake ID. And if by some misfortune it is the real Mouser, I'm sure we can work things out.”

The agent looked uncomfortable for a moment, then nodded and went off to do his job.

The Director smiled to herself. If they played it right, they might be able to get rid of a blight on the MCO ledger.

**

Hardin, Montana
Evening

Mouser curled up happily on the cheap motel bed. They hadn't gotten as far as she would have liked, having to make regular pit stops for Richard, but she was happy with their time. Heading out early they could be at the unofficial border crossing in about seven or eight hours.

Considering their good luck so far, she was feeling pretty optimistic about the rest of the trip.

Closing her eyes she was almost instantly asleep.

**

Gering, Nebraska
Near Midnight

“Mom! Dad! I'm home!” Teri shouted.

She bounded into the house, everything looked familiar. No matter where she looked, memories came back. There was the couch where she'd sat with her newborn niece for the first time. A picture hung on the wall of her in her flower girl dress at her oldest brothers wedding. She could practically see herself making Arroz con leche with her mother and grandmother in the kitchen.

“Mom, Dad! Where are you?” she called. Running up the stairs two at a time, she kept calling out to them.

“Mom! I'm finally back. Dad, I'm here! Where are you?!”

She came to her room. Hers eyes went to the autographed picture of Lightning Strike, it was shredded, with the ragged remnants covered in soot. The pictures of her, her cousin and friends that were taped around her desk were burnt and impossible to make out.

“MOM!” she screamed, tears running down her face.

Opening her photo album, ashes fell from the pages, covering her hands.

The walls and furniture loomed above her. The photo album grew heavier and larger until she had to drop it. She found herself flying in the centre of the room, surrounded by smoke as electricity arced around her.

“WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER?!” A giant, shadowy woman, screamed.

“I'm your daughter,” Teri whimpered. “Mommy, I'm your daughter. I'm-, I'm-”

Who was she?

“You're just a bug! A freak! A monster!” her mother shouted. “Where's my daughter!?”

**

In an old box, hidden in the ceiling surrounded by darkness and dust, a young girl cried in her sleep.

**
Hardin, Montana
June 4th, 2007
Morning

Mouser took her time getting her motorcycle ready, making sure anyone who was passing by or looking out their motel window got a good look at her cat like appearance. Across the parking lot the Larson's loaded their son into the truck and got themselves ready to go.

“Betty, Jim,” she whispered into her mic, “everything good to go?”

“Yeah, just getting Richard settled, his legs are really sore this morning,” Betty said.

Biting back a curse, Mouser didn't allow the frustration to show on her face. If they had to stop for a doctor, not only would it screw up their plans, but it could be dangerous. “If it gets too bad let me know. We'll go a little faster than planned today, and I'll let Paulette and Grinder know so they can set up something with a doctor on their end ASAP.”

“Thank you. We're ready to go when you are.” she said.

“OK, I'm heading out, follow in one minute,” Mouser said, putting her helmet on. Hitting the road, she
kept her eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. She wasn't expecting much, but it wouldn't do to be caught by surprise.

**

Billings, Montana
Morning

“Mouser we need to pull over, Richard is-” Jim was cut off by a pain filled groan. “We need more water, his skin is drying out.”

Mouser cursed, there were a lot more police on the street than usual, and she didn't like the way some of the cops were looking at her. “We're coming up to a couple of gas stations. I'll pull into the first one, you go in the second one. Don't let Richard out, just get the water and go, I'll catch up to you.”

Pulling into the station, she got off her bike and pretended to slowly stretch, taking in the area without looking too obvious about it. Her tail was already attracting a lot of attention, taking her helmet off had every nearby eye on her. Readjusting her bag took more time, allowing her to see Jim pull into the other gas station.

Going into the store, she grabbed a drink, keeping an eye on the window which showed Jim rushing into his own store coming out a minute later with a bag full of water bottles. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous, but it wasn't too obvious and speed right now was important. As soon as Jim was in his truck, Mouser went to the cashier.

The elderly woman had clearly seen everything and barely glanced at her as she rang up her purchase. Stepping out of the store, Mousers stomach dropped. A man and woman in MCO uniforms were walking over to her bike. She discretely tapped the button under her pants three times, a signal for the Larson's to keep going on the preplanned route and stop for nothing.

Faking a smile, she went to her bike, cracked open the drink and took a sip, letting them make the first move.

“Where are you going?” the woman asked, not bothering with introductions.

“Seattle. Is there a problem?” Mouser asked.

“We have a report that you were supposed to be heading for Salt Lake City.”

Mouser suddenly wanted to punch the Wyoming patrolman in the face. “Sorry, I've got no reason to be in Salt Lake City. Been there before, and it was a snoozefest.”

“Why are you going to Seattle?” the man asked.

“Just finished a big job, decided to take a vacation and surprise a few friends. Also its been a while since I went on a road trip, my motorcycle was feeling lonely,” she said, stroking her crotch rocket lovingly.

“Let's see your MID.”

She unzipped her pocket, pulling out her MID, that clearly stated she wasn't a mutant, and a business card. “Certainly, and I'll do you one better, my card. Mouser, superhero and bodyguard, at your service.”

They took their time looking over the ID and her card, moving a little ways off to contact their superior. That suited her perfectly. The longer they focused on her, the further away the Larson's got.

Ten minutes later, after a lot of inane, time wasting questions, that were meant to trip her up, the agents finally seemed satisfied. “You can go, Mouser,” the woman said, looking like she'd taken a bite from a lemon.

“Thank you, it's been a pleasure,” Mouser said, grinning like she'd just eaten a canary. Getting on her bike she squealed out of the parking lot. The tracker on her HUD showed the Larson's had made good time, despite keeping to the speed limit.

“Sorry about the wait, Jim. Had to deal with the MCO,” she said over the radio.

“Are they going to be a problem?” he asked.

“I don't think so, once we get past Great Falls, we should be in the clear. Just be ready to go to plan B if things hit the fan.”

“Ten-four,” he said.

**

Agent Swift took off her headset. “She's with someone called Jim and they're heading for Great Falls. Call it in.”

Their little fishing trip had been more successful than she thought it would be. Their devise had gotten them onto the creatures radio easily enough and now they knew where they could get her. Now the only question was could they use the info.

“They've got it,” her partner said.

“Can we get a team there fast enough?” she asked.

“The Great Falls office is going to be watching for them, and most of the reinforcements should be able to make it there in time. They'll just have to use their sirens to do it,” he told her.

She grinned. “Fantastic. Too bad we can't join them.”

**
Route 89, Outside Great Falls, Montana
Early Afternoon

Mouser slowed to a stop as she came up to a row of stopped cars. “We've got trouble. Jim, try to pass some of the traffic between us and get as close to me as possible, then put your game face on. Betty get in the back with Richard and don't let him make a sound.”

An armoured MCO van, and several cars had set up a road block on the narrow highway. The agents were questioning the drivers and sometimes pulling out everyone to search the vehicle. Since she hadn't heard anything about a mutant criminal on the loose, she had a sinking feeling that they wanted her. Depending on how things went, that wouldn't be too bad, but it could all too easily get ugly.

She breathed a bit easier as she saw the Larson's coming to a stop only three cars behind her. At least she'd be able to keep an eye on them.

When it was her turn to be questioned, they waved her directly to the side of the road, conveniently beside the armoured truck. She took a second to put on her game face before taking her helmet off, this was going to be interesting.

“What the hell is the problem!” she exclaimed. “First you guys interrogate me for half an hour in Billings, and now you want to do it again here! Give me a freaking break!”

She saw several hands go towards their firearms, and heard the whine of an energy weapon being charged up behind the van. She had to be very careful to make sure this didn't end with someone dead. On the plus side, no one was paying attention to the other vehicles.

“Calm down, ma'am. We just want to ask you some questions,” the man in charge said. She noted that his hair was slathered with hair gel, the smell made her nose burn.

“If you'll get your hands off of your guns, I'll show you my MID,” she snapped. “Then you can call the Lincoln, Nebraska office and find out I'm one of the good guys. I'm the one they call in when they've got a situation too hot for baselines to handle.”

The agent who was still focused on the traffic, began waving the vehicles through with only a cursory look and questioning. If there was going to be a fight, they didn't want civilians caught in the crossfire.

The man motioned for his people to back off. “I'm sorry about the inconvenience. I'm Agent McCormick, and don't worry my men won't do anything rash. So if I can have your MID, we can get you back on your way in no time.”

With a lot of grumbling and loud cursing, Mouser fumbled in her pocket to get her MID, ensuring most of the attention remained on her as Jim drove through the stop after showing his license. Mouser kept growling as she slapped the ID into McCormick's hand.

He hopped into the van, letting her get a look at the inside which was completely empty, and closed the door, presumably to call his office.

While she waited, letting off a quiet, predatory growl to keep up appearances, she counted the agents. It looked like a lot to the casual eye, with the cars, the armoured van, and the way the agents moved around. But for the number of vehicles, it wasn't enough. It looked like there was one agent for each car, not the customary two, and the van had brought maybe four agents, despite being able to hold up to twelve heavily armed men.

This was a was a show of force, with very little teeth.

What exactly was going on?

Several minutes later McCormick came back with her MID. “Sorry about that Mouser, we're looking for a fugitive, and can't be too careful. I've let the office know you're passing through, you shouldn't have anymore problems.”

She snorted in disgust. “Yeah, sure.” Taking the card back, she scowled at how greasy it felt. It smelled just like his hair gel, had he run it over his scalp. Wiping it off on her pants, she put in her pocket, and wished she had a wet wipe.

Driving away, she felt a whole swarm of butterflies in her stomach. Getting back on the radio she said, “Jim, unless someone is dying don't stop until you're an hour past the city. I'll be following you this time.”

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“Yeah. I just don't know what.”

**

Great Falls, Montana

Mousers stomach roiled.

She'd already flipped up the visor on her helmet hoping the air would help, but it wasn't working. It felt like she was going to vomit. Pulling off the road at the nearest gas station, she practically raced to the public bathroom. She reached a toilet just in time to empty her stomach.

The taste and smell of half digested gas station food made her vomit again. After what felt like an hour, her stomach was empty and surprisingly she was feeling better. Flushing the mess down the toilet, she made her way to the sink, washing her hands, then splashing water on her face and rinsing her mouth out.

This wasn't normal for her. She wasn't sure if it was something she'd eaten or some plot, but every instinct was telling her something bad was about to happen.

An older woman stepped out of a stall, saw her and headed for the door. Mouser pretended to ignore her, but watched the woman leave from the corner of her eye.

She saw the woman reach into her purse, pull out a knife and slash her arm hard enough to draw blood. The woman screamed and ran outside as if she was being murdered. “HELP!” the woman shrieked.

Mouser hit the radio, “FUBAR! GO! GO! GO!” she shouted.

If the Larson's followed her instructions, they were heading for the alternate route, not waiting for her, and not stopping for anything. They should be able to reach the border safely, since no one had ID'd them. Now she just had to make sure she could get out alive, while leading whoever had set this up in the wrong direction.

Her ears twitched, people in combat boots, and lots of metal were running towards the bathroom. From the sound of it there were at least five of them. Looking around she saw a small frosted window opposite the door. She shook her head, it was too small for her to squeeze through.

Throwing on her helmet, she scrambled up the flimsy walls of the toilets, pushed a ceiling tile out of the way and clambered into the false ceiling. It was dusty, dark, and the few handholds she found creaked and shook ominously, but it was the best she could do. Pushing the tile back in place, she heard the door open and something was thrown inside.

Gritting her teeth, her ears folded back as the flashbang went off.

Her ears rang, and for a few seconds, it was all she could do to just stay in position, as a wave of dizziness washed over her. Fortunately the tiles and simple distance had lessened the impact.

The door slammed open, and men rushed inside. “MCO! Get on the ground now!” they shouted. There was a moment of silence as they looked for her. Someone began kicking the stall doors open.

Mouser held her breath. If she was really lucky, they'd assume she had somehow escape and begin searching the area. That would make getting out of the situation a lot easier.

From down below she heard someone say, “Check the ceiling.”

“Dammit,” she whispered.

Dropping through the fake ceiling, Mouser landed practically in the middle of the group, actually knocking one of them back a little as she came down. Her heightened reflexes had her moving before she hit the ground, swinging the nearest agent into the man covering the door. She followed, clambering over the two as they fell, hoping the others wouldn't risk shooting their companions.

Two seconds after dropping through the ceiling, Mouser was out the door and running for bike.

Unfortunately her bike was being guarded by three heavily armed and armoured agents, and another ten were aiming very large guns in her direction. Mouser leaped towards the nearest car as they opened fire. The car shook and the bullets tore through the frame like it was made of paper.

“SMOKE!” she shouted into her helmet. Special devised gas pellets flew from pockets on her coat and pants, erupting into impossibly large clouds of thick black smoke. Mouser scrambled along the ground, making herself as small a target as possible.

Without a clear target the firing stopped. Even with her ears still ringing, Mouser heard them shouting orders to spread out and encircle her.

Coming out of the smoke, she saw more armed men coming out of the baby blue, armoured trucks. She ran for it, bounding away at over sixty miles an hour, while her attackers tried to get a bead on her. Running across a street, hoping to get lost in the nearby residential area, Mouser slid to a stop, her claws digging into the pavement.

Two suits of MCO power armour came out from cover, firing their guns.

She ran to the side, bullets clipping the fur on her tail. They were quickly forcing her back to the main group of attackers. Since there weren't any civilians running around in terror or gawking at the fight, the MCO had planned the ambush in advance, somehow making her sick enough to pull over in the city. Only her speed and the smoke had kept her alive so far. Now there were too many enemies, and they had her surrounded. If she kept playing on the defence, she was going to die.

Raising her arm at the power armour, she said, “Smoke one.”

There was a pneumatic pop as five gas pellets shot out of her sleeve, they hit near the feet of the power armour and erupted, effectively blinding them. Using the temporary reprieve, Mouser ran straight at the nearest suit, using her sense of hearing to pinpoint it in the inky smoke. Leaping into the blackness, she landed on the armour and dug her claws into the shoulder joints.

Getting her feet braced against the chest plate, she began pulling, yelling as her shoulders threatened to pop out of their sockets. There was a crack, and her fingers burned. The pilot was shouting at her, trying to raise his arms to stop her. The gears popped, an acrid smell filled her nostrils, and the arms dropped down.

The smoke was clearing up, leaping off the now armless armour, she raced for the blurry outline of the second suit who was swinging his gun towards her. Pulling a small pistol from her pants pocket, she ducked low, and threw herself at his legs.

Grabbing a thigh she lifted him up, straining a little at the weight and dropped him on his face. Aiming her pistol at the back of his knee, she fired twice from two inches away, then did the same with his other knee. He screamed in pain, but there was no blood. Stomping on his gun, Mouser nodded in satisfaction, two threats down and no real harm done.

“Motorcycle, come to mama,” she said.

Off in the distance, she heard her bike start, along with startled shouts.

Someone started shooting again. Her arm went numb as one of the lower calibre rounds hit her on the elbow. The armour kept it from doing more than bruising, but it still hurt. Raising both arms, she said, “Smoke, evasion.” Individual gas pellets, flew out of her sleeves in a circle around her, none of it was thick enough to completely hide her, but she was a harder target. Now she just had to make it to her motorcycle, before they surrounded her again, she was all out of smoke.

She took off running towards her bike. As it came down the street, the autopilot slowed a little allowing her to grab the handle bars and jump into the seat. She hit a button causing the engine to roar and sped away, as the MCO ran for their vehicles in the vain hope of catching her.

**

Great Falls, DPA Office
Afternoon

A skinny woman, with messy straw blonde hair, smelling of smoke, and black soot smeared on her face, walked confidently into the modest office of the Department of Paranormal Affairs.

Nancy frowned at the woman who looked like she'd just come from a house fire. Usually her job as a receptionist was very easy, but every once in a while, she got odd situations like this. “Can I help you Ms.?”

“Yes, I need to see the person in charge, immediately,” the woman said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

This was getting weirder, fortunately she knew how to deal with weird situations. “I'm sorry, Mr. Williams is rather busy right now. If you tell me why you need to see him, he'll get back to you as soon as possible.”

“The local MCO just tried to kill me, a registered superhero, who has worked with the Lincoln, Nebraska MCO branch. I thought it was safer to come here than risk going to the police,” the woman replied. Her body shifted, black fur erupted from her skin, her ears became catlike, and her face developed a small muzzle. She put a card, wrapped up in baggie on the desk. “I'm Samantha Mouser, here is my MID, don't unwrap it, I'm pretty sure it's covered in poison. All my information is in your systems.”

“Just one moment, Mr. Williams will be right with you,” Nancy said, reaching for the phone.

**

Gering, Nebraska
June 5th, 2007
Early Afternoon

“Listen up class, today we're doing dissections and we have a very special surprise,” the biology teacher said.

Teri hunched down in her seat not looking forward to the class, even if everyone else was grinning at the thought of cutting up some worms or frogs.

