Chapter 13

As the morning wore on, the snowfall started to slack off. By late morning, it was light enough that the neighborhood children were out playing in it.

Of course, there are children and then there are children. Rose was startled by a knock at the door. Even with her MORFS augmented hearing, he hadn't heard anyone walking up to it. The mystery was solved a moment later, when she caught a glimpse of a familiar form standing on her front porch.

"Hi, Robin!" she greeted the 'porter as she opened the door to let her in. She was even more surprised when Lena, David, and Angel followed her in. After they exchanged greetings with Rose and her family, they invited the sisters to join them for some traditional snow day fun outside.

They didn't have to ask twice. Rose quickly changed into her snow clothes and beat Tara back downstairs by about 5 endless seconds. With much noise and hand waving, they all trooped outside.

All but Lena.

We need to talk. She "said" to Rose's parents. And I don't want Rose to hear what I'm going to say. The others will keep her too busy to worry about where I am or what we might be discussing, so feel free to talk normally.

"What's this all about?" Rose's mother asked, more puzzled than anything.

You two are heading for a very big fall, and all of you are in danger. Again.

She waited a moment for their mental chaos to subside, then went on. How old is Rose?

"Thirteen. You know that - you were here for her party." her mother indignantly replied.

And since that party, have you seen her interact with her peers?

"We've seen her with you and your friends, and she seems to be doing just fine."

That's just it. We're not her peers. While a few years' difference in age is all but meaningless to you, it is critical at her age. And not much less so at our ages. She sensed their urge to interrupt, and disrupted it before she continued.

At school, she faced down a girl who was at the top of the school social order - a girl who used to intimidate her by just looking at her. she went on. She slapped her down like a vaguely annoying 8 year old, and didn't even notice she was doing it. She has no sense of connection with her school, or with the other students. Since her change, she has been spending her time with older teens and adults and doing so as a peer. And you've been encouraging it.

Sit! Down! Now! While her powers couldn't really control them, her mental "tone of voice" was enough to startle them into obedience. Almost.

"What's wrong with that?" Rose's mother demanded. "She's acting maturely for her age - better than Tara was at that age, and she was better than most."

Exactly. She was acting Lena put extra emphasis on that word like someone older and more mature. But she isn't. She's 13 years old and went through MORFS. Everything about her has changed and will continue to change for some time. Her body, her brain, her social situation, and especially her hormones ... they all are doing things she has never experienced before. And on top of that, she has been in the middle of things nobody should experience. Especially anyone that young.

They still didn't get it. Think about it. She is a 13 year old who is getting used to the privileges and power of an adult. Of a well placed adult. But she is going through everything Tara did and more. When you get into it with her, when her hormones drive her to the emotional states Tara went through, do you really want to be facing someone with exceptional abilities and an illusion of adulthood? Someone who is so dissociated from her peers that she doesn't really see that they are going through most of the same drama and finding ways to cope with it?

The man of the house finally jumped in. "What do you suggest we do?"

Remember Tara's thirteens. Be prepared for what you know perfectly well is coming. Treat her like the talented young teen she is, but prepare for the inevitable. And remember one thing: she can spot a lie a mile off. Even a well intentioned one like "it will be fine, you'll see" or the like. Protect her like the daughter you know and love...

She went "silent" for a moment, then Shit!

"What?" they both asked.

Aloud, she said "More trouble. I'm calling them in."

Seconds later, five snow covered figures came laughing through the door.

Lena faced them. "Cassandragram." was all she had to say. The group sobered up immediately.

While they quickly shed their snow covered outer clothes, Lena was in full Radar mode. While she gathered more information from Cassandra, she started "looking" around the nearby streets and yards. Once they were done, she turned a part of her attention to them.

"Another attack on your family is coming soon ... I think." She told them, while keeping up her mental conversation with Cassandra and scanning the area. "Two men from Japan are, or were, at the airport. One of them had a brief malfunction of his shield, due to a bored traveler. In that time, brief images came out - something about taking you two," she indicated Rose and her father, "and finding out what you had to do with the destruction of their organization. They're supposed to be meeting with two others, who are already in place."

David spoke up. "Why the 'I think' part?"

"Cassandra says it doesn't feel right," Radar replied. "She feels like something is missing. Something vital. And she doesn't have a sense of when it would happen."

Radar was so focused on her "conversation" with Cassandra and with her scan of the neighborhood that she was as blindsided as everyone else by the response.

"NOOOOO!" Rose shrieked. "No! It's not FAIR!" As the tears started flowing from her eyes, she turned from one to another of her older friends. "Make it stop! It's too much! It's not fair! Make it stop!" She threw herself into her mother's lap, sobbing into her shoulder "Make it go away. I don't want it anymore," came the muffled complaint.

Her mother automatically wrapped her arms around her shaking daughter. She looked from face to face of the others there, clearly out of her depth. Finding no help there, she drew on her "mommy wisdom" and gently said exactly the wrong thing.

"It'll be ok." she murmured. "Everything will be ok."

Rose jerked upright, like she'd been slapped. "NO IT WON'T" she shouted in her mother's face, then all but jumped to her feet. "Nothing will be ok! You don't get it. They'll keep coming and coming until they kill you. Until they kill all of us! and it's all because of me!" She turned and ran up the stairs to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Eyes wide with fear, her mother turned to Radar. The teen nodded her understanding, then reassured her.

"I'll make sure she doesn't do anything foolish, and help her wind down safely. Too much of a change would hurt more than help right now. She needs to cry it out."

