Steel Life (Cape High Series Book 25), page 11
“Date?” Nico repeats.
“Flameblaster will be asking my daughter out once she gets home,” Bombastic says with an evil little grin.
“I thought you liked Flame, Boom,” Nico says. “That poor guy.”
“Hey, I heard that, you know!” Flame yells down to them. “Is she really that much of a man hater?” he asks a second later, looking worried.
“Not exactly,” Nico says, thinking of it, “but anyone would get irritated if their dad set them up on a date.”
“Okay, I’ve changed my mind,” Flame says. “He’s absolutely right about that one.”
There’s a poof and they all turn, seeing Zoe standing there. She heads for the school campus. “I’m just going to set up the teleportation booth, dad,” she calls over her shoulder. “The Hall leaders are having a bit too much fun trying to sweet talk the students. I caught Century offering Hana candy, and everything.”
“He’s not getting Hana,” Nico says before Mastermental can even comment over the comm. “He can give her all the candy he wants, but we’re keeping the Nao line right where they are.”
“You can tell him that when he gets here,” she says, coming out of the campus a bit later with the smaller version of the teleportation gate. She sets it up, even without him telling her the changes he made, and a group of people start walking through, looking rather happy, considering what all happened.
“Son,” Century says. “Ahh, Bombastic,” he goes on as he sees the other man. “I’m looking forward to you moving down south. It should be soon, right?”
“I just need to work a few more things out, first,” Bombastic says, walking over to shake his hand. “I hope you don’t mind Angela coming with me.” He hesitates, looking at Nico. “I need to speak with your sisters about borrowing their teleportation booth on a regular basis. I want to come and see Keliah on the weekends.”
“I’m sure they won’t mind,” Nico says. “Family is a pretty big deal for them.”
“Then I don’t mind the move,” Bombastic says.
“You’ve been doing well for yourself,” Negatia says, moving in on the two. “You’re more than welcome to come to my branch, instead. I’m sure we can find a good spot for you, either side, of course.”
“Ah, see, you don’t have a Cape High yet, do you?” Bombastic says. “Because I enjoy what I’m doing a lot more than I would the tights game.”
“I am in negotiations for the land,” she admits. “But we don’t have many younger capes in my area at the moment, so it’s not a rush job. Truthfully, I was thinking of setting up a booth like that and sending the children here during the day and then bringing them home again at night.”
“We can arrange that!” Zoe says.
“I might do something similar,” Marigold admits, “If you provide a safe place for all of it to happen.”
“We can arrange that, as well,” Zoe says.
“So,” Mastermental says. The Hall leaders turn towards Nico, as if on cue. “What did you do with her?”
“Left her on the other side of the world in a desert,” Nico says. “She’ll have quite a walk to the nearest town. But if she tries wiretapping back to the Americas, she’s in for quite a surprise.”
“Dad, what did you do?” Zoe asks.
“Just a few little firewalls,” he says, “Nothing to worry about. The vast majority of the world won’t even notice they’re there.”
She snorts and takes to the air, shooting up like a rocket and stopping high above them when she can see far enough.
“Your daughter checks your handiwork?” Cosmic asks.
“When your daughters are older, I bet they’ll do the exact same thing,” Bombastic tells him before Nico can reply. “Speaking of daughters,” he says, heading for Falconess as she steps through the portal. “Missy, you look beautiful,” he says. There’s a bit of awkwardness between the two, but it’s calmed down quite a lot in the past months.
“Mmhmm,” she says as Keliah throws herself into his arms. “What do you have up your sleeve this time, Dad?”
They hear Flameblaster let out a muttered curse overhead, but he’s too late. Bombastic grins. “I was thinking your mother and I could take Keliah out on Friday while you go on a date!”
“A date,” she repeats flatly. “What in the world were you doing while we were on the island?” She glances over as Flameblaster lands behind him.
“Ignore him,” Flameblaster says. “Things just got a little… silly while we were floating around doing nothing, isn’t that right, Boom?” he demands.