“This is a new type of bug, and you're the first class to dissect them. Isn't it exciting?” the teacher said as she passed out the covered trays. “Now remember what we've gone over. Make sure to take detailed notes of everything you find, you'll be marked on how good they are.”

Taking the cover off the tray, Teri looked down to see a pink haired fairy splayed out on the tray. Tiny beads of blood rose from the palm of her hands, feet and wings where pins pierced the fleshed holding her in place.

“Teri,” Rose Blossom whispered. “Help me.”

Picking up the scalpel, Teri silently screamed. Her hand moved on its own, placing the razor sharp blade down just below Rose Blossoms throat.

She tried to wrench her hand away. Rose Blossom screamed all around her as her classmates eagerly went to work. Her scalpel pierced her friends skin. Tears fell from eyes that refused to close.

“You said you'd protect me!” Rose Blossom shrieked.

Teri woke up screaming.

Curling up into a ball she howled into her blanket, begging the dreams to stop.

**

Nighttime

Teri put down the crayon, admiring her picture.

“What do you think Rose Blossom? Is this a good beach or what?” she asked. “It's got a beautiful yellow sun, seashells, great waves, a slide, and look I even put in a hotdog stand!”

She walked along wall, she'd covered the whole thing with her beach, and she was quite proud of her work.

“Oh,” she said, looking at the picture of Rose Blossom on the opposite wall, “you want to go to the beach? Well just wait a bit for my wrists to recover and I'll draw you on it. Do you want to be swimming in the water, sitting under a beach umbrella, or eating a hotdog?

“Well of course you'll be playing with me. I'll be right here and you'll be right there, and we can play as much as you want,” Teri said.

“And we can play whenever you want. I'm not sleeping much anymore, so I can play even when I should be asleep.”

She ran over and hugged the picture of Rose Blossom. “Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I just can't sleep very well without your singing.”

She tilted her head, then waved her hand as if waving away a bug. “I'll be fine. And don't mention Burgermeister, he'll just make you feel bad. When he shows up, I'll be ready and willing to break every bone in his body until he tells me where you are.”

Walking over to a small bear stuffie, she'd gotten the night before, Teri sat down and wrapped its arms around her. “Now what do you want to be doing on the beach?”

**

Gering, Nebraska
June 7th, 2007
Late evening

“Come on in,” Marcus said, waving six members of the local H1!, into the empty store.

He hadn't wanted to use H1!, they weren't professionals and he was worried they'd damage the store, but he had no choice. Even with his videos of the mutant, the MCO and DPA refused to help him, claiming the photo was a prank, or something else that wasn't in their area of concern. And people were starting to complain about strange noises coming from the ceiling, claiming it sounded like crying and screaming. If it kept going, he'd lose business.

“So when does this mutant usually come out?” Brandon asked.

“In about an hour or two, after the store closes. That's why I shut down early, so we could get ready for it.”

“And it comes down from the ceiling?”

Marcus nodded. “It moves the tile a little. A different one each night, so I'm not sure exactly where it's made it's lair.”

“All right, we can deal with that.” Brandon turned to his friends. “You guys, spread out along the aisles, find a nice place to hunker down with a good view of the ceiling, and make sure you don't get into anyones line of fire. We'll treat this like a deer hunt, and if you have a good shot, take it.” The group started taking out their rifles, and discussing with each other where they should set up.

Marcus looked at the weapons a little fearfully. “Um, are you sure you should shoot it?”

“It's small, fast, and strong. We aren't going to catch it with nets,” Brandon said.

“Oh, right. Please don't shoot the shelves.”

“We're professionals, don't worry. Why don't you go to your office, and stay quiet. We don't want you getting hurt by accident.”

Nodding, Marcus headed for his office, praying that everything would work out.

**

Teri watched the men move through the store, through a small hole in the tile. She hadn't slept well and woken up early, so she'd heard everything they were planning. Her eyes were lit up like Christmas lights, and she couldn't stop grinning. She was in a bad mood, and this would definitely make her feel better.

She waited patiently until everyone had found their position. She had to admit, if she hadn't known to look for them, she probably wouldn't notice them at first. They weren't exactly hiding, there weren't really any places to hide when the person was above them, but they were really still and quiet. She might have gone down like usual and gotten shot. That would of been bad.

Looking around, Teri found a spot where they weren't looking right in the corner of the store. Lifting the tile up just enough to slide through, she crawled down the wall, using her claws and keeping her wings curled up close to her back, rather than risk flying.

When she reached the floor, she began flying, staying just an inch or two above the ground. She found the first man, who looked like a grandpa.

“I've got one,” she shouted.

She leaned back in her chair, watching the rod jerk and bend. As the fish swam towards the boat, she reeled up the slack, stopping when it swam away from her. “I'm gonna get it! I'm gonna get it!” she squealed.

The butt of a gun slammed into her, pressing her against the shelf. It didn't hurt but it took her a moment to remember where she was.

“I've got her,” the old man shouted, flipping the gun around to point the barrel at her.

Teri flew at the mans leg, knocking it out from under him. He fell face first into the ground, screaming and clutching his jaw.

“Oh! You're hurt!” she shouted, flying up to his head. Blood was dripping from his mouth, pieces of teeth were scattered on the floor and his jaw hung open. “I didn't mean to hurt you like that! I'm sorry!”

“Get away from him! You freak!”

She looked over and saw the others running towards her. She flew away staying low to the ground, fighting back tears.

Behind her someone shouted, “I'll look after Joe. Go kill that monster!”

Crawling between some juice bottles, Teri crouched down trying to stop shaking, her eyes black. There had been so much blood. She covered her ears to shut out the old mans screaming. She'd just wanted to knock him down and break his gun.

“Where the hell is that thing?”

“When I find that fairy I'm going to tear it's wings off!”

Teri's eyes flared to life. “You will not hurt a fairy!”

**

Brandon whipped around, his pistol raised, as someone screamed. Paul came tumbling head over feet into the main aisle. There was a howl of rage and the sound of wood slamming into the ground. Pieces of a rifle flew through the air

Glowing purple lights zipped through the air disappearing behind a shelf. There was a gunshot and the start of a scream. It was cut off with a loud thunk. He saw the gun rise up in the air and slam into the ground.

There was shout of panic from another aisle. It became a cry of pain, Bob ran out, clutching a badly broken arm, his gun nowhere to be seen.

And then Brandon saw the glowing lights coming towards him. He tossed the pistol, raising his arms. “Please don't hurt me,” he begged.

The mutant stopped, it's eyes still glowed like purple flames. It floated in the air, shaking with rage, it's face twisted into a monstrous scowl. “Leave. Take them and go. If you come back, I will kill you.”

He nodded. “We won't come back. We'll leave you alone.” Skirting around the monster, he ran to grab his friends.

**

Teri watched them go, the anger slowly leaving her. Once they were out of sight, she dropped to the ground, barely able to hold herself up.

She began to cry.

**

Near Midnight

Teri huddled under a small pink potted rose bush in the dark greenhouse, desperately trying to stop thinking.

The flowers and warmth reminded her of the fairy garden. If she closed her eyes she could imagine she was back there. Everything was safe, no one was yelling or attacking her, there was no blood or guns either, and Rose Blossom was off doing something fun with the goblins and elves. She was alone because she wanted to be, just relaxing and not thinking of anything, knowing that everything was safe and calm.

Looking up the pink roses she smiled, remembering how nice it was to just sit quietly with Rose Blossom.

“Hey Rose,” she said.

“I don't like it here. Everyone is mean and wants to hurt me, and I don't have anyone to talk too, or play with, or anything.” She blinked back some tears. “How about you? Are you somewhere safe? Are you with the goblins and elves building something fun? Or did you find someone nice who will help you?”

She waited for an answer, hoping that she'd hear Rose Blossoms happy voice.

There was only silence.

“I'm still waiting for Burgermeister to come,” she said. “When I see him I'm going to break every bone in his body until he helps me find you. I'm not sure what to do with him after that. He's a horrible man, he must be a supervillain or something. If we hand him over to the superheroes, do you think they'll help me find my family? We'll be heroes for catching him, won't we? Then people will love me, and want to be with me.” She had to pause to wipe away the tears.

“They will. I know they will. I'll be a superhero then, and everyone loves superheroes.”

Her eyes flared a bright purple. “Or maybe I should just drop him from a thousand feet in the air. I can follow him as he falls and laugh all the way. Maybe I'll catch him before he hits the ground and do it again. He deserves it.”

She reached out to stroke the rose. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't be telling you that. It's too scary, isn't it?”

Giving herself a few minutes to calm down, she finally said, “So after I find you again, and hand Burgermeister over to the superheroes, we're going to find my parents. I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you, and you can stay with us. It's not like they can complain about how much we eat, right?”

She began to smile. “Right, they'll be really happy to see us. And they'll take us to the beach and we can a beach party, those are so much fun. Have you ever been to a beach party? Did you have lots of friends before Burgermeister kidnapped you?”

Teri looked thoughtfully at the rose. “I remember you singing to me. You sounded older then. Are you a big sister? I think you would make a great big sister, you always knew how to make me feel happy even when I had the really bad nightmares. I wish you were here to sing to me now.

“Or maybe you're a mother. Do you have some kids waiting for you at home, wondering where you've gone? Wanting to hear you sing to them again?”

She began drawing a car in the air. “Remember when your head started to hurt really bad beside the pool? I saw the car you drew before you rubbed it out. Burgermeister tried to get rid of all your memories like he did to me, and it worked better on you, right? But the memories are still in your head, just a whole lot deeper than mine. So that car was probably yours. Were you a teenager who had just bought her first car, or did you pick your kids up from school in it?”

Shaking her head, Teri said, “I've been selfish. I've only thought about my own family and meeting them. But you have a family to. So how about this, after I break Burgermeister and find you, we hand him over to the superheroes. Then they can help us look for both of our families. Whichever one we find first, we go to and have a big party, with lots of hugs and kisses and laughing. Then after we find the other family, we can go visit them and have an EVEN BIGGER PARTY! That'll be so much fun! And we can go to the beach too, because the beach makes everything even better. And we'll be safe and happy and have twice as much love as before.”

She stood up to give the rose a kiss. “That is the perfect plan! We'll be heroes, and have our families and each other.”

Her eyes went to her feet. “Um, Rose, I have a question. I know you're not the real Rose Blossom, but you're really pretty and remind me of her. I'm going to find her soon, but I don't know just how long that will take. Do you... Can I take you with me? I live in the ceiling of the grocery store, where it's all dark and lonely, and I get really sad. So I could keep you on the roof during the day so you get lots of sunlight, and I'll water you everyday. Then at night I can take you down with me and we can talk while I do my chores, or play in the empty store.

“And I promise to keep you safe. I won't let anything happen to you,” she said, her eyes flaring.

“So... do you want to come with me? I'll take you with me when I find Rose Blossom. She'll love you to. She really likes flowers. And don't worry, I won't let her use you for one of her projects. I'll take really good care of you, no matter where I go.”

She looked up at the rose, her eyes dark. “Please say yes.”

A moment later she leapt into the air, cheering loudly. “Thank you, Rose! I promise you won't regret this! Just give me a few minutes to rip open a hole big enough for you to come inside. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere!”

**

MCO office, Lincoln, Nebraska
June 8th, 2007
Mid-Afternoon

Mouser leaned back in the comfortable office chair and glad to be dealing with sane people again.

Larry Meyer, head of the Lincoln MCO, handed her a cup of tea and took a seat behind his desk. “So I've read the police report and your statement. Head office is fighting the attempted murder charges, but between you and me, it looks like the Great Falls office is going to need to replace almost every single agent. Can't say I'm sad about that, they were always hard to work with.”

“Couldn't happen to a nicer group,” Mouser said. “But there were a lot more agents there than you'd find at Great Falls, and I'm certain they were looking for me in Billings.”

“So am I. Unfortunately they didn't leave any paper trails. Unless we get a whistle blower, or one of the agents in custody tries to make a deal, the police don't have enough evidence to charge anyone outside of Great Falls.”

Mouser scowled. She knew he was right, but it didn't make her any happier. “Any idea why they came gunning for me?”

“You know why,” Larry said. “The bigots don't like how much we rely on you. No one in this office has a problem with you, but some of our neighbours don't care that you gained your powers through a power stone, or that you've saved at least a few MCO lives over the years. They saw a chance to get rid of you and jumped at it.”

“I was kind of hoping there was a better reason than that.” She shrugged. “At least they never actually worked worked with me. They didn't know how quickly I could recover from their poison, or that I have the reflexes of a speedster, even if I'm not technically one myself.”

“Thank god for small favours. I'd miss you, bad jokes and all.”

“I've gotta admit though, having the woman slice herself and blaming me was smart. If they'd killed me, they would have enough of a reason to avoid jail.”

Larry nodded in agreement. “So what are your plans for the next few days.”

Mouser shrugged. “Not sure, the people I was helping managed to reach their destination with no problems, so I have a decent little payday from them, plus the much nice paycheck from that pop star I told you about. I figure I can relax for a few weeks, let some of my bruises heal, maybe take a vacation.”

“Would you like to come over for dinner next week?”

“Why Larry, I didn't know you thought of me that way,” she said, smiling sweetly. “I'd be delighted.”

“Barbara will be there,” he said.

“Oh, kinky! I'm even more delighted now.”

Shaking his head, Larry couldn't help but smile.

**

Wilderness Park Trails, Lincoln, Nebraska
June 11th, 2007
Mid-Afternoon

Mouser squirted water into her mouth, not slowing down from what would be a fast sprint for most people. Placing her water bottle back on her waist pack, she leapt into the air sailing over the heads of a group of walker that were taking up the entire path, landing about twenty feet ahead of them. Barely slowing down, she found her stride again and smirked at the astonished gasps and shouts.

The weather was perfect for running, and as she breathed in the clean air, Mouser was glad she'd taken the time to drive out to the trail. The trails in the city were OK, but getting out into nature made her feel really alive. Now if only she had someone to go running with. The only person in the city that she knew could actually outrun her, was Stop And Go, a clumsy idiot and a wannabe hero. She'd went out with him once, mostly to see what a speedster was like and hadn't been impressed.

“Maybe it's time I move up in the world?” she said to herself. “I could find more work in a bigger city, and having a few actual heroes to talk shop with would be nice. I wonder if Speed Machine is still interested in having me as his partner? Atlanta's weather sucks, but as long as I have AC I can handle the humidity. And Speedy has a really nice apartment.”

While she was considering her options, her phone buzzed. Slowing down to fast walk, she answered. “Mouser, superhero and bodyguard speaking, how can I help you?”

“Hello, Mouser. I have a question,” the man said in a nervous little voice, “are you a mutant?”

“No sir, I'm not a mutant, just a power stone user,” she said, rolling her eyes. She'd gotten quite a few jobs by 'just' using a power stone, as if that made her better or safer than a mutant. Still if the client was on the up and up, she'd happily take their money, and if they were assholes, she was willing to charge them top dollar for her services.

“Right, good. I have a problem, there's a mutant in my store-”

“Ok, if they're causing a problem that's a job for the MCO, if they can't handle it they'll call me in. And if the mutant isn't causing a problem, I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole,” she said, her thumb moving to end the call right then and there.

“WAIT!” the man begged. “The mutants been here for almost two weeks, hiding in the ceiling, stealing things, and no one will help me. I have video and everything, but the MCO said it was a job for the DPA, the DPA said for pest control, but when I called they said it was a job for the MCO.”

That brought Mouser to a halt. “What exactly does the mutant look like?”

“It's a fairy, the size of my hand, very strong and almost too fast to see.”

Now he had her full attention. “All right, where exactly is your store?”

“Gering, Nebraska, the GK Supermarket.”

She sighed, that was all the way across the state. “OK, here is what I'd like you to do, send me all the video you have of the fairy, along with a detailed list of what you've seen it do, how it acted, and anything you think is important. I'll look it over and get back to you with a basic plan, and my fee. If you can send me the info ASAP, and pay half up front, I can be there tomorrow night after your store is closed and have everything sorted out before dawn.

After they worked out the details, she hung up and began jogging back to her motorcycle. Keeping her phone out, she hit speed dial.

“Lincoln City MCO, how can I help you?”

“Hey Mandy, Mouser here,” she said. “I need some info, do you have anything in your files about a mutant who looks like a fairy.”

“Let me put you on hold for a minute while I look it up.”

**

Mousers Home, Lincoln, Nebraska
Evening

“Damn,” Mouser said, leaning back in her computer chair.

She'd seen some weird things in her life, but seeing what looked like a real live fairy messing with a group of pest control guys, and moving so quickly that most of the time she was a blur, was a new one. The fairy was obviously intelligent, and stronger than it looked. It had also gone out of its way to not hurt anyone.

The MCO had been a bust. There were some fairy like mutants, but they were nowhere near Nebraska, and they were either near human size or shifted between a fairy shape and a baseline human. And none of them looked like a purple haired and winged fairy creature with glowing eyes.

So the question was, why was it holed up in a supermarket?

If the fairy was trying to remain hidden, it should have left soon after being seen the first time. So, was it an extra-dimensional creature that was tied to the spot? Some devisors creation who was guarding the place out of some built in instinct? An entity, mutant or otherwise, waiting for something or someone?

