A few minutes later, I was in my apartment.  After closing and locking the door, I dropped the blanket, and went to the bathroom to check how bad the burns I had received were – and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had mostly healed to a little redness of the skin, with little blistering.  I’m lucky that battle took place during the day.  If it hadn’t, I would have been hurt pretty badly.  Morningstar’s explosion really packed a punch!

 

                “Why does it still smell like bacon and fire?” I muttered, and realized the police blanket still ‘carried my scent’ from the attack, as it were, and I resolved to get it in the laundry ASAP before it stunk up the entire apartment.  I hopped into the shower, and ran the water – hoping that getting clean would help me feel better as much as fresh, un-burnt clothing would.  “I’m going to have to talk to Jimmy about a fire proof, tear proof suit or costume.”  I muttered as the hot water played over me.  “Aaaahhh.”

 

                I marveled at my amazing body a little as I showered – it had been just about a week since I emerged, and I was still surprised everytime I saw myself.  To be honest, I still felt a little alien in my new body – I guess my brain couldn’t forget four and a half decades of being male in one week.  Still, as I washed, I looked forward to the day when this body felt truly like mine.  As I rinsed myself off, I couldn’t help but remember the events of last night as well, and even the memories of it started to make me flush.  I did… with Eddie…?  It still boggled my mind, but it was fun – and I liked it.

 

                Even just admitting I had fun and I liked it made me feel affirmed.  It wasn’t shameful.  It wasn’t a fetish.  It was just a woman making love to someone.  Someone she liked a lot.  I smiled, and got dried off, wondering how Eddie felt about last night.

 

                Feeling clean at last, I streaked into my bedroom, and picked out a set of clothes, realizing that one of my very expensive bras had been immolated this morning.  That bitch cost me at least 200 dollars!  I thought, tallying up the cost of the undergarments and clothing I had been wearing.  Even my damn wristwatch was gone!  I snarled in annoyance, and got dressed, grabbing my backup watch out of my dresser drawer (for when my old watchband snapped) – a Mickey Mouse wind up watch with a leather band I hadn’t worn in years.  It still fit, so I put it on, and got the proper time set.  It was 1:20pm, so I guess Mickey’s big hand was ahead of Mickey’s little hand.  I snorted at the silliness of it – I hadn’t worn the watch in years.  To be honest, I wasn’t even sure why I kept it, except that it was a reminder of when days had been good.  They seemed so long ago, and so far away.

 

                Brushing back a tear and a memory, I got dressed in one of the outfits I had left at home.  It was a little more casual – jeans that hugged my hips and waist like a second skin, and a nice maroon turtleneck sweater, with some costume jewelry to accent.  I couldn’t believe how hard it was to get those damn pants on!  I literally had to lay down on the bed, tug them up over my hips, and try to get them snapped shut.  Why the hell do women do this? I wondered for not the first time.  Oh yeah – it looks fucking sexy.

 

                I grabbed a pair of comfortable runners – ladies Nikes – and finished my outfit with a warm looking jacket.  I was hungry, and thought of the nice bag of leftovers from Eddie’s last night, but I realized I wanted answers more than I wanted food, so I grabbed my purse and the food, and the smelly police blanket in a green garbage bag, and headed upstairs to the roof.  You know, I thought to myself.  I guess it’s lucky my ID and money was in my purse or it would have been torched by Morningstar too.  Maybe these are good for something?  I’d still trade it for useable pockets. 

 

                I groused about lacking decent pockets until I reached the roof, and punched the code on the locked door – 4131 – and went outside to see Abigail.

 

                Abigail was sitting in a lawn chair, sipping a coffee and talking to one of her pigeons, who was standing on the roof’s edge next to her, cooing gently.  It seemed very alert, and oddly didn’t startle and fly off when I approached.

 

                “Your bird is well trained.”

 

                Abby smiled.  “He’s not trained.  He’s smart, and I can speak with him, with my mind.  I can speak with all my creatures – when they’re close enough.  I was worried about Pepsi.  I hadn’t felt her presence in a few days.  What happened?”  She asked.

 

                “Pepsi and I went to join the MRT, which means for a little while we’ll be living at Humber College, and I’ll only be back on weekends to check up on the place.  Pepsi’s with me in the dorm.”

 

                “Is she okay?” 

 

                “Yeah, she’s fine.  She even got out of my room and had a little adventure.  How is she your creature?”  I was a little testy asking the last bit – anyone trying to take my little furbaby from me was in for a fight!

 

                “I didn’t mean it like that, deary.”  Abigail began.  “It happened when I emerged.  I got the ability to raise normal animals in an area to human level intelligence, and also the ability to mentally communicate with the animals I affected.  I intended to affect my birds, but I guess the aura goes both up and down, and I affected a few animals inside the building too – Mr. Cotter’s German shepherd Buddy, your Pepsi, and Ms. Linquist’s Weiner dog Max.  They were scared by what happened, so I tried to calm them down – and we got to talking.”

 

                “Over the next few days, I learned all sorts of things from Buddy, Max and Pepsi – and I also learned that my flock was going around, all over the city – and when they came back, they would tell me about their day.  I learned a lot of what was going on.  I hardly have to listen to the news anymore!  You wouldn’t believe what the birds see and hear!”