Bombastic grins at him and drapes an arm over his shoulders. “Flameblaster here thinks you’re extremely attractive. Of course he also thinks you’ll laugh your head off at him before you turn him down flat. I, of course, don’t think you’d be that cruel to a man whose biggest goal is raising his nephew. But, of course, I could be wrong.”
She blinks, thrown off guard. The look of surprise catches both of them off guard. Then her eyes narrow on Bombastic. “Are you just setting me up before you and Mom move down to Texas?” she asks.
“Actually, that had nothing to do with it,” Cosmic says, coming over. “I just wondered if Bombastic and Flameblaster have familial ties, since their powers are so similar.”
“They’re nothing alike,” Bombastic and Flameblaster say.
“Why not?” Falconess says.
“Because my line’s from Ireland and Bombastic’s from German—”
“I meant, why not go on a date? Well, no, I should ask first,” she says, stopping Flameblaster in his tracks. “Keliah, do you mind if I go on a date with Flameblaster this Friday?” she asks her daughter.
Keliah looks at Flameblaster critically for a moment before grinning. “I’m good with that,” she says. “Hey, Grandpa, can we go flying while they’re doing that?”
“I would love to, and I’m certain your Grandma will, as well,” Bombastic says with an infatuated smile.
“I didn’t expect to come back here this soon,” Jack says as he comes through the portal. He’s got a frown on his face.
“Well, things didn’t exactly go how we planned them. But now’s the time for Mom and Dad to have alone time, anyway,” Aubrey says. Jack’s board comes out behind them, carrying a massive pile of luggage. Once he’d put his stuff and Aubrey’s on it, the rest of the school had followed suit.
“But I expected another meal before we left, at least. And did we ever find the monkey?” he asks.
“Sunny and Lance are still there, looking for it,” she says. “We can’t scare the poor little creature; it might run into a laser wall.”
“Okay, yeah, but…” He looks around irritably, frustrated by something. “I wasn’t ready to go just yet,” he mutters.
“Oh, honey, you know that Mom and Dad invited us to stay, but—” she starts out, only to stop as he gets down on one knee, right there. “What are you doing?” she asks as he digs a box out of his pocket.
“I had it all planned, you know,” he says, “and if I don’t say it now, I’ll have to figure out how to get you alone. With our schedules, well, I just ain’t that smart.”
“Jack,” Aubrey says, clearly torn. “Can we at least do it inside?” she asks, her face bright red.
“Nope, I want the school an’ the Hall leaders to see this,” he says. “Well, unless you say no, then I’m really gonna look like an idiot,” he admits.
“But Mom and Dad aren’t here to see this,” Aubrey points out.
“Your granddads are?” he offers, and then groans, pocketing the box again. “Freakin’ timing,” he mutters as he gets to his feet. The entire group bursts out laughing, partly because his expression is so funny, partly because they understand just how troublesome scheduling is in their lifestyle. “You weren’t going to say no, were you?”
“I would NEVER say no to that question, as long as it’s coming from you,” she says, kissing him on the cheek. “So… can I see it?”
“Not until I ask,” he says, shoving the box deeper into his pocket as she reaches out. “Metal box, babe,” he says smugly, pulling the box back out and sealing it shut with his powers. She pouts at him as the onlookers laugh. She grabs the box and tugs on it, trying to force it open even though it’s sealed.
“Did you make this out of living metal?” she asks, distracted.
“Sure did,” he says.
“I want this box!” she says. “Let me hold onto it until you ask?”
“Nope,” he says.
“But it’s sort of like having you there with me while I’m working,” she says. “It’s almost like…” her eyes glow and her hair floats slightly, “Like I can sense you through this.”
Century jerks, looking over. “Is that the same for all the living metal? Even the bikes that Nico made the girls?”
“Nah,” Jack says, “we only added a bit of my metal to it recently. It was an experiment, but it worked so well that we decided to keep it that way. It grows back on me, and it causes the metal to be much more responsive. We’re building my new board out of it, next. And after that we’re gonna see about Robo’s next body.” He looks at Aubrey and then covers her hand with his, closing it around the box. “Don’t let it outta your sight, okay?”
