Chapter 20

When she got up in the morning, Angel realized that she hadn't told her parents about the meeting. In fact, she hadn't figured out what to tell them about the meeting.

In fact, there were a lot of things she needed to tell them. And despite Lena's reasoning, it could still come back to haunt her. Still ... it was time.

Putting the conversation off, she showered and dressed before going downstairs. When she thought about doing her makeup and hair, she faced the fact that she was just delaying the inevitable.

Her parents were down in the living room, relaxing and reading the paper, when she went down. Before she could get past a "good morning," her mother told her that her breakfast was in the kitchen, staying warm for her.

It was tempting. So tempting to delay things that much more.

Not this time. "Could we talk, all of us, while I eat?"

They both looked up at her tone, and agreed. They got coffee, while she got out her pancakes and sausages. Her mother poured her a glass of milk, then they all gathered around the table. Stalling one last time, Angel took a bite of pancake and sausage together, chewed slowly, and washed it down with a swallow of milk. But she was too aware of two sets of eyes watching her, two people who were very important to her, waiting for her to speak.

"I, uh, have a meeting this afternoon, over at the State Park, with some of my friends." She saw that her parents were still waiting. "And Dr. Miller."

That got a reaction. Not a big one, but their attitude shifted from patience to concern.

"What is it about?" her mother asked.

"That's just it - we're not sure. But the fact that she is meeting us where we've been doing some things," seeing their reaction, she hurried to add "good things for people, it ... well, it makes us think she knows some things about us."

Her father looked puzzled. "Can't Lena find out?"

"No, Dr. Miller is too well shielded. We don't think she means us harm or trouble. She has enough pull to do something like that without even talking to us. But she might know some things, and some of it is stuff you don't know yet."

Angel was a little surprised to see her father nod reflexively, as though he knew what she was talking about. Her mother just seemed concerned.

"Some of us have powers you don't know about. Including me. It's not my place to tell you about theirs, but you need to know the rest about mine." She took a drink of milk, then continued.

"You know that I can perceive and kinda control microbes and stuff, and that I can tell what MORFS will do or has done to people. But it goes beyond that. I can trigger MORFS in people, and make it do what I want it to." Her mother's eyebrows shot up, but her father seemed unsurprised.

"You knew?" she accused him.

"Let's just say I strongly suspected, from the things you were and weren't saying. Especially about AMORFS."

Her mother jumped in at that. "You started AMORFS?"

"I think so. I did something, at the rally, and we had been talking about how fitting it would be if something like that happened to all those bigots, so I think I might have started it."

"But you're not sure?" her mother prompted.

"I didn't even know I could do something like that, back then. And I didn't actually intend to do it then. It just seemed to happen."

"Who was this 'we'?" her father asked.

"The cousins and me. Janey and David. And none of us were serious. It was just one of those 'wouldn't it be great' things."

"That explains a lot." her mother nodded. "Especially your reactions to some things." Then her eyes widened as she thought it through. "David and Robin! Those powers of theirs didn't just happen, did they?"

"That was me." Angel squeaked, her voice small.

"And that whole thing you were trying to feed Dr. Miller about Pope Hill?"

"We think she found out, somehow. That was really all of us. Some of the stories were already there, so we just sort of used them as a pattern. Lena reads their minds, finding out what they want and how they intend to use it. Penny checks to see if doing it would cause a disaster, David makes an illusion of the spirit thing, and I make the virus and give it to them. And Robin makes me invisible while I deliver the virus. They don't know us, or that we're involved."

"They?"

"After David and Robin, there have been two. Both from Smokey Hills."

Her father remembered another reaction, and changed the subject. "Was the AMORFS thing your only accident?"

"Uh ... maybe not. I think, maybe, I kinda accidentally zapped the Dean when he grabbed my arm to throw me out of his office."

"What do you mean, you think?" Her mother asked, sharply. It was a reflex, when faced with a partial admission by her child.

Angel flinched. "I didn't mean to do it! And I was not sure I even did anything. I was so upset that he was yelling at me for things he already knew I didn't do, that I barely noticed the feeling I get when releasing something like that. I wasn't even sure I did it."

"But when you saw the news report... ?" her father prompted.

"The guy with the second adolescence. They said it was an AMORFS variant, and he was the right age, and just lost his job, and I might have been wishing he could be on the other end of what he was doing, and..."

"And you think it all came together." her father finished for her.

Head lowered, she squeaked out. "Yes."

"What will happen to him?"

"Um ... if it's what I think, he'll probably be kinda like the twins. A furry young girl. And no powers."

"How young?" her mother asked, gently.

"Like, maybe, 12 or 13. Middle school age. Early middle school."

"Why that age?"

"I thought about him facing an unfair Dean, as a young and helpless girl. No Deans in elementary school."

"I guess that makes sense." she conceded. "You think Dr. Miller knows all that?"

"Maybe not about the Dean. But the Pope Hill thing, we think so. She must have found out something when we did it yesterday."

