@Millisecond

00:00.001:

I want to see if I can run up a wall, but I’m worried I might accidentally run into the sky. I could use a safety net. Figuratively. I’m pretty sure I’d just smash through an actual net. Same goes for parachutes, bungee cords, wing suits, mattresses, etc. Do you think you could help?

Stella:

That sounds crazy, but sure! Come to my dorm so I can anchor you. Oh! I guess you wouldn’t know what that means yet.

My power lets me teleport to anyone I have a connection to. I can make flimsy connections on sight, which is pretty sweet, but those only last a second. It works best when I’ve had a chance to shake hands for a minute to place an anchor. That way I can teleport to you no matter what! I can only maintain a handful of anchors, though.

Come to think of it, I guess you already knew most of this since Niki called me out in front of Miss Arkwright the first time we met. Whoops! Oh well, I guess a refresher doesn’t hurt? I’m glad you guys are part of the team now, though. I guess I could free up an anchor by canceling the one on your girlfriend. Btw, that’s how we got to you so quick after she reported you found Meatcrawl.

Actually, are you two an item? Or am I just being weird? I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m just saying that IF that’s the case, there’s no rules against dating within the team or anything. I know I was a little nervous about that at first.

00:00.001:

This is hard to respond to all at once, but I’ll come on over.

Those anchors you talked about, I might’ve seen them when you teleported me yesterday. I saw a nebula full of stars with spider threads connecting to ‘a handful’ of them. I think the stars represented people. There were also different colors around different locations. Green for the hallway and red for the rooftop, which might indicate heat or maybe danger levels? I saw shadows or something at the destination, but I don’t have details since the whole thing lasted less than a second. Any of that ringing any bells?

And… You’re not being weird. Thanks.

Anyway! Before I accept this anchor of yours, I need to warn you. Unless I tell you to, NEVER teleport to me. No matter what. If your teleportation bestows the same momentum to you as your target, you could hit a wall at Mach 1 before you even have time to blink. Got it?

Stella:

First of all, yikes. I got it. Not that I had any intention of dropping by unannounced. Thanks for the heads up!

Second, your description kinda lines up. I can’t explain it very well, but I have a feel for where I can go. I never collide with people or things. To be honest, those threads sound like my anchors. What I’m most curious about are those stars/people and destinations. I always wondered if I’m really limited to people or not.

When will you be here?

00:00.001:

Just hurry up and take my hand already.

“What?” Stella glanced up from her phone then nearly dropped it in surprise. “Gah!”

A girl with ski goggles and a black tracksuit stood right in front of her, holding out her hand. It must’ve been Milly, but she was out of uniform. Which actually made some sense when Stella thought about it. Milly already experienced one close call with a camera.

Also, Milly looked a little fuzzy and flickering.

It reminded Stella of the sped-up surveillance footage Detective Killjoy made her sit through once instead of just telling her what was on them. Jerk. Anyway, it depicted a bored night guard at his desk for an hour, who much like Milly, hadn’t really been sitting still.

“Right, superspeed,” Stella stated while she took Milly’s hand. Small tremors confirmed her suspicion that Milly was moving at least somewhat. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to interfere with the process of placing the anchor. “So, how exactly did you get in here? The door was locked. Oh! Can you phase through stuff? Like if you vibrate your molecules? That’s how they do it in the comics.”

Milly didn’t reply, which struck Stella as odd. She knew the girl wasn’t shy. Heck, even Terra had a conversation with her just fine less than an hour ago.

“Are you okay? I like your outfit. I always pictured you as a jeans and jacket sorta person, maybe a sundress. Oh, I guess it would defeat the purpose if you’d wear your own clothes. Nevermind. Have you thought about a costume?”

A buzzing in her pocket indicated she’d just received a half dozen messages. That, or she’d accidentally pocketed a bee hive instead of her phone. It turned out to be the first thing, thankfully. All of them from Milly.

“You can’t hear me? Why?” Stella asked as she read through the texts. The futility of the question only dawned a moment later. Thankfully, the text also came with some instructions on how they could communicate. “Right! Sorry. You’re deaf so that was dumb. Annnd I’m still doing it. Great.”

Stella let go of Milly’s hand. She could feel the presence of her new anchor. A piece of familiarity that she couldn’t quite place, but could always find again. Like a candle in a windowsill.