“I won’t,” she says. “Could you take the ring out and turn the box into a bracelet?”
“That just means I gotta make another box,” he points out, only to take the box, turn away from her, and do just that as he pockets the ring. She looks at it, almost as excited over this as she would have been over the engagement ring. It has her symbol and his latched together in the center.
“That metal,” Isotonic says, walking over. “Can I see it for a moment?”
“Not at the moment, sorry,” Jack says before Aubrey can respond. “Right now it’s sort of patent-pending in the super community. That means the norms will never get to even see it, and other Halls, well, y’gotta understand,” he says, shrugging, “it’s just how it goes.”
“Sadly, yes, I do understand,” he says, “but I don’t understand why South Branch members would have an older version of it.”
“Because they’re the Darlin’s,” Jack says as the three and Reaper walk through the portal. “You’re not talkin’ about South Hall members, you’re talkin’ family.”
“That’s right, we claim everyone Skye has except for Superior,” Ariel says, proudly.
“I’m not too proud to claim Superior when he’s useful,” Doris says. “He might be a jerk, but he’s a lot less of a jerk than my real old man was.”
“Where’s Tank?” Jack asks suspiciously as he looks at them.
“He enjoys hunting, so we left him back there to look for the monkey,” Doris says.
“Yeah, and where’s Sandra?” Jack asks, even as Aubrey groans.
“Sandra isn’t interested in Tank at all, Jack,” she says, poking him. “Look, here she comes.”
They both watch as Sandra comes through the portal, with a monkey in a rocky cage hanging from her fingers. “Caught him,” she says as Tank, Lance, and Sunny come out behind her. The monkey screeches and jumps, trying to break through the cage, but has no luck.
Jack heads over to break up their closeness, leaving Aubrey to just shake her head and admire her bracelet again. Heaven help them if they ever have a daughter, she thinks with amusement. The girl won’t be allowed to date until she’s in her thirties.
CHAPTER NINE
“It feels a little lonely without Mom here, doesn’t it,” Emily says as she and Aubrey sit in the front room. Aubrey had dropped Granddad Jake off at the retirement village and come straight home. Now they have a movie playing and are snacking, but it’s just not the same as their usual night. Aubrey is about to reply, but someone knocks on the door before she can.
“It’s open!” Emily calls out. The door opens and half of the apartment building group comes in, carrying tools. “Wait, maybe it’s not open,” she says belatedly as Nico starts for the far wall, looking it over before calling out instructions.
“We’re connecting you with the apartment next door,” Jack says cheerfully as he shifts the metal on his arm and starts slicing the wall. “We thought Liz and Taurus could use a sound proof room, and a bit more space.”
“A married life shouldn’t start in a tiny three bedroom apartment,” Nico agrees.
“Three bedrooms isn’t exactly tiny,” Aubrey says, only to get looks. “Okay, fine, but did you ask Mom and Dad about this?”
“Nah, it’s our wedding gift to them,” Sunny says cheerfully as he rips out the drywall and sets it aside. “If you guys wanna go up to our apartment with Mom and Zoe while we’re doing this, you can.”
“Yeah, I think we will,” Aubrey says as the dust fills the air. “I expect you to clean up after yourself, Jack.”
“Sure, babe,” he says.
They walk past Zoe, who’s in the hallway putting together new appliances. “What color do you think we should redo your kitchen in?” she asks.
“White and yellow,” Aubrey decides. “Emily, should we do something else for their wedding?”
“Why? We already sent their wedding gift with them!” Emily says, grinning mischievously. “I had a heck of a time sneaking it into her luggage, so they had better enjoy it!”
“You’re terrible, Emily,” Aubrey says, laughing.
“I know for a fact that Dad will absolutely love it,” Emily says proudly.
“I’m sure,” Aubrey says.