She didn't like going in with so little info, but Marcus had a real problem on his hands.

Opening up her email, she began typing her response to her newest client.

**

Gering, Nebraska
June 13th, 2007
Late Evening

Mouser pulled into the GK Supermarket parking lot, parking her truck close to the store entrance. Taking her work bag and umbrella from the passenger seat, she stepped out into the heavy rain, and walked to the door where Marcus was waiting for her.

“Thank you for coming,” he said, looking curiously at her padded, white and pink motorcycle outfit.

“It's my pleasure, you're problem has me intrigued,” she said.

“So what exactly will you do?”

Placing her umbrella down to dry, Mouser took a second to look around the store. “Well first, I'm going to ask you to leave. The fairy clearly doesn't like you very much, so for your safety and to keep things as calm as possible it would be best if you aren't here. Then I'm going to try to talk to the fairy and see if I can get it to leave peacefully.”

His eyes widened. “You think that will work?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea until I try. But if there's a peaceful solution to this, it will keep your store from getting damaged. If I have to fight it, I really don't know what will happen, but my contract specifically states I am not responsible for any collateral damage that occurs if I can't find a peaceful solution.”

Marcus nodded in understanding. “OK, I'll wait in the parking lot until your done.”

“Don't worry,” she told him, “I can be very persuasive, we'll have everything sorted out soon.”

With Marcus gone, Mouser walked around the dark store, her eyes and ears open for any sign of the fairy.

**

Teri watched the cat woman walk through the store looking for her. Her head hurt and her eyes itched from lack of sleep, but seeing the person gave her a burst of energy.

“She's looks like a superhero,” she whispered to herself. “She has a costume and everything. Maybe I can ask her for help?”

She shook her head. “No! She's working for Marcus, she can't be a good guy. And I have to stay here until Burgermeister shows up. I'll just hide until she goes away.”

“I hear you!” The cat woman said, looking straight at her hiding spot.

Taking flight, Teri flew to the other end of the store, barely breathing and not touching anything. Hovering silently in the dark ceiling, she waited to see what would happen.

The cat woman shouted, “Fairy girl, I don't want to fight. I don't know what you're doing here, but I don't think you've done anything that deserves going to jail for. So my contract is to only get you out of this store, preferably without a fight.”

There was a moment of silence.

“If you have somewhere to go that isn't too far away I can drive you there personally. If its far away like across the country, I can make some arrangements for you and have someone drive or fly you there. No charge, and no strings attached other than you leave peacefully with me.”

Again there was silence as the cat woman let her think about it.

“If you don't have anywhere to go, you can come with me and I'll help you deal with the authorities to get the help you need. I've done it before for runaways, even a few who were wanted by the police. You just need to ask me for help and I'll do whatever I can to help.”

The cat woman waited a full minute.

“OK, you think it over. I'm giving you one hour to either come and talk to me, or to leave of your own free will. After that, I'm going to have to make you leave, I'd really prefer not to do that.”

Teri flew down to the tiles, and very carefully lifted one to look around. She saw the cat woman taking a seat on the floor, shuffling a pack of cards, as she watched the woman began a game of solitaire. Dropping the tile down, she flew to her home and sat down beside the potted rose.

“She said she'd help me,” she whispered, stroking a leaf.

“But where would I go?” she asked. “I don't know where I'm supposed to be, where Rose Blossom is, or where Burgermeister is.”

Her eyes brightened a little. “Maybe she'll help me catch Burgermeister? She looks like a superhero, she'll want to go after the bad guys.”

She shook her head, her eyes going dark. “She'll just call me a monster and try to hurt me. No one wants to help me, I'm just a bug to them. No one will believe me until I capture Burgermeister myself and prove to them that I'm a hero.”

Rubbing away the tears that were forming in her eyes, she kissed the rosebush. “Don't worry Rose, I won't let her hurt you. And I won't go anywhere either. She's just lying so she can catch me.”

**

Mouser glanced at her watch, time was almost up. She'd heard the fairy grabbing things from the shelves, staying out of sight and flying at high speed, going from one end of the store to another in a few seconds. Her speed and size was going to make things tricky if it came down to a fight.

“One last try,” she muttered. “Fairy girl, this is your last chance. One more minute and I come after you, neither of us wants that to happen. How about this, you come out now and I'll give you a bag of cookies for the road. Any type you like?”

Her alarm went off, and the fairy still hadn't shown herself. “Why doesn't anyone ever want the cookies? Cookies are awesome.”

Putting her cards away, she considered her bag. Most of her equipment was made for normal size opponents, tasers, a shock baton, grenade launcher and other things weren't really made for fairy size enemies. There was also a chance they could kill something so small. It was best to keep them as backups. Hitting a button, a forcefield covered the bag, locking it to the floor, she didn't want any of her stuff used against her.

Closing her eyes, she listened for any out of place sounds. There was utter silence.

“So that's how its gonna be,” she said with a sigh.

She counted tiles until she found the general area where she'd heard the fairy talking to someone or something earlier. Leaping up, she broke through the tile and grabbed a hold of a metal girder that held the roof in place. Her eyes began to adjust to the dark, when a very tiny, very hard fist connected with her nose.

Yowling in pain, she fell to the ground, barely able to get her feet under her as she landed. Snarling, she bared her claws and got ready for a fight.

**

Grabbing a bag of catnip she'd stolen earlier, Teri watched the cat woman stalk through the store looking for her. She could tell this was going to be a nasty fight, but she had to win it. She was tempted to get an energy drink and really show the woman who was boss, but she couldn't lose her mind, she didn't want to risk losing Rose Blossom again.

Seeing her chance, she dive bombed the cat woman from behind. “Hey!” she shouted at the last second making her turn around. Releasing the bag, Teri headed for the ceiling again at top speed.

The woman moved inhumanly fast, spinning on her heel and slashing the catnip out of the air. The now shredded bag erupted into a cloud of powder covering her in catnip. Giggling at the now sneezing and cursing cat, Teri grabbed another small bag and dumped its contents directly on her head. The cursing grew louder as chili powder clogged her eyes and nose.

She went to get a bag of pepper, when a clawed hand grabbed her legs.

**

Mouser was not happy.

Her nose and eyes were burning from the chili powder, the catnip was making her feel hot and bothered in other areas of her body, her nose still hurt from being punched, and the fairy was making her look like a complete amateur, but that was about to change. Even half blind, she'd managed to jump and grab a hold of the tiny thing, and she wasn't about to let go.

Planting her feet, she dug her claws into the floor and tensed her muscles to hold onto the fairy.

She felt a moment of joy as the fairy came to a stop, maybe this could end here and now. “I've got you. Now- Oh shiiiiiii-!”

Her feet left the floor, almost losing some claws, as the fairy went from zero to a hundred in about two seconds. Mouser found herself trailing behind the fairy much like the tail of a kite, with absolutely no control over where they were going.

Through her stinging, blurry eyes, she saw they were heading for the soap aisle, and she had maybe a second to avoid hitting the shelves face first. Letting go of her impromptu ride, Mouser raised her arms, managing to catch the top of the shelf with her claws, lifting herself just enough to fly over top of it. She twisted her body, bringing her feet up and crashed through several bags of diapers that lined the top of the next set of shelves instead of crashing into the shelf itself.

That slowed her enough that she was able to grab hold of the next shelf, coming to a stop without hurting herself or knocking everything over.

“Do not grab the freaking fairy,” she said to herself, taking a moment to catch her breath.

**

“That was too close,” Teri said, hiding behind a can of beans so she could catch her breath.

This was looking worse and worse. She'd managed to get in a few good hits, but the cat was almost as quick and agile as she was, and even a face full of chili powder hadn't really slowed her down. She'd been hoping to knock her out early, but it looked like this was going to be a real fight.

“If it's a fight she wants, it's a fight she'll get,” she said, punching her hand.

Her head jerked up at the sound of water splashing on the floor. Flying out of her hiding spot, she saw the cat pouring water over her face. Now was her chance to make the nasty cat go away.

Flying quickly, she got behind the cats back, giving herself plenty of space to gain speed and took off. In the dim lights of the store, she saw the cat like ears twitch. She watched her target spin around, water whipping off her face, a hand rising up to strike.

Teri tried to change course, clawing at the air trying to dodge. She was going too fast, the small change in direction she managed might have let her avoid someone slower, but the cat moved like a viper. An open hand slammed into her side, snapping her neck to the side, sending her into the floor hard enough to chip the tile. Dazed, she bounced along the ground completely out of control.

Rolling to a stop, she managed to get to her knees. Shaking her head, Teri looked around to see where the cat was, while trying to blink away the double vision. Her eyes were filled by a boot coming straight at her. Leaping backwards, she managed to avoid the worst of the kick, catching a glancing blow to the shoulder that sent her flying down the aisle.

Shakily she flew away, trying to find a place to hide and regroup.

**

“Christ!” Mouser swore.

She hadn't meant to hit the fairy so hard or to kick her, but it had been about to take her head off and instinct had taken over in the critical few seconds. The whole job was turning into a complete mess. It was supposed to be a simple case of a mostly harmless entity that needed to be removed, but had rapidly turned into a real fight.

It was her fault for not being more careful at the start. She'd heard the fairy flying around, grabbing things, she should have kept a closer eye on it. That would have at least given her a bit of warning about the catnip and chili powder, she gave a silent thank you to whoever was watching that the fairy hadn't decided to splash some cleaning fluids into her eyes.

“Now where are you?” she muttered.

Closing her eyes, she ignored the burning sensation coming from her nose and eyes, focused solely on her hearing. When the fairy was flying fast she made a whistling sound from the air passing over her wings. Almost no one else would be able to hear it, but to Mousers large ears it was loud and clear. Which was fortunate, considering the fairy's size and speed, that noise was about the only advantage she had.

Glass clinked halfway across the store. Opening her eyes, Mouser sprinted towards the noise, ready for anything.

A bottle flew through the air. She easily dodged it by jumping forward, letting it smash harmlessly behind her. A quick step to the side let her avoid a second bottle, that splashed her pants with olive oil. She jumped to the top of a shelf, catching sight of the fairy grabbing another bottle, and leapt straight for her.

The fairy let out a shriek of fear. But instead of fleeing, it flew towards her, catching her outstretched hand and flipping her in midair.

Mouser let out a yelp of pain as she hit the floor hard. Despite the pain, superhuman reflexes honed through years of fighting and training took over. Her hand lashed out catching the fairy's wing, and whipped her into the floor.

They both lay there gasping for air, taking a moment to let the worst of the pain go away.

“You ready to talk now, fairy,” she asked.

The tiny creature took off, flying into the ceiling.

“Damn it!”

**

Teri huddled in the darkness of the ceiling, clutching her injured shoulder and fighting back tears.

“Why don't they just go away?” she asked. “I'm not hurting anyone.”

Looking around the dark space, trying to think of some way to beat the cat, she kept talking to herself. “I'm sure Burgermeister will come soon, and as soon as he does, I'll leave. Do they think I want to be here? Everyone one is nasty and horrible. I want to be on a beach somewhere safe with Rose Blossom and the elves and goblins. Just give me some time and I'll be gone. They'll never hear from me again.”

Her thoughts were cut off as the cat jumped through the tiles again. Teri's eyes flared with outrage. The horrible thing was almost at her house, it was going to find Rose.

Instead of flying straight at her foe, she hopped along the girders and wires, using her powers to lightly touch the ground before leaping soundlessly three or four feet at a time. The cat seemed to be listening for her, it's ears twitching and moving around while it slowly crawled along the ceiling. Still it didn't react as she got closer. It seemed like it could hear her when she flew, but not when she took it slow.

The long black tail flicked past her, less than a foot away. She took the opening, grabbing it in a bear hug and pulling them straight down.

“GOTCHA!” the cat yelled, as it curled into a ball, grabbing Teri with both hands.

She started to fly away, aiming for the nearest shelves to knock the cat off of her and hopefully end the fight for good.

**

Mouser felt the change of direction. She knew what was about to happen and really hoped her plan would work. Using her much greater mass, she threw herself to the side and downwards, keeping a hold on the fairy.

Instead of hitting the shelf, they hit the ground at a sharp angle. Mouser rolled along the floor, bleeding off momentum. The fairy skipped along the ground, yelling in pain and shock.

Rolling to her feet, she raced to the fairy who had landed in a heap against a display of apples. “It's over, fairy. Give it up and we can still end this peacefully.”

The fairy looked at her, its eyes flared with a bright purple light. Before she could grab it, the tiny thing took off and flew unsteadily back to the ceiling, too fast for Mouser to grab her.

“For the love of god, what is with her?!” she shouted. What could possibly be so important about this place that the fairy would fight so hard just to avoid leaving?

Leaning on a pile of potatoes, Mouser rolled her shoulders and tried to stretch some of the kinks out of her muscles. The fairy was too damn fast and too damn strong, she was hurting her and wearing her out, but it was taking a lot longer than it should.

“Why don't you just go away?!” the fairy shouted at her from somewhere in the ceiling.

Her ears perked up. So the fairy could talk, maybe this was her chance to resolve things without having to beat it unconscious.

“Sorry, you are trespassing and I've been asked to remove you,” she said. “I'm still willing to let you leave, no police or MCO involved.

“NO! I can't leave.”

Her ears twitched at the desperation in the fairy's voice. “Why not? You're not from around here, you're not living with anyone. There are plenty of better places to live. Staying all alone in a ceiling where you aren't wanted isn't be much of a life.”

“I'm waiting for him to find me. If I leave he'll never find me, and without him I can't find Rose Blossom!” the last words came out in a sob.

“Who are you waiting for?” she asked, staying as still as possible, trying to pinpoint the fairy by sound alone.

“The Burgermeister!”

Something in the voice didn't sound right, the fairy had practically snarled the name. It wasn't the sound of someone talking about a friend. “Who's the Burgermeister?”

“He's a horrible person! But he can tell me where Rose Blossom is!” The angry shout ended in more sobbing.

“OK, Mouser, something is very wrong here,” she whispered to herself. Raising her voice she asked, “If he's horrible, why will he come for you?” 

“He needs me for his plan. When he gets here, I'll beat him up until he tells me where my Rose Blossom is. Then I can find her and never have to come back here.” 

She nodded to herself, there was some real hate there. “You escaped from the Burgermeister?” 

There was no answer, but she heard scurrying from the ceiling. Holding her breath, she listened, straining to hear what the fairy was doing.

“Don't worry Rose, I'll protect you. Just wait, I won't lose you again,” the fairy said almost too quietly to be heard. 

She realized this could be her best chance at ending things quickly. She leapt at the noise, shattering the ceiling tile. The fairy shouted with rage, and came at her only to be slapped down to the ground. Mouser saw a box and a rosebush seated precariously on the now damaged tiles . Grabbing both, she dropped through the ceiling landing with a crunch on some potato chips, bits of tile fell around her. 
The fairy who had been flying towards the ceiling, stopped on a dime, turning on Mouser, tiny claws raised and her expression murderous. Then she saw the rosebush. “PUT HER DOWN!”

“Is this Rose Blossom?” Mouser asked. 

“Put her down, NOW! You'll hurt her!” she shouted.

Mouser carefully put the box and the rosebush on the floor at her feet. When the fairy darted in to grab it, she got in the way. “Not yet fairy. First we talk.” 

The fairy landed on some vegetables, glaring daggers at her. From the way her wings drooped and her chest heaved, she was running on empty. It was about time.  

“OK, good. This isn't Rose Blossom is it?” Mouser asked, motioning at the rose bush.

“No,” the fairy whispered, sniffing loudly. 

“It's to remember her?” 

That got a jerky, little nod. 

“Is Rose Blossom your sister?” 

“No. But she's all I have left.” The fairy's lower lip quivered as she said the words, the purple in her eyes faded away, becoming pitch black. Her body began to shake, whether from exhaustion or barely contained tears, Mouser didn't know. 

“Do you have any idea where she might be?” 

The lost and defeated look on the girls face was answer enough. 

Mouser held out her hand like she would to a scared animal. “I'm Samantha Mouser. What's your name?” 

“Teri.” 

“No last name?” 

She shook her head. “I don't remember. Burgermeister stole it.” 

“Why did you come here? A grocery store isn't exactly the Hilton.” 

“I don't know. I broke Burgermeisters airship and fell for a long time. I woke up here.” 

“Why didn't you get some help?” 

The fairy, Teri, slumped down, covering her face with her hands, the shaking got worse as tears fell on her lap. “I tried. I wanted to call the police. I asked for help and they yelled at me. I was so tired. I hid. And then they grabbed me and threw things at me, and they attacked me, and I didn't know what to do. And no one would help me. And I don't know if Rose Blossom is alive, or if I killed her. And I don't know where my home is or my parents. And- and- and-” she broke down wailing. 

Mouser slowly picked up the rosebush and put it down beside the fairy. “Come on Teri, let's get out of here, this is no place to live. I'll get you a nice meal, and we can go back to my place where we can talk to some people who can help find out where you belong and start looking for Rose Blossom.” 