“Okay, let me see what else you’ve sent me, then we’ll get to work!” Stella smiled, then facepalmed. “Again!”

Another buzz from her phone.

“I know. Oh. This one’s from Principal Arkwright.” Stella quickly skimmed the text then knocked hard on the bathroom door. “Terra! Drakedevil is robbing the City Trust Bank! I’ll go there with Ruth and Orchid first then pick you up, Okay?”

Anyone taking a shower would need a moment to get ready; Terra’s issues were just a little more extreme.

“Every freaking time…” Terra groaned while the sound of rushing water came to an abrupt end. “Wasn’t catching the Minutemen supposed to stop these conveniently timed robberies!”

“What if his power isn’t duck, but luck! He—huh, my autocorrect is getting really overzealous here.” Stella looked confused at her screen while it typed out its own reply to Principal Arkwright. “...Terra, good news. You can finish that shower!”

“What?”

“Hi!” Stella craned her neck to look up at the absurdly tall office building she’d just teleported in front of. At a good fifty floors high, she could barely even make out the top even while shielding her eyes from the sun with her hands. “Woah! Are you sure about this?

Milly was nowhere to be seen, which still struck Stella as kinda weird, but she was getting used to it. Sorta like a friendly ghost friend, or letters to Santa! Except the presents came immediately, and instead of letters she had to use this silly phone app that wrote down her voice. Fun!

Her phone dinged with a new text. [Yep! It has to be really tall so you have a few seconds to catch me if I just fall straight down instead of launching into the sky.]

“Hey, it’s your power training!” Stella smiled and took a quick look around. People were giving her some funny looks for talking to herself. A lot like that time she had an imaginary friend for a few months before she kinda lost track of him. “Huh, sure hope I don’t lose track of this one.”

[What?]

“Nothing! So, I just wait till you text me then come pick you up, right?” Stella confirmed one last time while she scrolled through their previous conversation. They’d already practiced to see whether Milly could even send texts from her phone while moving at full speed. Teleporting toward a fast-moving target was easy enough too, but the real trick would be her own response time.

[That’s right. It might not even be an issue.]

Granted, people’s lives often depended on her like that, but it wasn't scary when Ruth was around. Too bad Ruth was busy with a lead from TRACE. Terra wasn’t available for a while either.

“Drat. I hate being alone.” Stella sighed. Maybe that was why her power could only take her to people. She shook her head and held up her phone, staring intently at the screen. “Ready.”

After a few minutes passed where nothing happened, Stella chanced a glance up at the office building. Nothing noteworthy there either.

[Come.]

Stella clutched her phone tight and reached out mentally for the anchor. She felt Milly somewhere above. One quick tug and she teleported to her.

The hustle and bustle of the street was replaced with stiff wind clawing at her face. Rather than being in free fall, though, Stella found she had both feet firmly on the ground. She could sense that, relative to all her other anchors, she was about 150 meters up. That was definitely high, but would only be on the rooftop of the building.

Confused, Stella looked around for Milly and briefly saw her wave before she was gone again. “Milly? Did it work?”

[No, I took the stairs. I just thought it would be good to start you off here, so the phone signal has to travel less. I dunno if that’s how it works, just… Okay, I might’ve chickened out a little bit on the first few dozen attempts. Try looking over the edge.]

Stella cautiously approached the concrete parapet that surrounded the roof. She pulled her hair into a ponytail to get at least some control away from the wind then peeked over.

It was a long way down. No wonder Milly felt spooked. Stella couldn’t deny that the sight gave her the jitters, even when she knew for a fact she had nothing to fear.

“I totally get it. Okay… how about this?” Stella swallowed her nerves and clambered onto the parapet. A nearby flagpole helped her keep her balance while she held out her free hand for Milly to take. “Trust me. It’ll be fine. Just a test run.”

[I hate everything about this.] Milly appeared beside Stella and latched onto her hand like a vice. She was visible again, even more clearly than before. For a moment, she was completely still, just staring down into the depths while the color left her face. [What if we get separated?]

Stella noticed that Milly only came up to her shoulder.

Cute. Stella always wanted a little sister.

Too bad Terra was such a spoilsport. She’d been adorable when she only had enough sand to look like a primary schooler yesterday. For all of ten minutes before Terra found a resupply. Okay, maybe Stella had also pushed it a little too far by offering to take her out for ice cream.