"Yesterday?" her mother asked, in her patented Disappointed voice. "When you knew she was still around?"

"We checked. She was still busy with the police, after she caught the guy who tried to shoot me."

"WHAT?!" Her mother's reaction reminded her that she had forgotten to mention the incident at the theater.

Angel tried making light of it. "Oh, didn't I mention that?" She immediately saw that had been a big mistake.

"No, you most certainly did not mention that."

"It's ok. She caught him. She's some kind of super powerful elemental herself. Something I've never seen."

"And how many times have you been shot at, that you haven't told us about?" her mother demanded.

"The other time doesn't count. It was just a tranq dart and..." she trailed off as she saw her parents' faces. Where was a mad bomber when you needed one?

"Um ... that group they captured yesterday, the ones on the news? They were the same ones that tried to grab me a couple of days ago. The people we were talking about being a kidnapping threat, remember? Our team and the ASA guys..."

"Wait a minute. ASA guys?" her father interrupted.

"Lena says they're some sort of secret international agency or something. Kind of like Interpol I guess. Anyhow, the ASA guys saw me go down after I was hit..."

"You were HIT?!" her mother practically shouted.

"Let her finish, dear."

"I don't know how much more I can take."

"She's here, safe and sound. Keep that in mind while we listen. Go ahead, Angel."

"Um, when the tranq dart hit me, I did the bee sting thing and kept anything from affecting me. but I went down, like it had. The ASA guy was a few steps away, in smart camo. When he saw me go down, he grabbed me..." her mother took a breath, as though to interrupt again, but her father held up his hand, then gestured for Angel to continue.

After she finished describing the events, the table was silent. She suddenly remembered the food in front of her, and tried to fill the awkward silence with bites of her now cold food and drinks of somewhat warm milk.

Her father got up, refilled his coffee cup and his wife's, then took them into the living room. A moment later, he walked back in and handed one to Angel's stricken mother. A sip of the coffee seemed to bring her back to life.

"And..." she began, "And that thing at the Streights' house?"

"Totally unrelated." Angel assured them. "Just some guy mad at Mr. Streight for a legal thing."

They nodded at that. Then her father asked "Anything else you haven't told us?"

"Yes. But nothing dangerous or anything. At least, I don't think so. The rest is stuff that is secret because of other people. It's not my stuff to tell. Anyone."

"So..." Her father switched gears. "Who else knows about this power of yours?"

"Our team, obviously. Maybe Dr. Miller. Mrs. Tabor found out accidentally."

"How?"

"I can't say. One of those Other Peoples' Secrets things. Let's see ... um ... you two, and I think that's it. Oh, Janey and David might have guessed."

After another moment of near silence, filled with Angel eating cold breakfast and her parents drinking flammable coffee, her mother said "I think we should go to that meeting with you."

"I don't think that's a good idea. When we talked about it, David had the same idea about his father. We decided it would be easier without. And if you are needed, Robin can flit you there in an instant."

Her mother concentrated for a moment. "Lena says the same thing. And that she can fill us in, if necessary."

After another interminable pause, her mother asked "Why didn't you tell us all this before?"

"You were already so worried, and there was so much going on, and there were the things I can't talk about ... it just seemed like the right thing to do. I'm sorry." she ended, miserably.

She found herself engulfed in hugs from both sides.

"We just worry, Angel. As I said before, it's in the job description. I understand there are things you can't tell us, about the spa and the theater, and maybe some other things. But I don't want you to hesitate to tell us the other things." She gave a little laugh. "Ok, there will always be things you don't want to share with your poor old parents, but I mean the important things. I would really rather find out about something dangerous from you than see it on the tube. Or hear about it around the office."

They put the dishes in the sink, and moved into the living room. Angel's father wordlessly handed her the comics and the sports section, her traditional Sunday favorites. She asked for the news section, and got it as well.

The paper didn't say much more than the news had about the busted ring. Or the death of Officer John. After going through the section, she settled in with the comics.

David gave them the all clear. Dr. Miller was alone, and there weren't any traps he could see. Lena agreed, saying that the Doctor was the only one in the area she couldn't read, and nobody else was paying attention to the picnic area.

Robin decided to conserve her energy, in case of some necessary action, so the four of them walked up to the tables from their nearby hiding place, while Penny remained behind. The doctor's greeting was friendly, if a little smug. She offered them some pizza and soft drinks, which Angel pronounced safe.

Then they got down to business. Dr. Miller had her equipment project a complex, three dimensional graph. "Do any of you know what this is?"

Fighting down urges toward wise ass remarks, they silently shook their heads.

"Each of you, when you use your powers, has a unique signature. An energy fingerprint." She picked up a familiar box, and casually pointed it toward Lena as she spoke. "When I spoke with each of you, this recorded that energy fingerprint for each of you." She glanced at the box. Then at Lena. "Everyone but you. This graph shows matches for all four of you, including the pattern I just got from you." she indicated Lena. "According to this, you were all using your powers yesterday, focused on an area near here. In fact, right by the Pope Hill marker."