***
*Back on the Island*
“I can’t believe she did that!” Liz complains as she starts unpacking for the night. “Devon, I think we should go hunt her down and take Reaper up on his offer, after all.”
“We’re not shipping her off to another planet, the Cosmics will complain,” Taurus says, coming out of the bathroom. He has his toothbrush still in his mouth. He blinks at the sight of what she’s holding. “What’s that?” he asks.
“I have no idea,” she admits, and unwraps it. When it’s open, she starts laughing as she pulls out a thick book with a picture of their daughters on the front. “I think it’s their wedding gift,” she says, grinning widely as she sits on the bed. She opens it, and then promptly closes it as a video of her very first act as a hero starts playing on the page.
“Wait, wait, let me see that!” he says, grabbing for the book.
“Never!” she says, running away with the book under her arm.
“Let me see it! Come on, Liz!” he says, giving chase.
Neither of them even notices the pretty lingerie that falls from the book to the floor. They’re too busy playing keep away.
***
“Summer? We’ve come to visit!” Aubrey says as she knocks on the door. It swings open, having never been properly shut. “You’re not busy, are you?”
“No, I’m in here,” Summer says from the kitchen. “I had the strangest urge for cucumbers,” she admits as they join her. “It’s a lot better than the massive craving for steak in the middle of the night, though. I can grow the cucumbers, the cow, not so much, I’m afraid.”
“Nico got it for you, though, didn’t he?” Aubrey asks with a knowing grin.
“It was charred on the outside and almost raw on the inside,” Summer says, shaking her head. “And once he realized that I didn’t LIKE my steaks like that, he put together a temperature monitoring grill on the roof. By then, of course, I had fallen back to sleep. So, how are you two doing? If you get sleepy, there’s plenty of room in our place.”
“I’m not sleepy,” Aubrey says, looking over at the wall, where YouTube videos are playing. This one is a video on how best to grow exotic plants. “Do you really need to watch that?” she asks curiously. “You can grow anything with a thought, right?”
“I can,” she says, “but the people that buy my plants aren’t quite so lucky. So I like to watch all of the YouTubers that claim to know how to grow plants and pick out the ones that explain it best, and in the easiest way to understand,” she says, motioning to a list next to the videos. “I make sure to mark them on my list and suggest them to my clients. That way they don’t need to worry about finding books for the more exotic plants they buy.”
“YouTube is really useful, isn’t it?” Aubrey says, watching the wall.
“When do they plan to start checking the shout-out videos for you?” Summer asks as the girls sit down at the bar. “You said you wanted to reply to them, right?”
“We just got back,” Aubrey says, shrugging. “I really doubt they’ve had time to come up with a list of legitimate cries for help. And I’m not sure I should start now, anyway. Jack is in the middle of doing his graduation gig. I want to help him with that as much as I can… it’s just…”
“It’s not exactly your area of expertise?” Summer offers with a wry smile. “Trust me, I understand how frustrating that can be. Nico is constantly off building something that I will never be able to help him with. It isn’t that we’re useless though, Aubrey, it’s just that our expertise is in living things, not in mechanical.”
“I do plan on overseeing the water pipe episode, though,” Aubrey says. “We can’t allow anyone to be exposed to something dangerous. But I think he actually plans on having Ace make it more disgusting than it actually is.”
All three of them shake their heads at that, clearly NOT excited at the idea of a pipe blowing.
“Trent’s just good at the heavy lifting aspect of building stuff,” Emily says, “so I’m not that worried about it. If it comes down to it, I can lift four times as many things as he can!”
“And all together that’s about the same weight as what he’s lifting, right?” Aubrey teases her. Emily makes a face as she starts laughing.
“There’s more to it than weight!” she protests. “I’m extremely good at rebuilding things, because I have more hands than anyone else! I just don’t want to, right now.”
“Why don’t we at least look at some of the videos asking for you, Aubrey?” Summer says, “You can get a better idea of what they’re asking you to do, that way, and maybe even choose some that really speak to your heart, to have them checked.”