She hadn’t thought that one through. Everyone liked ice cream, but Terra couldn’t taste anything.

A lot like now, actually.

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but I guess I’d just teleport to you again? You can’t hear it, but I sound very confident and reassuring. You are right, though, let’s take an extra precaution.” Stella chuckled while she hugged Milly against her, making sure she wasn’t going anywhere. “Okay, here goes!”

Even though Stella said that, she waited a couple of seconds to give Milly the chance to change her mind. While the exact details of Milly’s power were unknown, it was a certainty that Stella stood no chance of holding on to her if she wasn’t willing.

Milly vibrated in place for a split second before she settled down and clamped her arms around Stella’s waist. Some color even returned to her face. That had to be a good sign.

Stella gave a nervous chuckle. “To be perfectly honest with you, I was kinda hoping you’d back out.” Then she stepped off the ledge, plummeting them both down from fifty stories up.

From this high up, Stella knew they had around ten seconds of free-falling before reaching the ground. One of the benefits of the superhero lifestyle, she got to know a lot of oddly specific trivia while facing off against various villains, including the odd flying one.

The initial rush of air forced her to close her eyes. Not a problem. It’d only take her a second to adjust and then she could start looking for people at street level to teleport to.

But then, something weird happened. All her anchors instantly shifted to her same altitude, as though they’d all been teleported straight into the air! But that didn’t make any sense, some of them were across the country and nobody could affect them all simultaneously like that. She had to be wrong.

Unless she was about to hit the ground!

“Oh! Fu—”

“—dge!” Stella screamed and blindly teleported to the nearest anchor. To her relief, she was instantly greeted by solid ground beneath her feet without going splat. The fall hadn’t killed them, but her heart was thrumming so fast that it still might take her out.

“Gah! Stella?” Ruth asked, alarmed. “You’re early.”

“Made it! Where are we?” Stella made a victory sign with one hand while she rubbed her eyes clear with the other. She blinked against the bright lights of the police interrogation room. “Am I interrupting?”

She might as well not have asked. The small claustrophobic room held only two other occupants besides Ruth. Across the table, one of the Minutemen sat cuffed in his chair. Stella remembered him, Kasper, supposedly the gang leader.

That just left…

“Not at all,” Detective Killjoy grumbled. He loomed large in the corner of the room. He wore a long coat over a bulletproof vest with a breast pocket that held only a worn-out notebook. His arms were folded across his chest like chains crossed over a vault door. A sign he was in no mood, as if the bags under his eyes didn’t already betray he’d been up all night. “You two were just leaving.”

Not that Stella had ever seen him in a good mood before. He was supposed to be fantastic at his job. In theory, that was why he was their assigned police contact. In practice, he made everything harder than it needed to be.

Ruth rolled her eyes at him. “No, we’re finally getting somewhere. Besides, it’s not time yet.”

It just dawned on Stella that she wasn’t supposed to be alone. Milly was nowhere to be seen. Stella concentrated to locate her anchor, but she could sense its vague presence somewhere in the room. It felt similar to watching someone spin a light around to form the illusion of a circle. She couldn’t really tell where the light was at any given moment, but she could sense the circle. Milly was doing that invisibility thing again, all over the room. Maybe looking for an exit.

Her phone buzzed with a text from Milly. [Sorry!]

Whatever happened during the fall must’ve been Milly's doing somehow, but Stella wasn’t sure how. Had Milly ran down the side of the building at superspeed and dragged her along for the ride or something? That sounded like the opposite of what they were supposed to be doing.

“That so?” Detective Killjoy rubbed a hand across his stubble. Somehow, the noise he produced put nails on a chalkboard to shame. He checked his watch then looked over to Stella. “You kids shouldn’t be messing around with law enforcement in the first place. The deal was you’d get to ask questions till she came to pick you up. Well, she’s here. Time’s up. Feel free to make another appointment. Unless of course, she’s not here in any official capacity?”

“Oh! I’m not!” Stella chimed in quickly. “Actually, I was just—”

“Trespassing within the police station without permission?” He raised an eyebrow. “Is that what you were going to say?”

“Leaving.” Ruth ran a hand down her face with a long sigh. She scooted her chair back from the table with a loud screech and stepped up next to Stella. “We were just leaving. Thanks for your time, Detective.”