The young girl looked up at her, still crying, but some of the colour returned to her eyes. Mouser smiled as best she could with her body covered in bruises and still sniffling from the chili powder, the kid could definitely use a friendly face. Biting her lip, Teri nodded. 

“Now Teri,” she said as nicely as possible, “to avoid any problems I need you to take your rose and fly out the back. Go to the black truck in the parking lot and wait for me, try not to be seen by Marcus. I'll take your things with me. Can you do that?” 

The fairy nodded again, gently picked up the rosebush and flying away. 

Mouser grabbed her bag and opened up the box. She wasn't surprised to see a small bed made out of wash clothes with two barbie dolls lying in it, a few books, some hand sewn dresses, and three stuffed animals. The inside of the box was covered in childish drawings, people without faces, a beach, lots of roses and pictures of a pink fairy. Carefully she placed the toys into her bag, then folded up the box placing it on top. That done she left the store. 

Marcus got out of his car, rushing through the rain to find out what happened.

“Hey Marcus. Next time instead of screaming at someone, ask if they need help. After I finally managed to calm the child down, I got her to leave. Make sure to send me my check by next week,” Mouser said, her tail flicking in anger as she headed for her truck and the young girl who needed her help.

Gering, Nebraska
June 13th, 2007
Late Evening

Mouser stretched out on the hotel bed, fur still damp from her shower, eyes red and swelling thanks to getting punched and having chili pepper thrown in them earlier that night. Her young companion was in the bathroom cleaning up, while the fairy girl hadn't gotten covered in food, two weeks spent living in the false roof of a grocery store hadn't left her smelling so great.

Taking her phone, she dialed the MCO.

“Hey, Michelle, Mouser here,” she said, “I need to set up a meeting with the boss tomorrow sometime after ten, earlier the better. And I've got a kid who needs power testing for the same time if possible. But put a note in the testing file to not push her mentally or emotionally. She can handle almost anything physically, but in every other way she's fragile as a Ming vase.”

She waited a moment while all of that was typed in. “Also, you've got some research tonight. Get me any files you have on a guy called Burgermeister, pretty sure he's a devisor, mixed bag of stuff, robots, airship, transforming people, power armour and so on. And if you can look for a missing girl, preteen or early teens, first name Teri, probably from the US but add in Canada to make sure, sometime in the last year, it would really help.

Nodding her head, she listened to the woman repeat her instructions.

“Yeah, that's about it. Sorry, I can't really give you anything else, the kid I've got has had her head messed with really badly.” She paused for a moment. “Really badly. After talking with this girl over supper, if I see this Burgermeister guy in person, I'm not going to hold back.”

The water in the bathroom stopped. “Gotta go. We'll head straight for your office when we get into the city tomorrow.”

Teri came flying out of the bathroom a minute later, wearing a simple hand sewn tunic. She didn't look too bad now that she was fed and cleaned up. Watching her devour an entire kids meal, had been an interesting sight. She knew mutants could eat a lot, but the girl had somehow eaten several times her body weight and it barely even showed.

“How ya feeling kid?” Mouser asked.

“Better,” the girl said, looking nervously around the room.

“Where would you like to sleep? I can set up a pillow and stuff for you anywhere you'd like.”

“Can I sleep with you?” Teri asked.

That was unexpected. Mouser had slept with many people of both sexes, but only two of them had been children, her niece and nephew as toddlers. Looking at the tiny girl, who was practically hiding behind her purple hair, arms held protectively in front of her, knees raised like she wanted to hug them, her faintly glowing eyes wide, almost pleading, Mouser quickly made up her mind.

“Sure, it's a big bed and you won't-”

Teri didn't wait to hear the rest, one moment she was on the other side of the room, then she was clinging to Mouser's arm like it was a life preserver on a stormy sea. It didn't hurt, but she could feel the strength behind the grip. Removing her would probably require a crowbar and broken bones. It was strange feeling the doll like body and face pressing into her fur. One wing was draped over her arm, it felt like a very warm, silk handkerchief.

“Did you use to sleep with Rose like this?” she asked.

Teri nodded. “She was- She IS a little bigger than me, and we'd hold each other when we slept. She'd sing to me sometimes to keep the nightmares away.”

With her free arm, Mouser took her phone and set it to record. “You have nightmares? Do remember what they're about?”

“Not really.”

“Can you tell me anything about them?”

“There's usually ashes, and electricity. People are yelling at me. I don't know where I am or who I am. Sometimes there's blood. And since I got away, Rose Blossom is in a lot of them, she's always screaming.”

Mouser felt Teri rub her face into her fur, sniffing and fighting back a sob. Turning off her phone again, she stroked the girls back. “OK, that's enough, thanks for telling me. Let’s get some sleep OK. You must be exhausted.”

Turning off the light, she pulled the cheap blanket over both of them, and stared up at the ceiling as the fairy quickly fell asleep, still not letting go of her arm. A little later the girl started to whimper, Mouser used a finger to stroke her back, whispering that it was all right and she was safe. That seemed to do the trick and Teri settled down.

“Damn, Mouser,” she muttered to herself, “what have you gotten yourself into?”

Lincoln, Nebraska
June 14th, 2007
MCO Office, Mid-Morning

Larry Meyer, head of the Nebraska MCO, placed a thick file in front of Mouser. “Here's everything I can legally show you about the Burgermeister.”

“Legally,” she asked, opening up the file.

“There is some stuff in the system I can't even look at without a signed release from two of my supervisors,” Larry replied. “I vaguely remember hearing about him in the mid and late 90's, usually in very quiet tones.”

“Sounds like he was a big bad, so why isn't he better known,” she asked, skimming over the first page that listed what little was officially known about the supervillain.

“He worked behind the scenes mostly. Anything that caught his eye or would pay for his research he'd do it, black and grey hat stuff. He even did some work with white hat researchers on mutants. It looks like he preferred to avoid fighting and whenever things got hot he'd quietly take his leave. Made a fortune and got a lot of connections.”

Mouser flipped a few pages, stopping on a photograph. It took her a second to realize what she was looking at, she reached for the garbage can as her gorge rose up. She'd never seen so much blood, and it would be days before she could look at hamburger the same way.

“I see you've found the photo's, I'm guessing it's the 1992 Lancashire Massacre,” he said, looking a little pale. “Virtually an entire MCO office slaughtered in a matter of minutes, the sole survivor was given a message by the Burgermeister. 'The MCO will put down their weapons and crawl on their knees to the police, begging forgiveness for all the children they have killed. If they do not, I will continue seeking justice.'”

“How did a guy go from working behinds the scenes to... this?” Mouser asked.

He spread his hands. “I don't know. If the MCO knows, it's classified well above my pay level. What I do know is starting in early 1992, he went around the world attacking and usually slaughtering MCO agents. He was smarter than most who tried similar tricks. He was patient and constantly moving. He'd attack agents who were alone or in small groups, avoiding the public eye. When he made a big attack, he waited for a disaster of some kind, a riot in Lancashire, the 1992 LA Race Riots, the 1994 earthquake near LA. The 1993 Storm of the Century saw him take out MCO posts and agents all along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Canada. He made sure to get in quickly, do some damage and retreat before any real force could arrive to stop him. And each time he left a similar message, either with a single survivor or written in blood.

“He also made it a point to 'free' anyone in MCO custody, whether they were locked up for murder, to deal with an unstable power, or were just there for power testing. He created his own little gang, mostly older teens, who helped him in his crusade. The MCO did its best to keep things quiet so no one else would be inspired by the attacks. Thanks to his own hit and run tactics, the silence campaign was fairly successful.”

“So how was he stopped?” Mouser asked.

“The last bit in the folder, the May 1995, Louisiana Flood. The MCO had set up a task force just for him. When the flood started, they saw their chance to lure him into a trap. They used all their assets, prototype weapons, military grade weapons and explosives, superpowered agents, and put out a story that the MCO was hunting down a mutant who had killed his family after manifesting.”

She flipped to the section, most of the report was blacked out, but there were some photo's of the fight. It was a war zone set in a watery hell.

“The ambush started with fifty MCO agents, four of them superpowered, then several SWAT teams arrived along with a platoon of National Guardsmen who were nearby helping with the evacuation joined in, and finally a local C list superhero team who arrived after after hearing the SWAT teams calling for any possible backup. They fought an hours long battle against Burgermeister, his robots, and his team of eight mutant teenagers. If the area hadn't been cleared out earlier, it would have been another Fools Fight.

“We're not sure who set off the final explosion. Most of Burgermeisters group was already dead or dying, so it's assumed he did it as a suicidal attempt to take everyone with him. Two superheroes, three MCO agents, and a handful of national guardsmen survived.”

“So he somehow survived and after laying low for a decade decided to screw around with mutant children,” Mouser said, flipping through more of the pictures.

“It looks that way. The MCO has very quietly put out the word to every office to be on the watch for the Burgermeister and anything that resembles his former devises or MO. If he gets too noisy, we'll spot him,” Larry said.

Mouser nodded. “Until then, we have to take care of a young girl who was brutalized by him, and he may very well want her back.”

“Seems so.”

“Any luck on finding out who she is?”

He rubbed his hand through his short grey hair. “Nothing. There are several superpowered teens and adults who have gone missing, but none of them are named Teri and none have powers resembling her or her GSD.”

“From her story, she was transformed into her current shape. So her powers might have been warped as well,” she said. “For all we know she went through powers testing, and her powers and body are so FUBAR'd we won't be able to connect the dots,” Mouser said, wanting to spit.

“We're running a DNA test now. Hopefully that will be similar enough to her old DNA to get us a hit. I've done everything I can, you can take the files with you since it looks like you're going to be on the front line if anything happens.” Getting up from his desk, Larry motioned to door. “How about we go watch the power testing? We need to discuss what to do with Teri, but that should wait until she's done testing and talks with the child psychologist I called in.”

“Sure, it's always fun seeing what the kids can do,” she said, leaving the office.

They made their way to the basement testing area, where Teri was currently running on a treadmill. It looked pretty ridiculous, seeing a girl the size of a mouse running as fast as she could on equipment made for a baseline.

The local MCO researcher was watching her and making some notes on his pad, a young woman stood by his side looking over his shoulder.

“David, long time no see. What have you found out so far?” Mouser asked.

The researcher turned around, revealing his badly scarred face, it looked like a grizzly bear had tried to claw off the left side of his face starting at his jaw, and just missed his eye. Despite his scary appearance, Mouser had to admit he always got on well with the teenagers he tested.

“She's a PK superman and a speedster,” he said.

Mouser looked over at the treadmill. “Um... the machine says she's running 10 miles an hour. My four-year-old niece can run that fast.

He looked at her over top of his glasses. “Your niece is probably forty inches tall, Teri is six and a quarter inches tall. Judging by the length of her legs and the speed she's going, with a back of the envelope calculation, if she was average height for a thirteen year old, she'd be running at about a hundred and sixty miles per hour. From what I've seen so far, she's going to laugh at our reflex testing.”

“That would actually explain a few things,” Mouser said quietly.

“I'm curious why she has several bruises on her back and limbs,” David said, his eyes narrowing. “She said you gave them to her.”

“You think she has bruises?!” Mouser said. “You should see my backside! If it wasn't for my fur you'd see the bruise she gave me punching me in the nose, and my tail still hurts where she yanked it!”

The researcher allowed a little smile to show. “She did say you had a bit of a fight.”

“A bit of a fight,” she snorted, “that fairy girl is vicious.”

David nodded. “Well now that you're here, this is as good a time as any.” He went to a desk out of sight of Teri, who was concentrating on running, and pulled out a souped up Nerf gun. Pointing it at the fairy he fired an oversized plastic dart at her.

Teri spun around at the very last second, catching the dart out of the air and threw it back at David. The researcher dodged to the side, barely avoiding getting hit. Looking unfazed he picked up his notepad again and started writing. “Teri how did you know the dart was about to hit you?” he asked.

“I heard it. It was a really faint whistling sound,” she said.

“How the heck did she hear it? I barely heard it,” Mouser said, twitching her large cat ears.

“Teri come over here,” David said, tapping something into his computer.

“Is this going to be fun to?” Teri asked, a big grin on her face. “I really like running and playing catch.”

He shook his head. “Sorry this is just a listening test. Listen to the speaker and tell me when you hear the sound and when you stop hearing it.”

She nodded and knelt on the edge of the desk. Mouser leaned in close to hear as well, as David started the program. She heard a very faint mosquito like whine, and Teri nodded, “I hear it!”

The whine became louder, causing Teri to clap her hands over her ears and scowl. “That hurts,” she said. From the look Larry and David gave her, they could barely hear it, Mouser found it a little annoying, but hardly painful.

The whine grew louder, and Teri stopped holding her ears, as the frequency changed. Then it became deeper, eventually becoming a rumbling bass.

“I can't hear it anymore,” Teri said. “I can kind of feel it in my chest, but I don't hear a thing.”

Mouser and Larry exchanged a look, they could still hear it very clearly.

“What exactly did this show?” Mouser asked.

“Small animals have trouble hearing low frequencies, it seems Teri has the same problem. She can hear high frequencies well above baseline human capabilities as expected, but her ear drums are no longer capable of catching deep bass sounds. Fortunately her hearing is still well within the human vocal range, at worst a very deep voice might sound a little distorted but will still be understandable,” he said.

“So no more dubstep for me?” Teri asked.

“If that's what my son listens to, probably not,” David said.

“All right, that's interesting, but do you think Teri has a danger sense? Because having fought her, I don't think she does,” Mouser said.

David shook his head. “I doubt it. She just has extreme reflexes and hyper vigilance.” He turned to the young woman who had been standing quietly off to the side. “Patricia, can you take Teri to the next test, we'll be there in a minute.”

“Sure, Dad,” the woman said. “Come on Teri, you'll have fun with this test.”

“OH! What is it?!” Teri asked, leaping onto her shoulder as they left they room.

Mouser waited for the door to close, before asking, “So what's the secret you want to keep from Teri?”

“She has PTSD,” he said.

“You sure?”

He nodded. “That hyper vigilance is not something you'd see in a normal teen. Her size and speed make it hard to notice, but if you know what to look for, you'll see she is constantly moving her eyes and head. It's subtle, she probably doesn't even realize she's doing it, still her eyes are looking at reflections around her, as well as watching how other people are acting, and she shifts her head and body to cover blind spots every few seconds. She also listens for any potential danger, likely subconsciously. And when she's surprised she reacts instantly.”

“Is she dangerous?” Larry asked.

“Sorry, above my pay grade,” he said. “I had Patricia startle her while I was doing the physical. Teri jumped back, shouting, it took her a fraction of a second to realize it wasn't an attack and the shout became a squeal of delight and several seconds of an overexcited young girl acting like she'd just met her best friend. You both saw the dart, she threw it back at me, seemingly without a thought, but didn't do anything to follow it up.”

“You're saying she reacts instinctively to keep herself safe and buy some time, and then decides what to do after that,” Mouser said.

“That's what I think,” David said.

“Lovely,” Larry muttered. “This case just keeps getting better and better.”

Teri sat on the table looking worn out after the day of testing. Mouser was surprised at how much energy the tiny girl had, but it seemed like she'd finally reached her limits.

“Come on Teri,” Patricia said, “this is the last test. It's just some chocolate.”

“I told you, you don't want me to eat chocolate or anything really sugary. The Burgermeister said it was bad for me, it supercharges my system. The last time I ate chocolate cake I acted all weird,” Teri said.

“But it didn't hurt you right?”

“It gave me a headache.”

Mouser knelt down. “Teri, we really do need to see what happens when you get supercharged.”

“I don't want to get into trouble,” the fairy said, looking off to the side.

“You won't get into any trouble. We're asking you to do it, and there's nothing in here that's expensive. So you can act as weird as you want,” Mouser said.

“OK,” Teri said, breaking off a piece of the chocolate bar. “But you can't get angry with me about what happens.”

“We won't, I promise.”

“And Patricia and everyone but you has to be outside,” Teri said.

Mouser nodded, and motioned for the baselines to leave. “There we go.”

Teri started chewing on the piece of chocolate. Her eyes began glowing bright enough to show even in the well lit room. The dainty, little bites turned to greedy, mouth cramming gulps. Her body began to blur from shaking.

Mouser stepped back, unsure of what was going on. Her eyes fell on the small chocolate bar beside the fairy, she went to grab it.

“MINE!” Teri shouted, grabbing the chocolate bar and flying away. The fairy began to laugh. It was impossible to tell exactly where the laughter was coming from since she was moving too quickly to keep track of.

“Oh bugger,” Mouser said, as a laughing purple streak flew at her.

Fifteen minutes after closing the door, Mouser crawled out of the testing room. Her clothes were rumpled and wrinkled with tears in several places, her fur was a mess and several small patches were missing.

Rolling onto her back, she looked up at the shocked MCO agents. “Put a warning in big red letters, DO NOT give her sugar. And I never want to dance the salsa again.”

Larry looked through the cracked safety glass. “Is it safe to get her now?”

It had been a long, long day, and Mouser sat in Larry's office nursing a beer. Teri was still in a private office talking with a child psychiatrist, after going over some of the details of what had happened not only on the airship but in the grocery store as well.

