Madeline felt sluggish, and worse than that, she felt foolish. A psychic who lost control was a dangerous thing, and she’d probably caused quite a stir in the mall with all that ambient emotion. It made her think about what Maria said, about anti-psi folk growing in the area, and she worried she may have gotten their attention, but she tried to relax herself with some simple breathing exercises.

They got in the elevator to go up to the third level, and Madeline relaxed against the wall as Anna checked her bags to make sure they had everything.

Her aunt had, for as long as Madeline knew her, been mistrustful of psychics, even with a daughter as pro-psionics as one could get. She was never very vocal about it to Madeline, but she’d heard her thoughts second-hand from Taz, who was the one asking the woman to go to PA, or to get other lessons.

“Auntie?” Madeline asked gently, and Anna looked her way.

“Yes dear?”

“Does me being a psychic bother you?” She asked, and Anna’s expression changed to one of surprise.

“I don’t—where is this coming from, Maddy?”

“You don’t like Phoenix Academy, you think practicing psionics is a waste of time, you were super uncomfortable at the convention and looked ready to take everyone’s heads off…” Madeline murmured. “Do you hate psychics?”

Anna stared at her for a while, the elevator doors closing and leaving them alone in a tiny little room. The nerves in the elevator were almost palpable; Madeline didn’t need to remove her privacy band to feel that.

“I don’t trust psychics.” Anna finally answered, looking away, as if ashamed to say it.

“Why, though?” Madeline asked frustratedly. “Between me, dad, grandpa, Taz, why?”

Anna opened her mouth to say something, hesitated, then closed her mouth to think for a moment before she answered. “Maddy, I trust you and the entire Cole family more than I trust anyone else. I know your mother, I trust her to raise you to be a good person. I know your father and grandfather did just as good as she did. I did everything I could to try and make Tasha a good person too.”

“What is it about psionics you don’t like, though?” Madeline demanded, making Anna’s cheek twitch in agitation. “We’re struggling without support from people like you, you know that? You saying you don’t trust us just fuels the guys who actually hate us!”

“Don’t you dare lump me in with people who want you dead.” Anna snapped, though her face showed more hurt than anger.

“Then why don’t you trust psychics?!”

“Look at the past century, Madeline!” Anna answered, heat pouring out of her lungs as she spoke. “I told you about the Brain Scythe, but it’s not just them. There are very harmful, very evil psychics out there; this Brain Scythe group proves that.”

“But what about the rest of us who aren’t them? I mean, how many dictators and serial killers are out there who don’t need psychic powers to kill people?”

“You act like I like normal people more than psychics.” Anna said dryly. Madeline wanted to say something, but she quietly had to concede the point. “Psychics, better than anyone else, can take away your control.” Anna answered, folding her hands in front of her chest and giving a loud sigh. “They can make you feel angry enough to hurt someone you love. They can burn your house down without incriminating evidence. They can make you kill somebody on their behalf and suffer all the punishment.”

“But… most people—”

“Most people aren’t you, Madeline.” Anna interrupted her. “Even a weak psychic having a bad day can impose that on another person and not leave a trace of their wrongdoings. Yes, I know, a regular human with a knife could have a bad day too, but it’s so much harder to heal a brain, so much easier to find a man with blood on his hands; a psychic is always armed with a weapon, even if most won’t acknowledge that...” Anna trailed off, frowning at Madeline. “Your powers, Maddy… you would never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it, but I can’t trust anyone else to be as controlled as you are.”

“Not even Taz?” Madeline asked in a bitter tone.

Anna gave her niece a look. Madeline immediately felt all the skin up her back begin to crawl, and she suddenly wanted to scale the wall to get away from her aunt. It wasn’t the sickly sweet smile that promised a harsh, but harmless revenge, it wasn’t a disappointed frown, or a look of parental anger restrained by parental love…

For a moment, Anna’s expression was pure, pitch black loathing directed at Madeline. For what? For calling her out? For questioning her love of her daughter?