Stella huffed while Ruth took her hand. It didn’t strike her as fair at all, but if Ruth wanted to leave, fine. It was hard to maintain a feeling of righteous indignation when she was getting free time with her girlfriend earlier than expected. “Yeah, thanks. Detective Killjoy.”

Kasper chuckled.

Without breaking eye contact with Stella, Detective Killjoy reached over and squeezed Kasper’s cuffs a few uncomfortable clicks tighter. “It’s Gilroy.”

“Oh, uhm…” Stella reached her free hand behind her back and made rapid grabbing motions until she felt Milly’s hand in hers. “Bye!”

“Hi!” Stella smiled brightly at a very puzzled paramedic enjoying his lunch in the back of an otherwise empty ambulance. “Don’t freak out. Actually, we're just leaving! Sorry! By the way, thanks again for your help with the fire!”

One awkward exit later, the two of them were out on the street. Stella quickly filled Ruth in on her training session with The Millisecond. It wasn’t a secret that they were working together, after all, just that it was actually Milly.

“And then I must’ve blacked out or something 'cause next thing I knew we almost hit the ground so I—Ouch!” Stella flinched as Ruth whacked her on the head. “What was that for?”

“Are you daft!? Who just jumps off a building? Much less with someone whose powers you don’t even understand?” Ruth scolded Stella, She must’ve been really worked up because her face flared up till it matched her fiery hair. Meanwhile, she examined Stella like a kid that had a tumble, making sure everything was still attached. “Did you get hurt? And where’s Millisecond?”

“I’m fine! Geez.” Stella quietly loved the attention and the way Ruth looked when she got like this. Like some kind of adorable fire elemental. Stella knew better than to say it, though. Instead, she launched a surprise hug and kissed Ruth on the cheek. “Sorry for worrying you.”

“Of all the idiotic things you do on a given day, Stella.” Ruth squared her shoulders and grumbled at Stella’s attempt to mollify her. However, she also didn’t push her away, which meant it was working. “You’re such a bitch, like a big dumb golden retriever.”

Both of their phones buzzed with an identical text from Millisecond.

@Millisecond

00:00.001:

It’s not Stella’s fault. If anything, she saved us!

I owe you both an explanation. When Stella stepped off the roof, I saw it happen in slow-motion. I let her drag me along. I thought it was working at first, but once I actually lost my balance and fell, I fell fast! I tried to hold on to Stella, but that just pulled her along. When I let go, she already had my momentum.

It was terrifying! I don’t know what would have happened if we’d hit the ground at that speed, but Stella got us out in time.

I’m so sorry this happened. I swear I won’t try anything like this again!

“Aw, you couldn’t have known that would happen!” Stella wished she could find Milly and give her a pat on the shoulder. Even in text form, she could feel the guilt dripping off that explanation. “Besides, it’s not like there’s any actual safe way to practice running up a building.”

“Oh, good. You’re both golden retrievers.” Ruth rubbed the bridge of her nose like she was trying to cure a sudden headache. “Stella, would you be a dear and take us to that place Terra likes to get her sand from?”

“East park? Sure!” Stella knew exactly how to get there. She’d taken Terra often enough, but for Ruth to ask struck Stella as a little odd since she’d only come along once or twice. Of course, she couldn’t just go straight there, but she could teleport from street corner to street corner. The nice thing about a busy city was that there was always someone there.

A few hops took them to Terra’s secret stash.

The Eastern Park playground featured a large sandpit with a variety of different pieces of equipment that included a jungle gym, a teeter-totter, and a sliding board among others. Stella’s favorite was the swings, though. Whenever she came with Terra she’d use them while Terra restocked. Sometimes she even persuaded Terra to give her a push.

[Why are we here?] Milly asked.

“Because apparently, neither of you thinks inside the box. The sandbox that is. You wanted to practice running up a wall? Were neither of you ever children?” Ruth flashed a grin and then pointed toward a giant hamster wheel. “Use that. Block it if necessary. Every kid has tried running full circle in one of those. You might actually do it.”

“Woah! That’s so smart!” Stella clapped her hands together excitedly.

The next moment a blur spun around in the hamster wheel. A crowbar blocked it from moving.

“Seems to be working. Well, since I apparently have some unexpected time off.” Ruth intertwined her fingers with Stella’s. “Want to have a go on the swings ‘till the next class?”

“Do I!”