"So I got to work with the new guy today," Seb said as he launched himself onto the couch later that night. Well, that was a weird coincidence. He went on, "Actually he got to be quite the hero. They ended up only really needing the two of us for the job, though the others worked perimeters and hostage retrieval after the main work was done."

Forgetting Enigma for a moment, I blinked at him. "Hostages? What on earth happened today?"

"Oh, have you not seen the news?" He looked surprised.

I shook my head. "Lexa was here for a long time, so I thought I'd wait until you were home."

"Well, it was all a bit of a bung-up on the Villains' part. Apparently a couple of them were casing out the art museum, which is supposed to be closed today, but it turns out they were doing a private tour for the museum directors and their families so they surprised these two idiots. One took off, but the other one stayed to trap the people on the tour. He can make some sort of forcefield that holds people suspended, and he seems to be mildly hypnotic. Strong abilities but he looked pretty green when I saw him so I don't know how good at them he is yet. Sounds like they were looking for something in particular, the way he was questioning his hostages. Anyway, the other one who took off managed to trip an alarm, since they only disarmed the rooms they were planning on touring, and that actually helped us figure out how to approach it.

To make a long story short, Enigma can camouflage himself against pretty much anything, so he volunteered to go in and sneak up on the Villain. Shadow might have done as well, with her invisibility, but she can't fly so she might have made a sound that tipped him off. I blasted the alarm system with electricity and disabled the remaining beams so that Enigma didn't hit any of them accidentally the way the other Villain had. It worked like a charm, and Enigma took him out without any injuries or much of a fight really. The Villain was so surprised, his forcefield collapsed right there. Anyway, I bet the new guy will be in the media big time tomorrow. He'll probably be a big hit at the signing on Friday too."

"You're being modest, Superstar, I bet you will too," I playfully pushed his shoulder. "Even if Lexa doesn't appreciate you."

He ignored that, obviously keen to talk more about Enigma. "He seems like a cool guy. We worked together really well, almost instinctively. And I promise, I looked deep into his eyes. I think he might be wearing a filter in the mask to disguise his real eye colour. I don't think he's part robot or anything. Anyway, I'm beat so I'm just gonna veg out here for a bit. I do actually have to meet with Jo for a training session in the morning."

"Alright, Superkid. I'm heading to bed. Glad you're home in one Super piece."

As I closed my eyes to drift off to sleep, I couldn't help but wonder again about the mystery behind Enigma. Which was probably exactly what he wanted; the thought didn't cheer me up any.

The first few days of the week passed quickly and with little action. Things were mercifully quiet on the Supers front, though as Seb had predicted, Enigma was a favourite topic for the news talkshows. Seb, too, was getting more attention as Zeus than he'd expected. He was keeping a low profile, concentrating on his swimming.

On Wednesday morning, I had the morning talkshow on in the background as I made some tea and puttered around the apartment, waiting for Grace to show up and talk shop.

A familiar voice caught my attention, and I turned to find Enigma on the screen. It seemed they'd done an evening taped interview with him and were airing it this morning. I guess he worked during the day just like anyone else. He'd been suave and confident when he'd talked to me, but here he seemed a bit uncomfortable and fidgety, which the woman interviewing him seemed to find charming nonetheless. Perhaps he was right when he said he wasn't so interested in being in the public eye.

Just then, a knock on the door startled me out of my musings. When I opened it, I was even more surprised to see Jackson standing there, alone.

He smiled at me apologetically as I stared. "Hi Kenna. Sorry, I know this must be really weird, but Grace wanted me to tell you that she got caught up with another client, and she was sending me instead to give me some real-world experience, as it were." He was polite enough to stay beyond the threshold, waiting for me to invite him in.

If he hadn't been looking at me, I would have narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Not that it was him I was suspicious of; I just had a pretty good inkling of what game Grace was up to, and I was pretty sure she'd be expecting an irate phone call later today.

At any rate, he was here to work now, so I stepped back and let him in. Normally I would only have home meetings with Grace, since we were such close friends, but I supposed this would be fine.

"Sorry, Jackson, I was just surprised to see you since I'd been expecting Grace. Would you like a cup of tea?" When I turned back with a mug for him, he was watching Enigma's interview with interest.

"Are you a Super follower?" he asked with a teasing smile.

I wrinkled my nose. "Hardly. It just came on while I was doing things."

He laughed. "Okay, sorry. Doesn't seem like he's used to interviews, does it?" He nodded towards the TV.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "I think they said he's new to the team."