“So what's the plan for dealing with the H1! Group?” she asked.

“Not my problem,” Larry said. “There was a report of a group of friends who crashed their truck sending some of them to hospital, that matches the date and injuries, but they clearly said it was a car accident, not a mutant attack. No one died and no reports were filed, I don't see a need to investigate.”

“Glad to hear it. What about that girl she mentioned, the one who set her off on Burgermeisters ship?”

“There at least we have some useful info,” Larry said. “It would help if Teri remembered the name clearly, but the description and what she remembers of the name seems to match a Marni Petty, codename Power-Up. Fourteen year old runaway, from California, she went through power testing and is an energizer who can boost her strength, endurance, reflexes and senses for a limited amount of time. Good parents, but her town ostracized her and her family. She ran away on March 15th and it's believed she's been living in LA, surviving with a small street gang, picking pockets, panhandling and other things.”

“Any idea where she is now?”

“No. I've put out the word through all channels that she is a witness we would like to talk to. I emphasized that she is a witness, not a suspect and is to be treated as gently as possible, since she has information on a dangerous supervillain. I added that she may be with Rose Blossom, who is a human and is to be treated as such.”

She gave him a thumbs up. “I'm not sure how good either of them will be. Marni probably didn't catch much before Teri went ballistic, and Rose Blossom seems to have gotten a full dose of whatever mind warping he tried to give Teri. Still it can't hurt, although those elves and goblins might be a better bet, since they were his actual helpers.”

“Unfortunately they've vanished off the face of the Earth. Don't ask me how they did it, for all we know their escape pod could have exploded on impact and we'll eventually find the wreckage.”

“Getting back to Teri, what did David have to say about her powers?”

“PK three, and energizer three, with a note saying she's a special speedster mostly focused around reflexes. She also has dark vision, extremely dense muscles, very sharp claws, and can fly without her PK field. We also put in bright red letters that when she has stimulants, her PK and energizer abilities increase by at least one rating, while causing short term irrational behaviour, and is to be avoided.”

“No wonder she was so much fun to fight,” Mouser muttered. In a louder voice she asked, “So what's the plan for dealing with her?”

“There are a few options,” Larry said. “None of them really good. Foster care is right out, no foster family could effectively deal with her powers. There's a school she could go to, but I'm not sure if she could handle it with her emotional and mental problems. There simply isn't a good facility for a teenager with her problems, the ones best suited for dealing with her emotional problems are more for criminally insane or patients who don't have much hope of being placed back into society.”

Scowling, Mouser nodded in understanding. “Teri's got problems, but nothing like that.”

There was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Larry said.

Before the door had opened more than a few inches, Teri flew in grabbing Mousers chest and buried her face into the fur. The psychiatrist, Dr. Shultz, followed more calmly and took a seat.

“You're all done?” Mouser asked, gingerly patting the fairy that was softly crying into her fur.

“Yes, I'd like to go over the details with both of you,” the psychiatrist said, motioning to her and Larry, “while Teri spends some time with Patricia. But she wanted a few moments with you first.”

Patricia came into the office, and crouched down beside Mouser and Teri. “Hey Teri, I've got a really nice fruit plate, with pineapple, peaches, apples and other things for us to eat in the break room. Mouser can come get you when she's all done talking, OK?”

Mouser gently pried Teri off of her. “She's right, the moment I'm done here I'll go and see you.”

“Promise?” Teri asked, looking up at her with her big purple eyes.

“I promise.”

The fairy jumped to Patricia's shoulder, holding onto her hair to keep her balance. The pair left the office, closing the door behind them.

Mouser and Larry both looked at Dr. Shultz, who took a moment to fix her hair and give her head a shake. “I believe you both realize Teri is a very troubled young girl?”

“I figured that out when she tried to destroy a grocery store using me as a club, because she got it into her head that the Burgermeister was coming for her,” Mouser said, deadpan.

“That's part of it. I want you both to understand this is a very preliminary assessment, and Teri is a special case. Your researcher is correct she is suffering from PTSD, with nightmares, hyper vigilance, impulsive behaviour, avoidance, emotional outbursts, and potentially several more symptoms. On top of that, I believe she has a mental conditioning that is reacting to the PTSD and her original personality. Whatever was done to affect her memories, seems to force her to be more childlike and playful.” She stopped for a moment, pursing her lips like she'd tasted something bad.

“Without more research, I can't say how much this emotional template is affecting Teri, but it is definitely there, and is likely why despite everything she jumps from fear, sadness or anger to happiness and excitement so quickly. And on top of that her old memories are surfacing almost like flashbacks. As we talked, a phrase, question or situation would make her enter something like a disassociative state, where she'd remember something from her past for several seconds to over a minute and become unresponsive to most stimuli.”

“That's a good thing isn't it? She's getting memories back,” Mouser asked.

“The memories are warped. Faces are rubbed out, names, places, anything that would give them real meaning are removed. The pictures in the box she was living in, the faceless ones, those are how she remembers her friends and family,” the psychiatrist explained. “She's learned to handle them by disassociating them from her directly, removing the emotional impact of the memories themselves. She said it hurts less that way.”

Larry took off his glasses and rubbed his temples. “Bottom line, is she a danger?”

“Not to the general public.”

“But?” Mouser asked.

“As I said, this is very preliminary, and I'm only saying this because of her unique situation. From talking to her, she is not so much scared of people attacking her, she'll be hurt emotionally and may flee an unpleasant confrontation, but outside of a few situations she knows she is very strong and is hard to hurt. Instead she sees herself as a protector, seeing people she cares about getting hurt will have her react aggressively. It's likely she'll react similarly to children being harmed. The H1! Hit squad did not make her angry until one of them shouted about hurting fairies, which her mind associated with her friend Rose Blossom. Her attack on the Burgermeister occurred when another girl was going to be transformed. In those situations she will end the threat as quickly as possible. To her credit, it seems she will avoid intentionally using lethal force, but broken bones and destruction of property are all on the table.”

“What if she saw Burgermeister again?”

“With her conditioning broken like it is, I don't know. I will say that I would not want to be in the same room with the two of them, she is as likely to attack him, as she is to flee in a hysterical +panic or to collapse from a panic attack.”

Larry sighed, his fingers tapped a short rhythm on his desk. “OK, we need to know what to do with her. Suggestions?”

Dr. Shultz leaned forward in her chair. “She needs someone she can trust, who is strong enough that she doesn't feel the need to protect them. Then a careful acclimatization back into society, no pressure, just regular everyday experiences, alongside therapy to deal with her PTSD and memory loss.”

Mouser felt two pairs of eyes looking at her. “I'm not really mother material. I'm a good aunt, because I can spoil kids, but caring for a child, not my thing.”

“I hate to say it, but she already considers you a figure she can trust. You saw how she wanted to hug you after a challenging therapy session. You also beat her in a fight, you're tough, she doesn't need to protect you, you can protect yourself and her.”

Larry added his voice to the argument. “I could ask the Lincoln Freedom Squad if they want to help. It's between you and them, there's no one else qualified for the job in the state.”

“The Lincoln Freedom Squad couldn't find its own butt with both hands and a GPS,” Mouser said. Turning to Dr. Shultz she asked “This will help the kid? You're not just trying to shove the problem onto me?”

“I believe it will have the best results for Teri,” the psychiatrist said.

Raising her can of beer in a toast, Mouser said, “Goodbye child free life, hello motherhood!”

Teri sat on the headrest, her nails piercing the fabric to keep her place. “I can really live with you?”

“For the tenth time, yes,” Mouser said. “You need a place to live, and I could use a roommate. It gets a little lonely sometimes not having anyone to talk to. And my niece and nephew will love meeting you.”

Her heart rose in her chest and she felt tears welling up in her eyes at Mousers words. “Can we go to the beach?” she asked.

“On the first nice day we’ll go to Pine Lake Beach. It's a little small, but it's got sand and water, and its right in the city,” Mouser said. “And I'll call my sister and set up a little vacation at the best beach in Nebraska, you'll get to meet my niece and nephew, they're great kids, you'll love them.”

“I won't scare them, will I?” Teri asked, her voice almost a whisper.

“Nah! They think I’m awesome. A sweet little fairy like you, you’ll be bigger than Santa Claus.”

“Maybe they'll like flying?!” she exclaimed, thinking of how fun it was flying with Rose Blossom.

Mousers eyes got very large. “Let's hold off on flying with little kids for a while. I don't want my sister or my brother-in-law having a heart attack.”

“Ready?” she asked

“Traitor! You’re no longer my sidekick!”

“Hey,” Mouser said, snapping her fingers, “Earth to Teri.”

“Sorry, just thinking of something,” she said. “Maybe flying on the first day wouldn't be such a good idea.”

“All right, here we are,” Mouser said, pulling into a parking lot. “Your new home. I'll need a few minutes getting a place prepared for you. And we'll need to do some shopping to get things nice and cozy, along with some good clothes, but we'll have it looking like home in no time.”

She followed Mouser inside and up to the apartment, carrying her potted rose, while Mouser carried the rest of their things. The place really wasn't what she expected.

One entire side of the living room was covered in movies and what looked like comic books, with a really nice entertainment centre right in the middle. On the walls were posters of superheroes, supervillains, actors and singers, flying up close, she saw that all of them were autographed, most of them to Mouser.

Three posters had pride of place, Mouser was front and center on them, wearing a shredded chain mail bikini, that hid almost nothing, while tentacles wrapped themselves around her. “Warrior Cat Princess vs. the Tentacle Monsters, Warrior Cat Princess vs. The Alien Octopi, and Warrior Cat Princess vs The Worms that Walk. Starring the American Superhero Mouser and AV Superstar Hentai," Teri read. “You're an actress?”

“Ah, not really,” Mouser said, focusing a bit too much on clearing a place by the balcony for the rosebush. “I just got an offer to star in a Japanese movie and manga series. It was fun, but I'm more suited for being a superhero.”

“Can we watch them?”

“NO!” Mouser said rather quickly. “They're not really for children. Or anyone under eighteen. Look, how about you just sit down on the couch, while I go get a room ready for you. Don't look at the comics, manga or the movies too much until I have a chance to clean them up.”

The cat went to the shelf of books, which didn't look dirty, and began grabbing a few books seemingly at random, until she had an armful, which she put on the couch. “Here, these are good for a young girl to read.”

Flying to the couch, Teri picked up one of them. “Super Sayan Ninja Scouts Are Easy? What's this one about?”

Mouser grabbed it out of her hands. “Whoops, that one is definitely not for you.”

“All right,” she said, giving Mouser a side eye.

Her new caretaker left her in the living room, and went down the hallway, muttering just a little to low to be heard. The next several minutes were filled with the sound of things being moved, thrown and comments like, “So that's where the jackhammer got to,” “I thought I'd burned that,” “Where the heck am I supposed to put Mr. Happy?” and “When the heck did I get this? Is it even legal?”

As Mouser did whatever she had to, Teri curled up on the black couch wondering what was going to happen. She was happy to be with Mouser, living with a superhero would be really cool, and since she was going to be a superhero this would be great training. But despite that, she hoped it wouldn't be for long.

She'd told the MCO and Dr. Shultz everything she could remember about her life before Burgermeister. Everyone said they would look as hard as they could for her family, but their eyes hadn't looked hopeful. And they didn't have any news on Rose Blossom or the goblins and elves. They should have been easy to find, pretty fairies, green goblins and little elves couldn't be that common. It was like they had just vanished off the face of the earth.

Flying to the window, she stroked the pink petals of her rose. “Maybe I shouldn't stay here, Rose Blossom. You're out there somewhere, and I've told them everything I can, so now more people are looking for you. I can travel really fast and look for you too. If I stay here all safe and sound, and if something bad happens to you, I don't know if I could forgive myself.”

She looked at the setting sun. “But they're looking for my family too. If I leave and they find my parents the next day, I wouldn't know it. That would be really mean to them, wouldn't it? They have to be really worried, and to hear that I'm back, only to disappear again wouldn't be fair.”

Sitting in the soil, she rubbed her nose. “And... I don't want to be alone again. I don't like being scared and sad with no one to talk to. I'm sorry, Rose Blossom. As soon as I know where you are, I'll go and get you, but until then I'm going to stay here. I... I'm sorry I'm not strong enough.”

“OK!” Mouser said, coming back to the living room. “I've got a linen closet all cleared out for you. You're small enough it's practically an apartment, the door is solid so you have privacy, and it's in the hallway facing my room if you need anything. Tomorrow, we'll get some stuff to make it more homey and add a few more shelves for you. For tonight you'll have to make do with a pillow, a lamp and a silk shawl.”

“THANK YOU!” Teri shouted, shooting across the room to give Mouser a hug. The soft fur tickled her nose and made her feel all warm and cozy.

“Now, it's time to give you a tour of your new home, and then we can order something for supper. I could really go for a seafood pizza.”

“YAY! Pizza!”

At first Mouser didn't know why she had woken up, it was well past midnight and her room was dark and quiet. Rolling onto her side, a tiny thing shifted and lightly bumped her arm. Blinking to adjust her eyes to the low light, she saw that Teri was fast asleep beside her.

“Good thing I don't have a partner right now, this would be hard to explain,” she said quietly.

Laying her head back down, she tried to put the fairy out of her mind.

Mouser's Home
June 15th, 2007

Teri ate the slice of banana in tiny, lightning fast bites, before reaching for the slice of crispy bacon. She was dressed in her best dress, with the only successful pair of underwear she'd been able to make, they were pretty loose and she had to use a thread as a belt to hold them up, but she wouldn't embarrass herself while flying. Mouser sat across from her eating a bacon and egg sandwich that was made from almost an entire pack of bacon.

“What are we going to do today?” she asked.

“First, we're getting you measured for clothes, and I'll contact a dragon I know in Texas who does custom clothes and things for mutants. We can get him to make you some furniture in your size that work with your wings, so you don't have to keep sitting on pillows or towels.” Mouser cocked her head in thought for a moment, before saying, “Maybe he can figure out a keyboard or something for you that will work too.”

Jumping up, she began dancing in the air. “Yay! New Clothes! I hope they're really cute! I love pink and purple, but blue, red, green and yellow are good too. Maybe a black jumpsuit, so I can be a ninja! And I'll need a superhero suit, should it be bright and eye catching or all dark and brooding? Maybe I can get one like yours, I can be your sidekick.”

“Woah! Woah! Woah!” Mouser said, nearly dropping her sandwich. “No superheroing for you. You have to be eighteen to be a hero, and it's not as easy as you seem to think.”

Teri pouted and looked at the cat with big purple eyes.

“That doesn't work on me. I've got a niece and nephew who try it all the time, I've developed a defense to puppy dog eyes.”

Kicking the air, she tried a different tact. “I could be eighteen.”

That received a very skeptical look. “Really?”

“Yeah. I could. I don't know how old I am, so I could be a cute, awesome, wonderful and adorable eighteen-year-old,” Teri said, sticking out her chin and chest, trying to look mature.

“I don't think so. Neither does the MCO. And once we get your paperwork back from the government, I don't think they'll believe it either,” Mouser said, giving her a small smile. “Now since everyone is in agreement that you're not an adult, this afternoon we have to go to CPS and sign a whole lot of forms. They'll ask you a bunch of questions, and you'll have to do some tests to get an idea of what your education level is.”

“That sounds boring.”

“Very boring. Get used to it. But before that boring stuff, we'll do a bit of shopping so you can start making your room feel like home.”

Teri sank back down and picked up her bacon. “I don't have any money, how can I pay for all of this?”

Mouser waved her hand at that minor problem. “Don't worry about it. I'm your foster parent, the government will be paying me at least six-hundred-fifty a month to take care of you. Since I need to get special items for your size, I might be able to get a bit more. It's all yours, I don't need the money. And because I am a fantastic hero, with a reputation for generosity, kindness, lovable-ility, and general awesomeness, if you happen to go over the budget, I'll be happy to cover it.”

“THANK YOU!” Teri shouted, flying across the table to give the cat a big hug.

“AIR! Need air!” Mouser gasped, trying to tug the fairy away from her throat.

Afternoon

Teri looked over the math question, using a piece of lead wrapped in a bit of sticky tack, to work out the solution before tapping it into the computer. It was slow going, however there was no way a baseline would be able to make out her tiny writing without a magnifying glass, and writing it out big enough for them to see clearly would be a huge pain for her.

She'd been doing pretty well until she'd reached her nemesis, algebra. She recognized some of it, she didn't know where she recognized it from of course, but she had an idea of what she was supposed to do.

“This is hard!” she said.

She smiled as the equations started to make sense. With renewed energy she started scribbling down the solution.

Teri sat on Mouser's shoulder watching as the CPS worker looked over the report. The tests had taken up most of Teri's time, while Mouser had been interviewed, questioned, and given a comprehensive list of rules and regulations for being a foster parent.

What should have taken months had been done in a few hours for the sake of expediency and reality. No regular foster family was suitably trained to deal with a mutant like Teri. Since Mouser was a hero in good standing, and had a long letter from the MCO giving their opinion on the matter of caring for a young mutant with severe GSD and emotional problems, things had been rushed through.