But then, Anna’s expression softened to that restrained parental anger, and she gave Madeline a sigh. “Tasha is a great many things, and restrained is not one of them. She won’t hurt anyone intentionally, but she will spend her whole life chasing mastery in these powers, only to find out she can’t do anything with them but teach at PA.”

“What do you want out of her?” Madeline asked with an edge of nervousness in her voice. “I mean, what if that’s what she wants?”

“Then, at the end of the day, I can’t stop her.” Anna said with soft defeat in her tone. “But, I can at least try and make her want more out of life. Pursue that artistic side of hers, something that won’t have people on their tiptoes, reaching for a weapon whenever she shows off. I just want her to be safe.” And, then, Anna gave Madeline a flat look. “And you too, for that matter. Scared the hell out of me back there, and now you’re grilling me over psionics? You’re lucky we’re still shopping when we get back into town, or I’d probably still be mad enough to complain to your mother.”

Madeline groaned, rubbing her forehead as the elevator doors dinged open, and the two slowly exited in an uncomfortable silence. “Sorry, auntie. I just… I dunno, that girl in MacGuffin’s was talking about how humans are just holding us back, and how Tucson isn’t safe, and it just got me worked up.”

Anna gave her niece a much softer, worried look, and shook her head. “If it’s any consolation, I sure as hell don’t want psychics dead for no reason; least of all you and Tasha. You are my darling niece,” Anna said, her voice lifting, as was her hand as she pinched Madeline’s cheek, “so talented, and so beautiful; I would stop the world for you.” Anna smiled.

Madeline, meekly, returned it, feeling a little warmer in her chest, but still a bit groggy. “Yes auntie, thank you.”

“Good girl.” Anna chuckled, and the two made their way to the little blue Outback that drove them there.

They set their bags in the trunk, shut it tight, and Anna moved around towards the driver’s seat with her keys in hand when she suddenly cried out in surprise. Madeline swiftly whirled on her feet to stare at her aunt, nursing her hand and then turning her head to stare at the college-aged boy fumbling with the car’s keys before turning with a bright grin, and giving a triumphant laugh as he tossed them some ten feet away into the hands of another, similarly aged guy walking up, flanked by another boy.

Madeline’s shoulders stiffened as the pack of younger teenage boys sprinted up, all grinning between themselves, all looking puffed up and proud as they formed a small, loose-knit half-circle around the girls, the guy with the keys spinning them around his finger.

Her hands immediately reached up towards her privacy band, but the guy holding the keys, in his big, dark jacket, locked eyes with her, held his hands up, and shook his head with wide eyes.

“Whoa whoa whoa, you don’t wanna do that!” He told her in a tone full of forced pleading. “Don’t you know what they’ll do to you if you use your psychic powers to defend yourself?!”

Madeline paused, her eyes bouncing from one boy to another, the three older ones grinning at one another.

“Give me back my keys.” Anna ordered, but the boys weren’t even looking her way.

“City ordinance, big head!” Another guy with spiked up hair and a sharp little goatee said. “Using psychic powers for self-defense is against the law.”

“Not that you need to worry about defending yourself, we don’t wanna hurt you!” The third said, fatter than the other two, with a full, chinstrap beard and black hair.

“Yeah, we don’t wanna hurt you!” One of the younger boys repeated, the lot of them giggling. Madeline glared at them; they might have been Taz’s age, but it wasn’t as cute when they were staring at her so lecherously.

“My keys.” Anna snarled.

The leader of the group finally seemed to notice her, and gave her an exaggerated pout as he dangled the keys off his middle finger. “We just wanted to talk to your daughter, lady! Chill!”

“You can talk to me, ma’am!” The chubby one grinned.

“Look at her…” One of the boys whispered.

“Maybe if she can convince us!” Another one whispered back, drawing some curious guffaws and reddened cheeks that only made Anna’s expression tighten.

“Guys, guys, we’re getting off track.” The leader calmed them down with a wave of his hands, taking a deliberate step towards Madeline. That skin-crawling feeling ran up her back again, her hands moving up to her band, but the guy held out his hand again. “Hey hey hey, you remember what we said? You can’t use your powers! Heck, you don’t wanna use your powers; we’re allowed to defend ourselves if we think we’re being threatened by a psychic.”