Jackson turned back and watched Enigma again. "Maybe he's surprised that anyone wants to talk to him." It was an odd observation.

"Maybe," I murmured noncommittally, holding out his mug. "Here's your tea."

As he reached out to take it from me, our fingers touched briefly and I almost flinched from the jolt that ran up to my elbow. He didn't seem to notice, but I drew back and studied him intently when he turned away yet again to watch the interview. When I really looked for it, something felt different about him; I could sense his energy humming under a mild and calm surface. I wasn't sure what to make of it.

But he was talking now, so I had to pull away from the energy field and be more present. "So Kenna, Grace said you wanted to go over some chapters?" In truth, I'd wanted Grace's opinion in particular, since she knew me and my work so well, but Jackson would have to do.

He surprised me with his insights though, and I ended up getting just the direction that I needed before his time with me was up. As he shook my hand and made to leave, I realised I'd had a nice afternoon. I couldn't help noticing the jolt again though, fainter this time, and I wondered how much more there was to Jackson than met the eye.

"Thanks for letting me do this, Kenna. I appreciate it; I know you probably wanted to see Grace." His smile was apologetic again, understanding, and those strange, amber eyes crinkled at the corners.

"No, you were very helpful. I'll send a glowing report back to your scary boss. Thanks for coming by." I sent him off with a smile of my own, then went over to the window and stared pensively, feeling both happy and inexplicably weary at the same time.

Friday arrived and Seb had a certain buzz of excitement about him. As much as he was in the Super line of duty for the people, I knew he wasn't made of stone and the thrill of being adored by thousands would be hard to resist completely. Today, even more so than usual, they would chant Zeus's name.

I was therefore surprised when it was 4:30 and I hadn't seen him yet. The signing started at 5, and he was supposed to come home to ditch his swim gear and clean up a bit before getting to the convention centre.

By 4:45 I was starting to get a bit worried before he suddenly burst through the door looking thunderous. Pun intended.

"Why the hell did I choose to take the subway today of all days? I should have guessed it'd be clogged with people going to the event. I think a train broke down too." He raged about like a chicken with its head cut off, throwing his things all over. Then he looked at the clock and swore. "I'm never going to make it in time. Ugh, why can't I fly?" His eyes came to rest on me, and it looked like a lightbulb went on over his head. "Kenna ... " he started, taking a step towards me with a pleading, ingratiating look on his face.

What he wanted dawned on me. "Nuh uh, no way." I protested, backing away. "First of all, I'd rather no one sees me doing that. Second of all, the Super signing is pretty much the last place I want to be today. What if Gareth spots me?"

"Pleeeease," he wheedled, "this is an emergency, Kenna. I'll distract Gareth, promise. I really, really need to get there." He pulled out all the stops; clasped hands, puppy dog eyes, pouting face, and I finally broke.

"Ughhhh, fine. FINE. I'll take you to your thing but I do NOT want to stay and chat and if anyone tries to give me their autograph I swear to God I'll scream right there."

"Yesss, thank you! I owe you big time, Ken!" He dashed around and was ready to go in a few minutes. "Gareth said they were going to bring all our kit and have it ready in our dressing rooms, so at least I don't need to worry about that. So if we could get to the private entrance, that'd be great."

"Let's get this over with."

We made our way down to the street, and found a tucked away street with nobody on it. "Alright, Superkid, you know the drill. Give me your hand." I clasped Seb's hand and started to focus on a tall building we could see rising up several blocks away, preparing to tap into a facet of my abilities that I almost never used. I stared at the building, willing it to come to me, feeling the overwhelming pull, and finally, giving into it. The world dematerialised around us, becoming a blur of space all in a rush before we slammed back into the earth in the shadow of the building.

Since we became basically immaterial when we travelled this way, it took a few moments for us to become fully there where we'd arrived, and I took this opportunity to pull us into a sheltered doorway where it wouldn't be so apparent that we'd, well, materialised.

Beside me, Seb shook his head. "You never really get used to that, do you?"

"Well, it feels more natural to me than you, but it's an experience for sure. Get ready, because we've got another trip to go." I poked my head out and spotted the roof of the convention centre about six blocks away. I could see the little grove of trees that grew beside where I knew the private entrance was, and I focussed on bringing them to me once more.

The next thing I knew, we were tangled in branches and leaves. I must have focussed a little too specifically on the trees themselves.

Well, I never said I was perfect.

"Gah, come on Kenna!" Seb complained, clinging to a branch once he'd become a solid form once again.