Now it was simply a matter of passing on some information, signing some last documents and Teri would officially have a foster parent.

“So, am I genius?” Teri asked, growing tired of the wait.

“From your placement tests, you appear to be at the level of a beginning high school freshman. Your English is quite good, and you did well in the social sciences. Your math and science are a little below average, but some tutoring should allow you to catch up quickly in those areas,” the woman said.

“Aw, nuts! I thought I did really well in the math.”

“So, Ms. Mouser, are you planning on putting Teri into a regular high school setting come September, or homeschooling?”

Mouser took a moment to think before answering. “I think homeschooling would be the best idea. I'll see about getting some tutors for her, and maybe finding some groups or programs that can handle her.”

“You mean I can't show off my awesomeness in class?!” Teri exclaimed.

Mouser and the woman shared a concerned look. Finally, Mouser said, “Teri, I can honestly say, you're probably a bit too awesome for a regular classroom.”

That made her puff up with pride.

“I can give you the contact information for several tutors in various subjects, and some programs that might be able to accommodate Teri,” the worker said. “Now you haven't given me information on an emergency contact, I'll need that soon.”

“Hadn't really thought of that,” Mouser admitted. “This was kind of last minute. I have a few ideas, let me call them tonight, and I'll get back to you as soon as I have someone lined up.”

That got a nod, and the woman placed a paper on the desk. “Very well. If you can sign here, we're done for the day. I'll check in on you in a week for a home visit, to see how things are going.”

Walking out of the building, Teri couldn't help but grin so wide it felt like her face was going to split into two. It wasn't her family, but she now had someone she trusted to help her and take care of her, she felt tears well up in her eyes. “Thank you, Mouser!” she said, kissing the cat on the cheek.

“It's my pleasure, Teri. You're a good kid, helping you out is the least I can do. Now how about we get some supper and sugar free frozen yogurt?”

“YAY!” Teri shouted, hugging Mouser and flying up into the air.

“Air! Can't breathe!” Mouser shouted.

Late Evening

Mouser threw down her phone in disgust, and crossed out another name.

“No luck finding an emergency contact?” Teri asked.

“Nope. Most of my friends aren't exactly child friendly. I could ask Larry or a few others on the MCO, but I'd like to avoid that if possible,” Mouser said.

“Why? They seem nice. I really like Patricia, she's pretty.”

Mouser looked up at the ceiling, then turned to look at her. “The MCO isn't always nice. Some of them are really bad, and a lot of mutants don't trust them. The ones here are pretty good, got a few jerks, but they play by the rules, and the good ones are great. But I'd like you to have a broad range of people to talk to and look to for help, not just MCO agents and me.”

“So what are you going to do?” Teri asked.

“I'm going to bite the bullet and call someone who is really good with kids and would give the shirt off her back to help a child in need.”

Teri looked at Mouser in confusion. “Why didn't you call her first?”

“Because... there were some... misunderstandings, and she kind of, sort of... hates my guts and would happily turn me into a newt,” Mouser admitted, pulling at her collar.

“Oh.”

She watched as Mouser silently psyched herself up, muttering various uplifting phrases to herself, gingerly picked up the phone as if it would explode, and dialed a number.

There was a short wait and then the person answered.

“Hi, Witch Mabel, Mouser here,” the cat said.

Teri jumped as loud, angry shouting came from the phone.

“Hey!” Mouser said. “I didn't know he was your husband when I kissed him. And you should be happy, he turned me down flat. You've got a good man there.”

There was more, even angrier shouting.

“That wasn't my fault. I was at your son’s apartment, how was I supposed to know you had a key and would come walking in without knocking?”

There was a short pause while the other end said something a little more quietly.

“I couldn't exactly cover myself up, I was little tied up at the moment. Your son is very good with knots.”

Teri covered her ears as even louder shouting came from the phone, and Mouser held it at arms length, her large ears folded down.

“I do not accept any blame for that. Your daughter was nineteen and curious. I was simply helping her discover herself in a safe environment. You have to admit she's a lot more confident now.”

Somehow the shouting got even louder.

“Oh no!” Mouser said, sounding insulted. “I will not pay you back. You chose to change the carpet, burn your couch and throw out your dining room table. We didn't do anything that couldn't be cleaned up with some basic cleaners.”

There was a long silence from the phone.

Mouser quietly said, “Hello, are you still there?”

Shrieking erupted from the phone, blasting Mouser's ear.

When it finally ended, Mouser said, almost in an embarrassed tone, “Oh, you didn't know about the table. We cleaned it up after we were done, with bleach.”

Teri facepalmed, for once utterly speechless. Then she was racing for the couch and hiding under a cushion as the shouting seemed to shake the room.

Once there was silence, Teri peeked out, to see Mouser with her ears folded back, cowering in the corner, holding the phone well away from her as if it was a venomous snake.

“So anyways, it's nice that we got to air out that little problem, it's been festering for too long.” Mouser said quietly into the phone, “Now, about why I called you, I have a kid who needs your help.”

Downtown, Lincoln Nebraska,
June 15th, 2007

Teri sat on the cafe table nibbling on a muffin and sipping watered down apple juice, while Mouser sat seemingly at ease drinking some tea. People were watching them, some more openly than others, but Mouser didn't seem to care, so Teri ignored most of them as well. She did smile and wave at many of the little kids who walked by, giggling when their jaws dropped in amazement and they waved back.

“Why were the people in the grocery store so mean, but they seem nice here?” she asked.

“Some people are just as- jerks, you got unlucky and met some big ones. Looking like you do, you will have problems, but not as much as someone who looks big and scary. Little kids will probably love you,” Mouser said. “And I'm here. I'm the biggest superhero in the city, really the only superhero, and I'm big, noisy, fun loving, and always willing to talk. People may not like what I am, but I'm respected enough the haters won't do anything much beyond glare at me.”

Teri thought it over for a minute. “So I really should become a hero, so that everyone will love me and I won't have any problems.”

“Maybe, but being a hero isn't easy,” Mouser said. “You have the spirit for it, but you see some nasty things and you have to keep your head when you want to run and scream. Sometimes it’s really bad and you want to toss the rules and deliver justice personally, but you can't, you need to do things by the book, so you don't become just as bad as the criminals.”

“Oh. What do you do when it's bad?”

“I do what needs to be done, and then I move on. Live for today and enjoy yourself. The past is the past and you can't change it, the future will come when it comes, no point worrying about it. So, I meet the challenges with a bounce in my step, a smile on my lips, and joy in my heart.”

“Live for today. The past is the past,” Teri said, rolling it around on her tongue. She smiled, “I like it!”

An older woman, wearing a long silvery dress, with a matching witches hat and mask, came to their table. She looked at Mouser and scowled, which didn't go well with the laugh lines on her face. Then the woman turned to Teri and smiled.

“Hi!” Teri said, grinning and waving. When she smiled, the woman looked exactly like a stereotypical, friendly grandma.

“Hello, you must be Teri, I'm Witch Mabel,” the woman said.

Mouser waved for her to sit down. “Hey Witch Mabel, it's been too long since we sat and talked. Thanks for coming.”

The witch looked at Mouser much like a hypochondriac with OCD, would look at a sloppy Joe that had been left in the sun for a week, then shoved into a closet under a stack of filthy gym socks and used baby diapers for three months, before finally being unearthed. “Mouser,” she said, in a voice full of loathing.

“Right... Would you like anything?” Mouser asked. “My treat. They've got some really good bagels here.”

“I'm fine,” Witch Mabel said. “Why don't you go and find an alley or a dumpster to hang out in, while I talk to Teri for a bit?”

The cat looked like she was about to say something, but quickly thought better of it. Picking up her tea, Mouser got to her feet. “I'll just find another seat and wait for you two to finish your conversation.”

Teri watched her friend quickly leave the table and sit at a table at the far end of the cafe. She turned to the newcomer and wondered what was about to happen.

“So you're Teri, you have very pretty wings,” Witch Mabel said, sounding far more pleasant.

She blushed at the compliment and rose into air, spreading her wings to show them off better. “Thank you! Are you a superhero?”

“Not really,” the witch said. “I help the Lincoln Freedom Squad, they insist that I wear this silly costume, but I'm too old to be running and jumping around.”

“So, what do you do?”

“I'm a witch. I mix up soups and drinks, and cook tasty foods in my kitchen, and they can do wonderful things. If someone is hurt, they just need to eat a bowl of my chicken soup and they’ll heal right up. When they need to deal with a criminal, they can throw a cup of my herbal tea at them to put them right to sleep, or they can use my taffy and the bad guy will get all tangled up.”

“Wow! That's amazing!”

“Thank you. But you sound pretty amazing yourself, what can you do?”

“I can fly, and I'm really strong! I'm going to be a superhero when I grow up. I even have a codename, Tink!”

Witch Mabel looked at her curiously. “Why did you pick Tink?”

“Well, I wanted Tinkerbell,” she admitted, “but even though I could technically use the name, I was told it would be better if I didn't. So I shortened it. I was thinking of being called Little Princess, or maybe Princess Powerful, but they wouldn't let me call myself Princess, and everything else I thought of was pretty long. ”

“I've found with superheroes that the shorter the name the better. You don't want to be in a fight and have to say, 'hey Captain Magnificent Hair, duck!' By the time you're half done they've already been hit by a truck.”

They both laughed at the joke.

“Now Teri, I've been told you're living with Mouser until you can find your family, is that right?” Witch Mabel asked.

A sad frown replaced the smile. “Yeah. I hope I can find them soon. When I do, we'll go to the beach and have a really big party, and it will be lots and lots of fun. And maybe my friend Rose Blossom will be there too.”

The witch rested her fingers lightly on her back. “I'm sure everyone is looking as hard as they can for your family and your friend. I'm wondering if you would you like to come to my home sometime, we can bake some cookies and cakes together. I used to do that all the time with my kids, but they're all grown up now, so I need a new helper.”

“Can we make arroz con leche?” she asked, jumping up and down.

“I don't believe I know that one. But we can find the recipe and do it together.”

Teri jumped up and gave Witch Mabel a hug, squealing with delight.

“Ack! Too tight!” the witch shouted.

Pine Lake Beach, Lincoln Nebraska,
June 16th, 2007

Wearing her new purple, one piece, open back bathing suit and holding a small colourful inner tube, Teri stared out over the reservoir. “It's not very big.”

“We're in the middle of the prairies, we don't have a lot of big lakes to choose from,” Mouser said. She was wearing a tiny white bikini, and was carrying a beach bag over shoulder along with a cooler of drinks and snacks. “Lets find a spot and relax.”

Spreading a blanket out on the sand, Teri helped Mouser set things up. While they were doing that, Mouser asked. “What do you picture when you think of a beach?”

“I think it's on an ocean,” Teri said. “You can't see the far shore, it smells different, there's lots of people, there are palm trees, and so many things you can do in the water. This is just... small.”

“OK, that definitely sounds like the ocean. Maybe we can take a vacation to the ocean later this summer. But for now, relax, enjoy the water, and get a tan, if you don't mind I'm going to sit here and soak up the sun for a while,” Mouser said, stretching out on the towel and adjusting her sunglasses.

“Will you come in the water later and play with me?”

“Of course, but wet fur stinks. So I'll do it before we leave and we can head home right after. Sound good?”

“OK!” Teri said. Flying to the water, she dropped her inner tube well away from the other swimmers then went high into the sky. Pretending that she was standing on a diving board, she tucked her long hair behind her ears, 'jumped' several times, gaining a bit more height with each jump, then went high into the air, arched her back and swan dived downwards aiming for the tube.

Pushing her power as hard as she could, she gained speed, her wings forming a cape behind her. She adjusting her dive slightly to hit the inner tube dead center, entering the water with a small splash and twisted in the water to kick off from the sandy bottom. Flapping her wings, she swam to the surface and hopped onto the inner tube, grinning broadly.

Lying on her back, she spread her wings out letting the sun warm her up, as she floated contentedly on the water. She knew people were watching her, but they didn't matter, she was enjoying the moment, letting everything else drift away.

“Hi Teri!” a little boy shouted.

Jumping to her feet, she crouched on the inner tube and looked at the six or seven year old boy who was standing in the water up to his neck waving at her. A little ways behind him was an even younger girl who could be his sister, she was waving too. Mouser and an ordinary looking woman with straw blonde hair were standing on the shore watching the two children.

Curious, Teri flew over to the children, dragging her inner tube with her. “Hello! How do you know my name?” she asked, grinning at them.

“Hi! Aunt Mouser told us all about you,” the boy said. “She said you're going to practice with her to become a superhero too.”

“That's right, I'm going to be the toughest and cutest hero EVER!”

“You have pretty wings!” the little girl shouted.

Teri grabbed the little boy and flew to the girl, dragging the boy through the water, much to his delight. “Thank you. What are your names?”

“I'm Sara.”

“I'm David,” the boy said.

Sara looked at her, clearly amazed at her appearance. “Are you a fairy all the time?”

“Yep! I'm the amazing Fairy Tink!”

“Cool,” they both said.

David pointed at Mouser, “Aunt Mouser can turn human when she wants, but she prefers being a cat lady.”

“I don't blame her,” Tink said. “Everyone is special, but being really unique and standing out can be lots of fun.”

“I want to be unique too,” Sara said.

“Maybe when you're older you'll turn out to be a mutant like Mouser.”

David shook his head. “She's not a mutant. She got a special stone that lets her be a cat.”

“COOL! I didn't know that. Maybe she'll let me try it one day and I could be a cat fairy!” Teri said. “Do you two want me to pull you in the water? I can go really fast.”

The siblings cheered and jumped in the water, each one begging to go first.

Teri could barely contain how happy she was after a day of playing with Sara, David, and eventually Mouser and her new Aunt Cynthia. Some of the other kids on the beach had joined in for a while too, almost everyone seemed to think that having a real live fairy was amazing. And the ones who didn't had just avoided her, which was fine with Teri.

Now sitting at picnic table with everyone, having just finished eating a bit of hotdog and hamburger, Teri had to grin. It had been a perfect day.

Mouser pulled some money out of her bag. “Teri how about you get some ice cream for everyone.”

“OK, what would people like?” she asked, taking the money.

Getting the requests, Teri flew off to the vendor who had a fairly long line of people wanting drinks, ice cream, treats and other things. Ignoring the people around her, she danced in the air, feeling completely at peace.

“Don't go too far, TERI,” an older woman said.

Carefully she wrapped her arms around the woman and promptly got kicked in the ribs. “Ow!” She pointed at the belly and said, “You shouldn't kick your ____. Otherwise I won't spoil you once you get out of there.”

She jerked as a cough brought her back to the present. The line had moved along, and she hurriedly moved to catch up to it.

When she finally reached the counter, the clerk scowled. Ignoring it, Teri said, “I'd like a fudge bar, two ice cream sandwiches, a freeze pop, and what type of sugar free ice creams or yogurts do you have?”

“Go away, I've got nothing for you,” the woman said.

“What?” Teri asked.

“I don't serve your kind here.”

For a moment, Teri's eyes began to glow. Then she realized she could easily destroy the entire building, and pushed her anger down. “But I just want to get some ice cream for my friends,” she said.

“I don't care.”

Instead of anger, sadness began to fill her. She'd been having a great day and now this happened. She heard some of the people in line start to mutter and grumble, which made her feel even worse. Her eyes began to water, and she had to sniff back tears.

“Come on get out of here, your holding up the line,” the woman said, waving at her to go away.

The tears came. “I'm supposed to get ice cream for my friends and my foster mom. I'm not doing anything bad,” she bawled.

“Get out of here before I call the MCO,” the woman snarled.

Teri ignored her, and began to wail.

“Mommy why is the fairy crying?” a child asked.

The grumbling from the line got louder.

“HEY! I told you go away, shut up and leave!”

A man behind Teri cursed. “Yo, just give the kid what she wants and stop being such a bi- witch.”

Through her tears, Teri saw the woman look uncertain and unhappy as more potential customers started yelling at her, and several kids pointed and asked their parents what was going on. Finally the woman got the ice cream out, slamming it on the counter.

“Here,” she snapped, and told her the price.

Teri ignored here, still crying and bawling about how she just wanted to have some ice cream.

More people started yelling and a few left, looking disgusted. The woman watched them go and looked ready to spit.

“Fine, just take the ice cream and get out of here!” she almost shouted.

Teri flew down and picked up the ice cream, which wasn't easy with her small arms, and flew away still crying.

When she was out of sight of the mean woman, she stopped crying and began to smile. Reaching the picnic table, she handed out the ice cream, keeping a sugar free yogurt for herself.

“What took so long?” Mouser asked. “Were you crying?”

“A little, but it's OK,” Teri said, wiping her face off with a paper napkin. “I just had to do some negotiating to get the ice cream. Here's your money back, it was on the house.”

“OK. Thanks,” Mouser said, taking the money.

June 20th, 2007

Teri looked through her new clothes, happy to have some properly fitting, stylish clothes to choose from. Of course the large selection brought about the problem of what to wear. “Mouser, do you have any suggestions for what I should bring?” she asked.