“Then fuck off!” Madeline barked, her nerves too frazzled for her to come up with anything more clever or logical. The guy simply gave her a grin and made a motion with his arms that made his jacket flip open a bit, the glint of something metal shining in the shadows underneath, and alarm bells screamed in Madeline’s head as she reached up to grab her privacy band, only for a hand to slam her arm into the side of the Outback, and the guy stood over her, staring down at her, grinning cruelly as he stared down at her.

He was… heavy. He pressed against her, his eyes wide, almost buggy up this close, his hot breath brushing her face and leaving Madeline flailing her arm uselessly. She tried to pull her band off one-handed, but his fingers pressed up on the device, his greasy palm brushing against her cheek, making her whimper.

“We’re trying to keep Tucson psy-freak free, you get that, big head? When those bands come off, anything could happen, so we gotta make sure we keep your kind from causing any… trouble.” He stroked her cheek, and Madeline tried to push back, but the instant her hand flew up to his face, he caught it, twisted it until it hurt to move, and pushed more of himself onto her, grinding his chest against hers, his groin against her thigh.

“Fuck!” A male voice suddenly sounded, and Madeline was briefly relieved of the guy’s attentions when he glanced up in alarm. Madeline tried to think of some way to escape his grasp, when the entire car rocked to the sound of something heavy and meaty slamming against it.

“Hey, stop that bitch!” The guy yelled, and a second hit against the car caused him to straighten up worriedly.

“Get! Her! Off! Me!” Somebody cried, and Madeline recognized it as the fat guy’s voice.

“Let him go!” The jacketed leader ordered, suddenly standing back and giving Madeline breathing room and a chance to squirm away and turn.

“Annie!” She yelled in fright, only barely able to comprehend what she was seeing, but when she did…

A figure slid across the roof of the car, and a foot collided with the leader guy’s face, sending him crashing against the car next to them before collapsing onto the floor on his knees, holding his aching melon, sporting a gash across his cheek from Anna’s short heel.

Madeline stared unblinkingly, the rest of the boys looking stunned, other than the fat boy, who was holding a broken nose, blood pouring down his face.

Anna’s hand dove into the leader’s jacket, and a gun twirled in her hand before her fingers settled against the trigger. The gun’s magazine fell into her open palm, then flew out of the parking garage through the open air above the stone partition, and the chambered bullet popped out with a quick pull of the slide. Madeline, in a panic, scrambled away from her aunt as the woman tossed the emptied gun onto the leader guy’s groin, eliciting a yelp of pain.

She affixed the gaggle of boys with a look Madeline didn’t see, but she could only imagine how chilling it was when they flinched backwards, giving her the time to kneel down next to the leader and pull her keys off his finger. With her back turned, the third guy suddenly found his bravery, and ran forward with a yell.

Anna, crouched down, stared up at the charging boy and rose suddenly, her fist striking his jaw and sending him reeling back, his yell turning to a strangled whimper before he hit the floor.

Madeline had her fingers in her hair, unable to move or think, numb to everything, barely remembering she could act, or even yell when she saw the leader guy stir, and kick his leg out into the back Anna’s knee, making her buckle down into a crouch as he scrambled to leap onto her back.

Big as he was, Anna should have folded under his weight, but she threw her head back, cracking against his face and busting his nose, blood spilling across her blonde hair as his grip loosened. She tossed him into the rear tire of her car and stood as the fat one barreled his way over, stepping over his friends as he glared and howled a battle cry.

Anna lunged forward, pushing between his legs and out the other side, forcing him to stumble to avoid crashing down onto the leader guy, and when Anna stood up straight, she found herself face to face with the third guy, his eyes unfocused, maybe a little concussed, which may have been why his right hook was sloppy enough for Anna to step away from, pressing against the back of her car to launch a kick into his stomach that sent him stumbling back through the line of younger boys and land on the pavement with an inglorious squeak of pain.