"You're here, aren't you?" I huffed, carefully extricating myself from the tree's embrace and dropping lightly to the ground. A glance around told me that the only people around were the security guards at the private entrance to the centre. "Come on down, mighty Zeus, God of thunder!" I called up cheekily.

He grumbled, picking his way down. Under the somewhat bemused watch of the guards, he shook the errant leaves off of him. "You got all the cool stuff, Kenna. I wish I could teleport too. Even if I landed in a tree now and then."

I shook my head at him. "You know it's not really teleportation! It's part of the telekinesis. I've explained this a million times! If it were true teleportation, I could just close my eyes and appear anywhere I wanted. I have to see where I'm going, so I can't use it to go all that far at one time, and it's basically just a product of pulling space to me, the same way I can move objects."

"Well, it's better than walking, anyhow. Even if it's not so easy on the insides." He frowned, putting a hand on his stomach.

That made me laugh. "Uh oh, don't throw up all over your adoring fans. Alright well, it's five now, so you'd better run on in!" I gave him a big hug before turning to head out, only to find that the heavy, opaque gates were looking pretty firmly shut. "Um," I called to the guards, "a little help here, guys? I need to get out!"

One of them turned an impassive eye towards me. I had to give them props for barely blinking an eye at two people suddenly dropping out of the trees, but I guess they were security for the Supers after all. His answer, however, was not one that I was prepared to hear.

"Sorry ma'am," he said, using that term least welcome to just about any woman, "but since it's past five and the event has started, the gates are shut for the next hour, no exceptions. No one gets in, no one gets out. It's protection from the fans and from any Villain who might show up." He looked like a truly impossible person to argue with, so I sighed in apparent defeat.

"Fine." I had my trick up my sleeve though. I stared at the wall of the building across the street, willing it to come to me. The pull came and built, but strangely, I found that I couldn't get anywhere. The building was stuck firmly. I whipped around to glare accusingly at the guard. "Why can't I go anywhere?" I demanded.

He'd obviously had enough experience around Supers to know that I wasn't just asking a stupid question that he'd already answered. "Forcefield is up which blocks any transportation out." He answered simply.

By now, Seb, who'd waited to see me off, was looking extremely agitated once more. "Kenna, I have to go in," he pleaded. "Why don't you just come in with me? There's a big green room where we go to relax. I'm sure there's a nook in there that you can hide in, plus there's free food, which I know you love. It's better than hanging out here for an hour."

I considered, glancing between each of the guards. They looked stonily back at me. "Boy, this day just keeps getting better. Kenna Jones at a Super signing; don't tell Lexa, or she might faint. Alright, take me to the food, and then you can leave me to the wolves, but remember how BIG TIME you owe me now."

He looked distinctly relieved. "Deal." He passed an ID card to the guards, who inspected it before nodding at him. They looked at me again.

"Where's her Super card?" This was the first guard, who appeared to be the chattier of the two.

"'She' is right here and can speak for herself, you know," I said snippily.

"Kenna," Sebastien warned in a low tone. "She's not technically a Super, but she's my sister."

"Yeah, alright," the guard conceded, giving me a look of distaste.

Super events were so charming.

"Well, he was a delight," I said sarcastically once we were inside.

Seb rolled his eyes. He'd slipped on his mask now, which was the only part of his kit he'd brought, so that he was already a little bit anonymous. "He was just doing his job."

"Yeah, yeah, but he could have been more polite about it."

"Yes, well, that is true. Anyway, there's the green room through that door. Food should be inside. We come and go onstage and signing in shifts so there is usually food throughout the event waiting. I'm going to change now; don't cause too much trouble."

I fluttered innocent eyes. "When have I ever? Just don't tell Gareth I'm here."

He grinned. "Cross my heart. Bye, Ken."

I waggled my fingers. "Don't keep your adoring fans waiting, Zeus!"

Once he'd gone, I let myself into the green room. As promised, a spread of quite delicious food was laid out, and the room was mercifully deserted. I stretched out my hand where I stood, and a sandwich floated from the pile and into my waiting palm. I flicked a glance over to where the beverages sat, and a cup of what looked like cranberry juice made it's own way over to me.

Satisfied, I settled down into one of the armchairs and ate my snack. I stayed this way for about fifteen minutes before I decided I was still hungry. Repeating the process, but with a different sandwich, I stood and looked around the room while I nibbled. I spotted a radio in the corner, and switched it on. In a delightful twist of fate, one of my favourite songs was playing so I started to dance around the room, still holding my sandwich and juice.

A voice even more unwelcome than Gareth's made my blood freeze along with the rest of my body.