“Bring the bathing suit, a nice t-shirt and a button up blouse along with a skirt or shorts, and the skinny jeans and sleeveless white blouse,” Mouser said, putting some of her clothes into a small suitcase.

Now that she knew what to bring, Teri quickly grabbed the clothes, putting them into a change purse that had a strap attached to it, turning it into a large bag for her. “I've never been to a photo shoot before, are you sure you want me in it?”

“Yeah, I talked with the agent, he loves the idea of having you and me doing a shoot together. You won't be in many of them, only five or six, but it'll be a fun experience, and you'll get paid for it. It'll be good to earn your own money.”

Her eyes lit up. “Awesome. I've only ever gotten an allowance before, probably for boring old chores. Now I get to show off how fantastically cute I am AND get paid! WOOHOO!” she shouted, doing backflips in midair.

Mouser headed for the door. “Don't let it get to your head, this is work. You have to listen to the photographer and don't goof off too much.”

Teri 'stood' at attention in the air and saluted. “Yes, Ma'am. I won't let you down, Ma'am.”

“Smart aleck,” Mouser said, but she smiled as she did.

Heading for the truck, Teri tried to imagine what it would be like.

Teri sat perched on Mouser's knee and grinned at the camera, making sure to keep her wings curled up behind her so they wouldn't be seen in the picture.

“Teri, smile without showing your teeth. You're happy, but not excited,” the photographer said.

Closing her lips, she struggled to not move around, despite wanting to bounce with excitement. The camera clicked, and the photographer moved slightly to get another picture.

“Stand still, TERI, and stop playing with your shirt,” a man said.

Unhappily, she took her hands away from her itchy collar, smiled and sat up straight. Her red dress looked pretty but it didn't fit right and the lace was rubbing her skin raw. Two people she thought were her parents stood behind her, resting their hands on her shoulders, two others, both male and dressed in nice clothes, stood on either side. Jingle Bells played in the background.

The camera flashed.

“That's perfect. Now that we have the individual family portraits done, lets get everyone in for the big one.”

A faceless girl sat down beside her, wearing a white dress. She smiled at the girl, wrapping an arm around her best friend.

A finger tapped her on the head. “Earth to Teri, come in Teri,” Mouser said.

“Sorry, just thinking of something.

“Care to share?”

Teri stared at nothing for a moment, getting her thoughts in order. “It was just a memory.”

“Anything really important?” Mouser asked.

She tried to think of any clues that might have been revealed, like her therapist Dr. Schulz had taught her, but nothing came to her. Shrugging her shoulders, she shook her head. “Not really.”

“All right, we'll talk about it tonight after supper. Lets keep going, you need to do a costume change, while I get some more solo shots,” Mouser told her.

Teri dumped the supper take away containers in the garbage, while Mouser pulled out a notebook. Flying to the couch, she sat down with a big sigh.

“Come on, Teri,” Mouser said, “I know you don't like this, but it's doctors orders.”

“It doesn't seem to help. I'm not remembering much,” Teri complained.

Opening up to a new page, Mouser said. “You're actually not doing too badly. We've got a superhero who has lightning powers of some kind. Beaches, palm trees, practically no snow, that special rice pudding arroz con leche, and a bunch more. So we know you used to live in a southern state along the coast. It's still a big list, but it's narrowing down. So what did you remember today?”

“I think I have two older brothers. And the girl I thought might have been my sister is probably a cousin.”

“Two brothers, that will definitely help. Maybe one of them is the one with the pregnant woman. Still no codename or anything?”

Teri rubbed her head, she knew she'd said the name before without thinking about it, and when she attacked Burgermeister, she'd said it as well. But as she tried to remember it, her head filled with static. “No,” she finally said. “It's like trying to remember my last name.”

“Well this is still helpful. Can you describe a bit of the memory, what the place looked like, anything memorable about the people?” Mouser asked, flipping past several sketches to a clean page.

“No. It's just the same, faceless people in regular clothes.” She hopped down and flipped the notebook to a sketch of the faceless girl she liked so much. She knew it wasn't a professional sketch but it still looked really good. Gazing at the picture, she tried to fill in the blank space, nothing came. Scrubbing at her eyes, she decided to change the topic.

“How come you're so good at drawing?”

“I'm not that good, unless I'm drawing jewellery,” Mouser said. “Before I became the hero Mouser, I was a jeweller. Had my own little shop, and specialized in custom made jewellery. Knowing how to draw was pretty important.”

“How did a jeweller become a superhero?”

“A strange client gave me an ugly cats eye gem, along with some very rare metal, and asked me to design a choker. It was not easy, but I got it done, while barely sleeping, practically in a trance most of the time, and having the weirdest dreams you can imagine. Then after I got it all done, he didn't show up again. After six months, I tried it on and ended up looking like this,” Mouser said, waving a hand over her body.

Looking her up and down, Teri said, “So where is the choker? Does it get absorbed into your body when you're using it?”

“Who says I kept it as a choker?” Mouser asked, slyly smiling. “It would be way too easy to lose the gem that way.”

“So that's why you wear the bracelets and anklets? To make sure people can't just grab it and run?”

“Bingo. I've had a few people try to steal my power gem. They've always guessed wrong and I've only lost two bracelets and one anklet in six years of superheroing. No one is getting my gem just because they were good at sleight of hand or sucker punched me and ripped off some jewellery.”

She grinned at Teri. “Remember, always keep them guessing, and never let them see you weak.”

Teri nodded. “Good advice.”

June 22nd, 2007

Sitting in the passenger seat, Teri crossed her arms and pouted. “But Mouser, I could really help you! I could hide in the coat of the client and make sure no one hurts him. I'd be the ultimate secret weapon.”

“Teri, for the last time, you're not helping me be a body guard. Like being a superhero, there is an age limit, and you aren't anywhere close to it. You also don't have the training, and would end up braining an over exuberant fan. And finally the Bushwhacking Boys aren't exactly a good influence for young people,” Mouser said. “So you get to stay here with Witch Mabel.”

“But I don't wanna.”

“You've visited her before, and made that delicious chocolate cake. I don't see what your problem is now.”

“That was only for a few hours, this will be for five whole days. What if you don't come back?” Teri asked.

Mouser pulled into the driveway, and patted Teri's legs. “I promise you, nothing is going to happen. I'm just there to make sure that no fanatical fan does anything stupid while the band has its big publicity push. I've worked with them before, they're loud, kind of stupid, and like to party, but they know how to follow instructions when given by a sexy lady, and no one really wants to hurt them. It's a basic bodyguard job.”

Taking her small bag of clothes and essentials, Teri looked at Mouser with big, pleading eyes. “Promise you'll come back.”

Putting her right hand on her chest, Mouser said, “I promise I'll come back.”

“OK. Stay safe,” she said.

Flying out the open window, she saw Witch Mabel was standing at the door in her civilian clothes, smiling happily, although it was uncertain if that smile was to welcome Teri or because Mouser was leaving. Zipping over to the witch, Teri gave her a big hug, careful not to accidentally strangle her.

“Teri, it's so good to see you again,” Witch Mabel said.

“Thanks for having me,” Teri said.

“You're always welcome here, dear. Now if you'll put your things in the guest room, you can come with me to drop off some supplies at the Lincoln Freedom Squad.”

Teri zipped past the witch, threw her bag into the guest room and was back in about two seconds. “Great! I've heard a lot about them, I can't wait to see them.”

“Oh? What have you heard?”

“That they get curb stomped all the time, that they've never successfully stopped a supervillain, and that they make the Keystone Cops look good.”

There was a long moment of silence, giving Teri time to think over what she'd just said.

“Um. I'm... a... sorry,” she said.

“It's fine, Teri. They aren't as successful as they'd like, but they try their best,” Witch Mabel said.

The Lincoln Freedom Squad's building was in a rather nice building downtown. Teri followed Witch Mabel inside, carrying an enormous cooler full of food and drinks, specially made to stay fresh for weeks. There was no security except for a video camera and an electronic lock.

“I'd have thought a superhero base would have guards and big steel doors and things to protect it,” Teri said.

“Not many supervillains want to attack us,” Witch Mabel said.

Thinking over what Mouser had said about the Squad, Teri had to admit the lack of enemies made sense. They made their way through the base to a large walk in cooler, where Witch Mabel began organizing her supplies.

A handsome man in a dark blue kevra suit, covered in pockets and belt pouches that were all packed to the brim, came into the cooler. “You must be Teri,” he said, “Witch Mabel told me you were coming. It's great to finally meet you. I'm The Analyzer.”

“Hi,” Teri said.

“Hello, Keven,” Witch Mabel said, not looking away from her stocking job. “Would you be a dear and show Teri around, some of the old stock has expired, and this will take a while.”

“Sure thing. So Teri, have you ever been in a real superhero base?” The Analyzer asked.

“No,” she admitted. “But I used to live on an airship. I almost ran it into Mount Everest, and I saw a Yeti.”

There was a long pause, and he looked at her strangely for a moment. “Well... that's interesting.”

Deciding to change the topic, she asked, “Why are you called The Analyzer?”

“That's a very good question. It's because I have a power gem that lets me quickly and accurately spot connections between things and figure out how they should interact, it's so fast and accurate, it's considered a psychic power.”

“Neat.”

“It is. In fact it's how I built the Lincoln Freedom Squad, and keep it funded.”

“What do you mean?” Teri asked.

“Well the city doesn't like paying for superheroes, and Mouser has the MCO wrapped around her little finger. So money for superheroes is kind of tight. But thanks to my analyzing skills, I make more than enough to pay all my team members, rent this building and cover our supplies,” he said proudly.

“Oh, do you invest in stocks and things?”

“Ah, no. I really like sports and regularly gamble on it. It's all legal, since I'm not a mutant and don't always win,” he hastened to add.

That didn't sound nearly as impressive as other ways to make money, but since it was legal, it couldn't be that bad. “Good for you!”

“So anyways, here is our gym, and our resident strongman, Armstrong. He opened a door revealing a room full of gym equipment, and a rather large man lifting heavy looking barbells. “Hey Armstrong, this is Teri, the fairy Mabel has been talking about.”

The man put down his weights, stretched his oversized arm and strode over. “Hey kid.”

“Hey yourself. How much can you lift? The MCO tested me and I can list three-hundred and twelve pounds,” Teri said.

Armstrong stared at her, his eyes wide. “I can deadlift about three-hundred and forty.”

“That's it?”

“Yeah. I'm just a baseline. But I'm a good fighter. I did professional MMA for six years.”

“Oh, maybe you can teach me some cool moves. I mostly just smash into things until they break. Sometimes I use other things to smash harder.”

Flexing his muscles, Armstrong went over to a padded open space on the side of the gym. “Sure, I'm always happy to help kids.”

“Armstrong, that may not be a good-” The Analyzer started to say.

“It'll be fine. I can handle anything,” Armstrong said, hitting his chest.

“Yay!” Teri flew over and hovered in the air facing him.

Armstrong got into position, his arms held in front of him, ready to strike or defend. Teri sloppily copied him. Analyzer pulled out his phone and began typing out a message.

“All right, Teri. We're going to start off simple, so I'm going to come at you, and you try to stop me,” Armstrong said.

“OK!”

He lunged at her, his hands spread to envelope her tiny body. Teri zipped down caught his leg and flew upwards, spinning him around in midair and let go. Armstrong screamed as he fell backwards onto the padded floor. He screamed harder when there was a loud crack from his leg.

“Oh no!” Teri shouted. “You told me to stop you and I did, but I didn't mean to break your leg!”

“Agh! It's fine..” he groaned through his teeth. “I've had worse.”

Analyzer shook his head. “I told you to be careful.”

Witch Mabel hurried in with a thermos. “I've got some chicken noodle soup, who got hurt?”

“Armstrong decided to spar with Teri. It didn't go well.”

Pouring out a cup of steaming chicken soup, she handed it to Armstrong. As soon as he sipped it, the pain left his face. “That hits the spot,” he said.

“Is he going to be all right?” Teri asked.

“He'll be as good as new in an hour,” Witch Mabel said. “It would be even sooner for most people, but he's had so much of my soup it takes a little longer for it to take affect.”

“Thank goodness. I don't like hurting people.”

That Evening

Mabel took the lemon peel and cinnamon stick out of the thick rice pudding, and using a large spoon scooped it into three bowls. “Time for the cinnamon,” she said.

Flying over the bowls, Teri shook the cinnamon shaker gently into each one. It smelled heavenly, she flew down so close her nose was nearly touching the creamy dessert. “Can we try it now?”

“It's still hot, and if we let it sit in the fridge for a little while it will thicken up,” Mabel said. Then she handed Teri a toy spoon and grinned. “Buuut a good cook should always taste the dish to make sure it tastes right.”

Landing on the edge of the bowl, Teri got a big spoonful, blew on it to cool it off, then gingerly took a bite. The sweet milk sauce and cinnamon filled her mouth. Tears welled up in her eyes. “This is just like I remember,” she said.

Seeing the tears rolling down Teri's cheeks, Mabel scooped the little girl up and brought her to her shoulder, holding her tightly as the tears flowed.

June 22nd, 2007

Teri hovered over the art desk, drawing a picture of her and Witch Mabel cooking together, while Dr. Schultz sat on a large pillow watching her.

“Do you want to talk about anything, Teri?” the psychiatrist asked.

“No,” Teri replied, dipping the paintbrush that was almost as tall as she was in the brown paint.

“Do you mind if I talk?”

She shrugged. The woman was nice, and the office was full of colourful furniture and art, along with all kinds of toys, but Teri didn't like coming. She always had to think about her memories and Burgermeister, which made her feel bad and wanting to cry.

“Mouser has been away for a few days, how are you feeling?”

“She calls me everyday, so it's fine. And Mabel is really nice, we've made a lot of desserts that I can eat without going crazy.”

“Would you like to look over some pictures and names with me?” Dr. Schultz asked.

“You want me to see if I remember anything?” Teri said.

“It's the best way to find your family.”

Dropping her paintbrush in the water jar, Teri sighed. It wouldn't do any good, but if she didn't go look at the pictures, Mouser would insist she do it later on. Might as well get it over with. “Fine.”

Dr. Schultz put a folder on the ground for her. Flipping it open, Teri looked at the first page, a smiling seventeen year old girl looked back at her. Reading the details, the girl was Brooke A. Thomas, codename Shield Girl, from Texas. There were other pictures of the girl with her family, but nothing struck a chord.

Turning the page revealed eleven year old Chloe Washington, no codename, disappeared heading for powers testing in San Diego.

No.

Fourteen year old Belle Rivera, codename Harmless, Tampa Bay.

No.

Kelly Murphy, codename Peach, Georgia.

No.

Codename Miss Powerful, Miami.

No.

Closing the folder she looked up at the psychiatrist. “None of these girls are called Teri.”

“Have you thought that maybe your transformation also caused you to misremember your name? Maybe Teri is a nickname, or the name of someone close to you, that you deeply care about.”

Could she be wrong about her name?

Her name was all she had. The one thing that she knew was hers. What if it was a lie?

“What if I'm not real?” she whispered.

“What was that Teri?”

What if Burgermeister had just grabbed the memories of a girl, or many girls, and shoved them into a body he made? Maybe the original Teri was dead. Or with her family after disappearing for a few hours one day and then returning home none the worse for wear.

Who knew what he had done to her mind.

She knew that she had said something that could be a codename. When she'd gone to fight Burgermeister she had said, someone 'to the rescue'. Now she couldn't remember it. He could have just erased her name, or given her a whole new one and she'd never know it.

Did she even have a family waiting for her.

Falling to the ground, she began to wail.

June 28th, 2007

Mouser handed Teri an orange slice. “You've been moody for a while, want to talk about it?”

“No,” Teri said, then stopped and thought about it. “Yes. I don't know.”

“How about you start talking and see where your brain leads you.”

“What if I don't want things to change?” she said. “Things are pretty good right now. What happens if things change? Will they get worse? Will they get better? What if it turns out I was a really nasty person before? What if I was in a bad family? What if no wants me? What if someone who is the real me is already there and I'm just some devise?”

Mouser put down her sandwich and looked at Teri, her eyes wide with surprise. “Damn. You've got a lot on your mind.”

She hit her head. “I wish I didn't.”

“I can't tell you what to think, or what will happen,” Mouser said. “The best advice I can give is to take it one day at a time. Focus on the now and live it as best you can.”

“But what if-”

Holding up a finger to quiet her, Mouser said, “Remember what I told you before. Live for today and enjoy yourself. The past is the past and you can't change it, the future will come when it comes, no point worrying about it. If you can't find your family, or if for some insane reason they don't want an awesome, adorable little fairy, you've got me in your corner. I'll do my damnedest to be there for you through thick or thin.”

“Thank you,” Teri whispered.

“Now how about we go over your memories notebook and see if we can add anymore clues to it?”

“OK. If you insist,” she said.

Lincoln Children's Zoo
June 30th, 2007

“Teri,” Mouser said, her tail whipping back and forth, “you can pet the tortoise, not ride it.”

Looking up from her seat on the shell of the tortoise, Teri pouted. “But I'm a cowgirl, and this is my loyal steed.”