She straightened herself, turning her glare on the two boys standing up between her and Madeline, both of them glaring at her, trying to straighten up despite their bruises and broken noses. The leader swiftly turned his head towards Madeline, and a blood-soaked grin spread across his face.

Madeline gasped as he straightened up, arm extended towards her, but his lurch forward was interrupted by another battle cry.

“Leave my brother alone!” The younger boy in the black trench coat suddenly flew forward, pulling a hunting knife from somewhere in the coat. He sprinted at a bewildered Anna, swinging the knife with all of his might, and giving a shriek of pain as his arm was suddenly twisted behind his back, then a breathless gasp as he was slammed against the car.

Anna tore the knife out of his fingers, and the leader guy froze in shock as the younger boy was pulled up to his feet, and the knife’s edge was pressed to his throat.

The confrontation suddenly went cold. Nobody moved, nobody said a word, all eyes were on Anna as the knife tickled against the teen boy’s Adam's apple. His eyes were wide, and rapid breaths began to escape him as he stared at the leader guy.

“H-hey.” The guy said, pointing at Anna and the boy. “Hey, you let him go. Alright you crazy bitch? He’s just a little kid, so let him go! Or… or…”

“You will do nothing.” Anna enunciated every word like she was spitting daggers at him, her eyes boring straight through him. “You touch the girl, I cut his throat. Anyone tries to attack me, I cut his throat. You do anything but gather yourselves and walk away, I cut his throat.” Her voice was almost clinical, if it wasn’t so lethal.

“Y-you wouldn’t.” The guy told her, almost daring him with his intent eyes, but any confidence he had in his statement disappeared when the tip of the blade suddenly sank into the boy’s clavicle.

His scream echoed from Anna’s grip, writhing and thrashing as she held the knife against his naked flesh, blood beginning to gather and spill down his chest before, after several, agonizing seconds, she pressed the knife to his neck again, leaving him gasping and sobbing.

“Auntie…” Madeline’s shivering voice piped up. “Auntie, th-that’s too far…”

Anna glanced her way, staring at her terrified niece, then back at the boy that had threatened her. Ghastly images danced in her mind, imaginations of what would have happened if she wasn’t here, and she silently firmed herself as stared at the overconfident thug that had cornered her niece.

Slowly, the leader guy glanced back at Madeline, then at Anna, his expression wild with shock and pain. The fat boy stood, staring around in confusion, and the leader knocked the back of his head with his hand.

“Ow, dude—”

“Shut up.” The leader said in a desperate tone. “Just shut up and go.”

“But—” The bigger guy tried to say, only for the leader to push him.

“Shut up and get the fuck away! Go!” He demanded.

The fat boy stared back over his shoulder stupidly, then at Anna. His eyes bulged out of his head, and his leader had to push him towards the gathered boys, who had backed away and were looking between each other for an idea of what to do.

“Okay.” The leader said, sidling his way out from between the cars, Anna turning with him, her grip ever firm on the younger boy and his knife. “Okay, see? We’re going. L-let him go.”

Anna stared at him, shaking her head. “Further.” She ordered.

He stepped back a few more steps, towards the rest of his little gang, everyone watching.

The boy in Anna’s grip was shoved forward, grasping his untouched throat and looking ready to break out into tears as the leader grabbed him in a hug and moved him behind him. He glanced back at Anna, his expression deadly, vengeance clearly on his mind, but his will collapsed under the weight of her ice cold glare, and he started to stumble away towards the exit.

“Dude, she has my gun!”

“Shut the fuck up and LEAVE!” He shouted, and the gang quickly skittered after him, leaving trails of blood behind them, the boy’s whimpers following their every step.

They fled out of sight down the stairwell, and finally, Anna moved.

Slowly, deliberately, she moved around her car and picked up the discarded pistol, examining it for a moment.

“Well…” She mumbled out loud. “Aren’t you pretty?” She whispered. The pearl-handled colt 1911 was clearly worth a bit of money, she could only wonder where the thug had gotten it.