For the first time since Rose's reaction started, her father spoke up. "But what about... ?"

"David can keep an eye on the perimeter, and Robin can back him up. All of you'll be safe enough. But right now, she's got to be my first priority." She sat back and closed her eyes, effectively blocking off any more conversation.

After a moment, Tara got up. Radar opened her eyes and nodded at her. "Go ahead and try." Radar told her. "It might help."

Tara went up to Rose's door and gently knocked.

"Go away!" came the muffled reply.

"It's me ... Tara. Please let me in."

There was a moment of silence, then the door cracked open. Tara slipped in and closed the door behind her. Wordlessly, she wrapped her little sister in a hug which was slowly returned. After a moment, they sank to the bed, still wrapped in each other's embrace.

For what seemed like days, Tara hugged her sister and let her cry herself out. Finally, her sobs wound down and her breathing deepened. After she felt her body relax, she lowered her the rest of the way. She lifted Rose's feet, removing her shoes, and straightened her out. After loosely covering her with a blanket and giving her one more gentle hug, Tara slipped out of the room and downstairs.

Radar and David, drink cans in hand, gave the impression of looking around the room. Robin was talking quietly with Tara's mother on the sofa. Her father was not in the room, but the door to his office was open. She joined her mother, quietly leaning up against her.

"She's asleep" Tara explained, then let them go back to their conversation. As they talked, she took quiet comfort in her mother's soft warmth.

Lena took no pleasure in being right. Instead, she was annoyed that she had not been able to prepare them earlier. But they should have known better. Rose was thirteen, for crying out loud.

After a fruitless hour of scanning the area, Radar noticed something odd. A car was driving down the street, but it didn't seem to have anyone in it. She called David's attention to it, and he saw almost the same thing. When he concentrated, he could tell that there were two men in the car ... barely.

They had heard about very high end shields which could completely cloak a person from their enhanced perceptions, but they had never encountered them (as far as they knew). They alerted Robin, who got back into her snow things and ready to jump as needed.

When the car pulled up in front of one of the rental houses down the street, Robin did one of her patented invisible flits to a spot nearby where she could see what was going on without standing in the snow (and giving away her location). Two men in expensive looking suits got out of the car and walked to the door. One of them knocked, but nothing happened. The other pulled out a com, and seemed dissatisfied with the results of his call. He shook his head at the other.

Finally, one of them passed something in front of a concealed sensor plate and the door opened. After a brief glance up and down the street, they went inside. Robin waited until the door closed, then flitted in after them.

While she was relaying her observations to Radar, Radar and the Captain were busy "searching" the house themselves. For the most part, it seemed just a little off without there being anything in particular. There were clothes and shoes belonging to two men (none of them the right sizes for the two from the car), food in the kitchen, the furniture that came with the house, and that was about it. Nothing personal. The sort of place an agent might maintain. Or an assassin.

Or a couple of single traveling salesmen on a short assignment.

The issue seemed to be resolved in one of the bedrooms. Captain Peeper saw it first, then notified Radar and Flit. There, under a dresser, was what looked like a small detonator. Flit quietly made her invisible way to the room, then 'ported the object back to the others.

And then followed it back.

At first excitedly, David gave the device his best Captain Peeper examination. It was a detonator, all right. No doubt about it. The only problem was the dust. It had enough dust on it to make it clear that it had been sitting there before the current renters moved in.

For the rest of the afternoon, David and Robin alternated keeping an eye on the men. And David also alternated with Lena in the process of watching the neighborhood. And learning from her earlier mistake, Lena kept a psychic "ear" on Rose as she slept.

Nerve wracking as it was, the afternoon passed without further incident. Rose eventually woke up, and grumpily rejoined the others. Nobody said anything about her earlier pyrotechnics. Tara had put on the tube, and without being asked she turned it to one of Rose's shows.

With promises to keep watch, Flit sent the other teens home and then followed them.

Late that night, Radar woke Rose for some quick translation. The men, still alone in the house, had gotten a call. Flit was there to listen in, but they were speaking another language. Radar got one side of the phone conversation from Flit, but needed it translated as they went along.

It was fairly short, in Japanese, and mostly consisted of "We haven't made contact," "Yes," "No," and "I understand." Luckily, the one who had been on the phone turned and spoke to the other after finishing the call.

"They are either running or dead. Knowing Nakamura, I would bet on dead. This assignment is not important anymore, and we are to return at once." was her translation of his remarks.

The other acknowledged the remarks, and they quickly removed all traces of their occupancy. And that of the men who had rented the house. They got into the car and left.

They returned the rental car, took a shuttle to the airport, and there the three friends quickly lost them.

"I don't trust this." A tired and frustrated Radar commented. "I just wish I could read them."

"I have an idea about that." Flit answered. "The big problem is their shields, right?"

Everyone agreed, so she went on. "We need to disable one or both of them, but they are self protecting. I can't flit anything in or out of them or reach through intangibly, CP can't transmute anything in them ... in fact, there's nothing we can do at a distance. And we can't really confront them either. Is that about the size of it?"

Again, everyone agreed.

"Their shields aren't force fields - they don't provide physical protection."

CP spoke up, a light sarcasm coloring his voice. "But if we hit them with something strong enough to have a chance of breaking them, I think they'd notice."

Radar elbowed him in the ribs, then nodded for Flit to continue.

"Right. But physical force per se isn't our only option. What if we had a solvent, something that could eat through the case and mess up the electronics?"