The group of children who were watching the tortoise and waiting for their turn to interact with it started to laugh, along with the bemused keeper who didn't seem to know what to do.

“I've seen snails that were faster than your steed. Come on, give the others a chance to play with it.”

Teri flew back to Mouser, but not before giving the large tortoise a scratch on the head. “I don't believe you.”

“What?”

“I don't believe that you've seen a faster snail.”

Mouser smirked. “I have so. Two years ago a biodevisor created a pack of giant snails, they had acidic slime, big sharp teeth, shells that were as strong as five inch titanium plates, and once they got moving they could slide along about as fast as a galloping horse. I lost most of my fur trying to figure out how to deal with them.”

“So how did you finally stop them?”

“A whole lotta salt. Dried them right up.”

“EW! That's gross!” Teri said, making a face.

“It worked. And after they dissolved my clothes and fur, I wasn't exactly in a forgiving mood.” Just then Mousers phone rang. It was a loud piercing ring that Teri had never heard before. Cursing, Mouser answered it far more quickly then she ever had before. “Mouser here, what's the problem?”

There was more cursing as whoever was on the phone spoke. Waving to Teri, Mouser ran for the exit, still talking on the phone.

Teri clung to the seat as Mouser drove like a maniac, a police light had been put on top of the truck, and a police siren was blaring, warning traffic and pedestrians to get out of the way.

“Teri, when we get there, you will NOT interfere, no matter what you see. You will stay behind police lines, you will obey anything the police or the MCO says, and you will not try to fight the supervillain or any minions,” Mouser said.

“But I can help.”

“No you can't. If I had time I'd drop you off at home, or with Witch Mabel, but I don't. So I am trusting you to behave yourself. Can you do that for me?” Mouser asked, not taking her eyes off the road.

“Yes,” Teri said, even though her brain was telling her to help and prove she was a hero.

Turning the corner, Mouser brought the truck to a screeching halt close to a police line. She was out the door and hopping into the truck bed seconds later, opening up a steel box that was welded to the truck, and putting on her superhero outfit. Teri flew out to watch, as Mouser got ready to go to work, strapping several grenades and what looked like a heavily modified sawed off shotgun to her suit.

Teri flew up into the air to get a good look at what was going on. Close to the bank the street was cleared of people, and police had set up a line of cars at both ends of the street to stop traffic. But people were still watching from behind the police lines, even as the cops made them back up. There was a large hole in what had been the front door of a bank, but no sign of who had done it. There was a crowd of people Wishing she had seen something useful, she flew back to Mouser. She'd been told she couldn't help, but she could still listen.

Less than two minutes after pulling up, Mouser was ready for action and walking over to a group of police and MCO agents who looked to be in charge, with Teri following behind. “What's the situation?” Mouser asked.

An older police officer answered. “A person in heavy duty power armour marched into the Citigroup Bank fifteen minutes ago, and ordered everyone except the managers out. He got all the money that wasn't in the vaults and let the managers leave after being shown the locked vault. It was recently heavily reinforced, so we believe it's taking him longer than expected to break through.”

“Damn, I hate power armour,” Mouser said. Turning to the MCO agent, she asked, “Any chance of getting some power armour backup?”

“Sorry, Mouser,” the agent said, “we're still waiting for a stabilizer from head office. We have a laser rifle that might be able to penetrate the armour, depending on how thick it is and the material.”

“You've been waiting for that damn stabilizer for two months now.”

The agent scowled. “We're not considered a high priority office.”

Turning back to the cop, Mouser said, “Please say you have some nice new goody you're just waiting to test out.”

“We have the usual SWAT team and crowd control,” the cop said.

Mouser let out a large sigh. “All right, looks like it's up to me. I'm not about to fight power armour inside a building unless I have to. You guys push the crowd further back, have that laser gun ready to shoot the power armour in the ass or anywhere else it looks fragile. I'll get into position to hit him as soon as he comes-”

There was a crash as a brick wall fell. From the dust a ten foot tall power armour unit stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was big and painted red, the pincer like hands looked capable of lifting up and crushing a car, and there were ominous barrels coming from the wrists. It didn't have an obvious head, just a torso of sloped armour with arms and legs attached to it.

“Damn, this job is never easy,” Mouser muttered. Putting on her helmet, she took her gun from her back and walked towards the power armour.

“Get out of my way hero. My names Demolisher and my armour can handle anything you can throw at it,” the supervillain said, his voice booming from the speakers.

“Sorry. Stopping you is why I get paid the big bucks. I let you go, I don't get paid. You can see my dilemma,” Mouser said. “How about we save some time and you surrender peacefully? It will look good to the judge.”

A massive arm rose and pointed at Mouser. “I don't think so. Last chance hero, do you want to go home tonight or end up in the morgue?”

“No can do. How about we talk about this before someone does something stupid?”

Demolisher, clearly done with talking, opened fire. Mouser dodged, firing her own gun. Teri's eyes watered from the blinding bright light that shot out of the barrel, hitting the armoured leg. The supervillain returned fire, spitting bullets from his arm. Mouser easily stayed ahead of the bullets, leaping behind a parked car.

Unfortunately, the bullets flew down the street hitting the police cars, shattering the bulletproof glass, and sending the police and onlookers to the ground.

Teri looked at the people huddled on the street. Her eyes began to glow. A man was yelling in pain, a child was standing, tears streaming down his face as he called for his mommy. Flying down to the child, as an explosion erupted and more bullets whizzed past, Teri spread her wings out trying to protect as much of the child as she could.

“Where's your mommy?” she asked.

The child pointed at a woman who was lying face down, she saw a tiny stream of blood leaking out from under her.

“Come on, I'm going to get you somewhere safe, and then I'll help your mommy.” Picking up the child,

She flew around the corner, and saw an officer trying to direct the crowd away from the fight. Landing beside him, she put the child down and said, “His mother was shot! She's back there. He needs someone to watch him, and we need an ambulance.”

Teri didn't wait for his response, but flew back looking for anyone else she could help. Taking a moment to look at the fight, Mouser and Demolisher were surrounded in thick smoke. The sound of metal hitting pavement, gun fire, and explosions could clearly be heard even in the distance. Forcing herself to look away, she saw an ambulance pull up, more sirens were quickly coming closer.

Grabbing the shot woman, stretching her PK field as far as it would go to cradle her head and body, Teri flew her to the ambulance. “She was shot and needs help!”

The paramedics threw open the back of the ambulance, directing her to put the woman on a stretcher. As gently as possible she put the woman down, then zipped away to find more injured.

There was cat-like yowl of pain. She spun around and saw Mouser go flying out of the smoke. The cat hit the ground and rolled back to her feet. There was a crack on her helmet, and she was cradling her left arm. Mouser grabbed a grenade from her coat, throwing it into the rapidly thinning smoke. There was a boom and the smoke lifted, revealing the power armour, it's leg was damaged and there was a large dent on its top, where the head would normally be, but it was still moving without any real difficulty.

An MCO agent fired the laser, melting a small section of the armoured leg. Demolisher raised his arm at the agent, preparing to fire.

Teri flew as fast as she could, grabbed the agent and kept going as a small missile blew up not only the laser gun, but the police car the agent had been hiding behind. Shrapnel peppered her back, and the agent yelled in pain. She flew him towards the safety of the ambulances, placing him on the ground, trying not to see the blood dripping from his legs.

Looking around she saw that the injured had all been pulled out of danger. Some people and a lot of the cops were hiding behind cars and in alleyways, not wanting to risk moving unless they had to. Mouser was dodging and weaving the blows of the supervillain, using whatever she could to attack his leg.

“I should be helping,” Teri said.

“Lightning Strike, I'm your biggest fan! Can you sign my book!” she shouted, holding up a limited edition trivia book of the ____ Crusaders.

The hero pulled out a pen that looked a little like a lightning bolt and glowed as she wrote in the book. Handing the book back, she gave her the pen as well. “Keep it, ___. It's not often I meet one of my future partners.”

Mouser yowled in pain as she was punched in the gut.

Teri's eyes flared. “I'm going to be a hero,” she snarled.

Flying at Demolisher, she managed to get in close without being seen and punched the dented leg as hard as she could.

“What the hell?!” the supervillain shouted, spinning around trying to find her.

“Teri! Get the hell out of here!” Mouser shouted.

She ignored the order, zipping around the power armour as fast as she could, punching and kicking him as she went. Her erratic flight keeping him from getting a bead on her, or even predicting where she might be next. Mouser watched, trying to find an opening, but she couldn't do anything either, not without the risk of hitting her.

Then he got lucky.

More by accident then design he managed to slap her with his pincer hard enough to send her crashing into the the pavement. Dazed, she got to her hands and knees, shaking her head, trying to clear it. She didn't see him raise his arm.

Mouser jumped between them. The gun fired, catching the hero in the back.

Teri watched as Mouser flopped to the ground, not moving.

“Thanks kid,” Demolisher said, chuckling. “She was too fast for me to really hit. You were perfect. Now get out of here before I hurt you.”

He turned and walked away.

“Mouser,” Teri whimpered.

With tears pouring down her face, Teri got to her feet and stared at the supervillain. Her eyes began to blaze. Shrieking she flew at Demolisher.

Mouser came too, hearing a girl shriek.

She groaned in pain, her back was on fire, she had to bite her lip to keep from screaming in pain as she looked around. She didn't like what she saw.

Teri was flying around the supervillain, much faster than she could normally fly. The fairy was screaming, hitting the armour hard enough to leave small dents, there was no plan, no strategy, just unthinking rage.

“Jesus Christ, kid!” Demolisher said. “You're not doing much, just denting the armour a little. Give it up.”

Mouser realized that Teri wasn't listening, the girl had checked out. Trying to get to her feet, she fell face first into the pavement, her back spasming. Cursing, she could only lay there, hoping Teri wouldn't get hurt.

She winced as Teri was backhanded away, throwing her through a window into a furniture store. “Stay down, Teri,” she whispered.

Seconds later the window shattered outwards, Teri flew out carrying a washing machine. Demolisher paused, clearly surprised at the bizarre sight. Then he was falling backwards as a hundred and eighty pound washer slammed into him at well over a hundred miles an hour.

Teri didn't gloat or cheer at knocking him down, she flew away with the badly damaged appliance, disappearing from sight.

Demolisher got back to his feet, his arms raised, ready to shoot at the fairy or anything that came close. He backed away down the street towards the police line, his arms sweeping all around him.

He didn't look up.

Teri dropped out of the sky, hammering him with the washing machine. The heavy appliance shattered, even as it drove Demolisher to his knees. A crack opened up along the large dent on top of the armour.

“Where the hell are you?!” he shouted.

There was no answer, Teri had vanished again.

Mouser heard a metallic twang. Looking up she saw Teri come flying out of the sky once more, carrying a stop sign like an oversized axe.

Demolisher saw her as well and opened fire. Teri flew in an insane pattern of twists and impossibly tight turns that would make almost anyone sick. She swung the stop sign into the crack. Sparks flew out of the hole.

Teri flipped the stop sign around and while Demolisher tried to aim at her, his arms moving slower than before, she drove the metal post down like a spear.

Smoke erupted from the machine.

Screaming, Teri drove the sign into it again, and again, and again.

Flames appeared.

A hatch opened up and Demolisher fell out of his burning power armour.

Teri didn't notice, she kept spearing the armour. Eventually her blows slowed down, becoming sluggish, losing the power behind them. She let the sign fall, then flew over to Mouser, dropped down beside her and began to cry.

Evening

Mouser staggered into the condo her tail dragging on the floor while Teri hovered over her worriedly. “Can I get you anything? A hot water bottle, pain killers, something to eat?” she asked.

“Just a bed. A good night sleep... or three or four and I'll be feeling fine,” Mouser answered, walking to her room and collapsing on the bed.

“I'm sorry, I got in the way,” Teri said for at least the hundredth time. “I didn't mean to get you hurt.”

Mouser waved her away. “We'll talk tomorrow about it. The painkillers just make me want to sleep.”

Teri grabbed a blanket and covered Mouser up, her foster mother didn't notice, having already fallen asleep.

Flying to the living room, Teri went to sit beside her rose bush, clutching her knees to her chest and wrapping her wings around herself.

“I screwed up Rose Blossom,” she said. “I nearly killed Mouser because I thought I was a superhero. I just wanted to help people, and I was doing it by moving the injured away. But then I thought I could help Mouser and fight a supervillain. I was an idiot.”

Resting her head on the rose stem, she watched the sun set.

“My stupid memories made me think I could be a hero. I don't even know if they're real, but I listened to them. Some hero I am.”

She wiped tears from her eyes.

“My memories made me fight Burgermeister too, and look at how well that went. I've lost you and the goblins and elves, and I ended up in that horrible grocery store.”

Digging her toe into the soil, she didn't say anything for a while.

“Whenever I think about my past, bad stuff happens. And for all I know they aren't my memories, but someone elses.”

She got to her feet. “I'm happy here. I have Mouser and Witch Mabel, and people like me. I'm making friends, having fun, and I'm going to be getting a tutor and joining classes to learn stuff. Good things are happening. And I promise Rose Blossom, as soon as I learn where you are, I'll come and get you so you can come live here with me.

“It's time I learn to live for today. The past is the past and I can't change it, the future will come when it comes, no point worrying about it. I don't know if the girl in my memories was real, so why should I try to build my life around her, or cry over the things she had. She isn't me. I'm Teri Mouser and that's all I need to be happy.”

Flying to where Mouser kept her notebook of memories, Teri opened it up and cut out the pictures of Rose Blossom and the goblins and elves, she wanted to keep those. They were her real memories.

Using her claws she slowly and methodically shredded the pages full of notes, dreams, and faceless pictures, until there was only a pile of hopelessly mixed up slivers of paper on the floor. Picking them up, she flew outside and went high into the sky, spreading her arms and letting the paper blow away. Smiling happily, she flew back to the apartment, and went to her room.

Changing into her pajamas, she crawled into bed and wrapped herself up in her blanket. The memories tried to come back, rising up in her mind, trying to force her to remember, she pushed them away. That girl was gone.

“I'm Teri Mouser, and the future is out there, not in here,” she said tapping her head.

July 1st, 2007

Mouser crawled out of bed, stiff, sore, and in need of painkillers. Making her way to the kitchen, she saw that Teri had gone out to the nearby bakery and come back with fresh scones, apple fritters, buns, and other goodies.

“Glad to see you're feeling better,” she said.

Teri gave her a big smile. “I just wanted to say sorry, Mom.”

“Mom?” Teri had only called her foster mom once or twice, where had that come from?

“Well you are my foster mom, but that's a mouthful. It's much easier to just call you Mom. Anyways, I want you to take it easy today. If you need anything at all, you ask me, and I'll get it for you. You're not to lift a finger. After breakfast would you like a bath? It will help your back, and I can fill the tub while eat.”

“Teri, are you feeling OK?”

“Yep. I'm great!” the fairy said.

“Well you have a meeting with Dr. Schultz in two hours. So I don't have time for a bath,” she said.

“I don't want to go. I think I've gotten everything I can from her.”

Mouser narrowed her eyes, her concern for Teri turning to real worry. “She thinks she's getting closer to helping you with your memories. That's kind of important.”

“No its not,” Teri said. “The past is the past, I want to live for today. I'm tired of being sad, so I'm going to be happy from now on.”

“All right. I'll call her and let her know what's going on,” Mouser said.

“Great!” Teri said, spinning in a circle. “Since you're on bed rest today, would you like to watch some movies with me, or maybe some anime?”

Death Valley, Nevada

The mailbox slammed its hatch, making a pleasing drumming sound. Beside it a robotic jet propelled bird, cawed, and a long legged robot with a bird beak clapped its wings together like a cymbal. Other robots made their own noise, rattling around, banging things, whistling, hooting, and shrieking.

A tentacled robot sat before them, listening carefully as they all made their individual music. After several minutes, it clapped its tentacles together, bringing silence to the congregation. It pointed at the mailbox, raising and lowering its tentacle three times.

The mail box slammed its hatch open and shut three times.

Another robot was selected and it hooted four times.

The robots went through this several times, each one learning its part.

Finally the tentacled robot seemed satisfied. Raising its tentacles, it began pointing at the various robots.

The maibox listened happily to its musical partners, waiting for its part. Finally it was able to make music. It didn't need a radio after all, it just needed some friends who were as bored as it was. Finally the conductor pointed at it. The mailbox happily opened and slammed its hatch shut just like it had practised.

The music was glorious!

A powerful wind rose up, blowing sand all over the practice orchestra. The mailbox tilted its eye sensors up and saw a large airship coming down from the sky. It wasn't as large as its last home, but it was more than big enough to hold all of the robots who had escaped the crash of their old place.

It landed with a thump. The robots waited silently, unsure what would happen next.

A hatch flipped open, turning into a ramp.

The mailbox sagged, letting out a robotic sigh as the creator stepped out.

“Hello my friends! I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but now I have returned and we have important business to attend to! Come along and get onto the ship, we have lots to do if we're going to make the world a better place, and I need your help to collect our wayward children.”