She glanced up to see Madeline, squeezed against the partition and the front of the car. Madeline was watching her aunt with big eyes, watery and shaken. She looked as if she could barely stand. She flinched when Anna took a step closer to her, and as the adrenaline faded, Anna seemed to remember what had happened.

Glancing down at the weapons in her hands, Anna moved to the back of the car and put them in the trunk. With her hands free, she slowly walked her way around to her niece, though Madeline drew back as she came closer.

She didn’t run, but she recoiled when her aunt touched her shoulders, and sobbed when she was dragged into a tight hug.

It didn’t feel warm, it felt cold, and clammy, even if she recognized the scent and the feel of Anna’s shoulder as she wept. She still felt the creep’s hands on her face, the weight of his body against hers.

She felt a hand move up behind her privacy band and peel it off her head, and Anna lifted her chin, and pressed her forehead to Madeline’s.

The younger girl wept, but face to face with her aunt, Anna eased her own breathing, and a feeling of calmness escaped her and filled Madeline. Ambient relief tingled up and down Madeline’s back, letting her muscles loosen, letting her cry with less restraint, letting her feel miserable but safe in her aunt’s arms.

It was such a mom thing to do. Parents of psychic children were taught to bring their children close and just radiate calmness, letting the child’s unrestrained telepathy pick up on it and ease their tantrums and fears. Madeline felt immature having a trick for babies used on her, but at the same time, the relief that washed through her eventually let her return the hug, whimpering her thanks as Anna rocked her back and forth.

The drive home had been quiet for the most part. Madeline assumed her aunt wasn’t in the mood to go shopping anymore, but neither was she.

The car smelled a little like blood. It was still in Anna’s hair, but Anna looked alright otherwise. Madeline probably felt that she was in worse condition than the woman that had saved her, and that only made her feel more revolted in herself.

She stared ahead at the open Arizona plains, taking in the late afternoon sunlight, feeling miserable, feeling a hand squeezing her knee comfortingly. She stared down at her aunt’s fingers, and winced as she saw the woman’s knuckles were scraped and bloodied from when she’d slugged one of them.

It was hard to form words at first. She felt queasy, like any shift in her breath might upset her stomach, but she had to say something.

“Annie?”

“Yes, Maddy?” Anna asked, her voice as gentle and matronly as ever.

“Are you okay?”

“Just fine, honey. Are you?” She asked, briefly glancing her way. They hadn’t spoken a word in almost forty-five minutes since they’d left Tucson.

“Still kinda freaked out.” Madeline admitted, feeling ghastly. “I let you fight those boys alone…”

“I did okay, I think.” Anna shrugged the tiniest bit, the barest hint of a smile crossing her face.

“Way better than okay, you manhandled those guys.” Madeline said, blinking in realization at just how true that was. “When did you learn to do that?”

Anna chuckled calmingly, squeezing Madeline’s knee. “I’ve been taking self-defense courses while you and Tasha have been at school.” Anna gave Madeline a bit of a knowing look. “I may not be the young lady I once was, but I like to think I’ve kept my looks. A single lady with a face like mine needs to be ready to defend herself.”

“Maybe I should do the same.” Madeline mumbled, and Anna nodded.

“You should have used your powers.”

“But then we would be arrested, like those guys said.”

After a moment, Anna nodded. “You’re right. You did the right thing in letting them almost rape you.”

Madeline tensed up, giving her aunt a concerned look, but Anna’s expression was no longer smiling. She kept her eyes on the road, but her lips were tight, her shoulders raised.

Anna gruffly continued. “Sexual assault is way better than paying a fine, or jail time.”

Madeline buried her face into her hand, and groaned. “Okay, I get it, you’re right… but doesn’t that just prove their whole anti-psi philosophy right if I use my powers on them?”

“Yes.” Anna answered honestly. “If you use your powers to defend yourself, they would have felt justified in their beliefs that you are dangerous. If you don’t use your powers to defend yourself, then they would have done horrible things to you, and would have left confident they could do it again and again, believing your fear of the law protects them.”

Madeline stared at her aunt in silent surprise, and Anna moved her hand from Madeline’s knee to her cheek.

“There’s no way to win against these people morally. If you take the high ground, they would have hurt you. If you fight back, they’ll tell stories about how dangerous you are. The best thing to do is protect yourself, nothing you would have done would have made them better people.”

“What’ll they do now?” Madeline asked, massaging her own temples as her overwhelmed emotions created a dull ache.

“Likely lie and say that it was you who hurt them.” Anna shrugged, and Madeline gave her a confused look.

“You think?”

“What else will they say? Admit they lost a fight to an unarmed middle-aged woman?” Anna asked, wearing another wry smile. “You listened to them, Maddy, they were all balls and pride. I cut off their balls, so they have to cling to their pride somehow.”

Madeline gave a short, amused laugh, but then sank into her seat, watching her aunt with idle eyes. She was the victim, and she was likely to be demonized as the psionic monster that beat up a group of thugs. The irony was more bitter than black coffee, and she kind of wished she could go back and make that statement true.

“Auntie…” She murmured, trailing off as she stared ahead at the road. “I—… I gotta ask.” Madeline sucked in a deep breath, replaying the events in her mind. “That-that kid, the one who you had the knife at—” she pressed her finger to her throat as the words struggled to manifest. “... Would you… have…?”

Anna was quiet for too long of a time. She stared ahead, her expressionless face eyeing the cars in her side mirrors as she took the exit lane towards Petersburg, and her hand pulled from Madeline’s body to settle on the wheel in a bit too tight of a grip.

“If any of those boys had tried to hurt you, I would have.” She finally answered.

Madeline sat there, quiet. She didn’t know what answer she’d expected, but the image of her beloved aunt coldly set to kill a kid lingered. Her expression had been anything but joking or hesitating; even in hindsight, Madeline had known the answer.

“That scares me, Annie.” Madeline admitted, frowning at the woman, and Anna just gave a slow nod.

“When you go to war with extremists, they will justify their use of any tactic they can think of to get an advantage over an enemy.” Anna spoke clinically, her posture casual, though she refused to look at her niece. “They’ll manipulate children into their ranks, give them guns and bombs, and send them to kill people. A child with a knife isn’t as dangerous as a full grown man, but they rely on you hesitating. You’re dead if you don’t pull the trigger, you’re a monster if you do. It’s a Catch 22, and no matter what you do, the extremist believes they’ve won.”

Survival or morality. It wasn’t a debate Madeline had ever had to choose, but it was also one that had never crossed her mind. She stared over at her aunt, driving along, looking quiet, looking at ease, but she saw those piercing blue eyes waver a moment, and Madeline quietly straightened up.

“Have you had to kill a kid before?” Madeline finally asked, her voice shaking.

She didn’t know what to expect of her aunt. She’d always made idle threats, but that’s all they were: idle. So she loathed to hear her say the word—

“Yes.”

“To protect yourself?”

“Yes.”

Madeline laid back in her chair, feeling a little numb. “I’m sorry.”

“It was before you were born, love. You have nothing to feel sorry for.” Anna took Madeline’s hand and squeezed it. Madeline squeezed back, feeling her aunt’s blood dripping from her knuckles into her palm, and Madeline breathed deeply.

“Thanks for saving me, Auntie.” Madeline said, for the first time really meaning it, even as her mind was dull and greyed by the information it was processing.

“Anytime, Maddy. I’d stop the world for you.” Anna repeated gently, giving her a small, gentle smile, and Madeline felt safer, if only because she began to suspect Anna wasn’t lying.

Madeline breathed deeply and loudly, and closed her eyes. She wanted to get home, and tell her mother that her aunt had saved her life. She decided she’d skip a few details here and there, Anna deserved more than the nitty gritty details. At least, that’s what Madeline assumed.

She wanted to go see Taz, more than anything, though. Quietly, she brooded on her aunt’s protective streak, her idea of a mother-daughter bonding activity, and wondered how much she had done to protect her daughter.