 

                “Anyway, Pepsi told me you had changed, and how you used to cry a lot – sorry for hearing about that; I didn’t mean to pry.  She also told me you came home smelling like fire, and a few days later, I couldn’t feel her mind anymore.  I was worried about her.  Is she okay?”

 

                “Yeah, Abigail, she’s doing great.  She probably misses you too.  So you’re how she got so smart, and can understand human speech?”

 

                “Yes.  She even has a little voice of her own – a mind voice – but she hasn’t learned to talk with it yet.  She might be able to speak to you with it one day, or even contact me if she wishes, and is close enough.”

 

                “Well, thank you for bringing Pepsi and myself closer, Abby.  When we’re done our training, and I come home, I’ll bring her around so you can say hi.”  I smiled.  Pepsi has a mind voice.  Cool!

 

                “Just so you know, Miss, I don’t think my power wears off.  I know the birds are developing their mind voice fairly quickly while they’re with me – but I think Buddy and Max are learning much slower since they aren’t around me all the time.  It might be the same for your Pepsi.”

 

                “Thanks, Abigail.  I appreciate it.  Would you mind not spreading any of the private stuff you heard from Pepsi to the building?”

 

                “I wouldn’t think of it, dear.  I might go into the business of gathering secrets though.  A lady has to make an honest living, and my flock of pigeons sees all, and hears all.  My little spies, you see.”  She said, laughing.  “If anything happens, can I send a pigeon to you for help?”

 

                “Sure thing, Abigail.  Unless you want my cell phone number?”

 

                “That would be nice, but I don’t own a cell phone – they’re too expensive, and I find them confusing.  I use the phone in my apartment mostly.”

 

                “Okay, pigeon it is.  Thanks for explaining things, Abigail.”

 

                “You’re welcome.  Are you going to fly away now?”

 

                “I was thinking about it.” I said.

 

                “Do you mind if I watch?”  She asked.

 

                “Not at all.  It is really cool, isn’t it?”

 

                “It is.  You should try talking mind to mind with someone – Pepsi, when her mind voice matures enough.  It’s like nothing else you’ve ever experienced.”

 

                “I look forward to it!”  I smiled, and did look forward to it.  Imagine!  Being able to talk to my little girl?  Awesome!  I was kind of jealous of Mike and Jimmy in that regard.

 

                “It was nice meeting you, Abigail.”

 

                “It was nice meeting you, too, Miss.  What’s your name?”

 

                “Didn’t Pepsi tell you?”  I asked, surprised.

 

                “She said you were Mommy.  I figured your name was probably something different.”

 

                Heh.  “I was Kevin Castle, but I’m going by Karen now.  I’ll see you around, Abigail.  If I need to, can I call on you for some information?  From your pigeon minions, I mean?”

 

                “Sure, if you feed them and don’t get them hurt.”  Abby said.  “And they’re more friends than minions, all joking aside.  I’m starting to learn all their names.  This one is Matthew.”

 

                The pigeon who had been sitting next to her, cooing looked at me, and in my mind I hear a voice.  *Hi.*

 

                Wow!  I startled a bit.  “Hi Matthew!  Abigail – he spoke to me in my head!”

 

                “Yes.  Matthew’s mind voice is the strongest right now, but his sister is hot on his heels.  I expect the whole flock to be at his level in another week or so.  I’m not sure how far along Pepsi is, so I can’t help there.”

 

                “That’s still really neat.  Nice to meet you Matthew!”

 

                “Cooo!”  Matthew bobbed his head, and cooed, and went back to eating some seeds Abigail had put out.

 

                “Bye Abigail.  I’ll bring Pepsi to see you soon.”

 

                “Thanks!  I miss your little girl.  Bye.”

 

                I waved goodbye, and stepped off the edge of the building, and flew back to the college, to see what the others had gotten up to in my absence.  I had reports to write too, and probably a debriefing at some point as well.  I sighed – most of my afternoon was probably shot.  Oh well.  I flew off, thinking of how to put the battle with Morningstar on paper.

 

 

*              *              *

 

 

                When I arrived back at campus, there were only a few students and faculty outside to see me fly up.  It was kind of neat, seeing some of them point from a few miles away, and go ‘Hey – I think I see one of them coming!’  I guess the flyers on the MRT were getting a rep.  I waved at them as I flew up and landed.  A few of them waved back, and I headed inside.

 

                The building was active, even on the weekend.  I could see Emile and Mike and Rain sparring in the gym, and Ellie was sitting on the sidelines, a little winded, drinking a bottle of water.  I headed upstairs to my room, and called out “Hey Krissie!” expecting to find Krissie and Pepsi, but instead all I found was Pepsi, asleep on my bed until I walked in.

 

                “Brrup!  Meow!”  Pepsi chirped as she ran over to me for pettings, plus a headbutt or two. 

 

                “Hey baby!”  I began.  “I met your friend Abigail.  She told me how she made you smarter!”

 

                “Brrup?”  Pepsi looked surprised, and then headbutted me again. 

 

                “She said you might have a mind voice – like she does.  It means if you practice, you might be able to talk to me, or even other people!  Isn’t that cool?”

 

                Pepsi rubbed against me, and chirped again, happily.  It seemed to please her, so that was good. 

 

                I put my purse down and got the leftovers into the fridge, and sat down on the edge of my bed.  “Hey Pepsi!  You want some pettings?”

 

                “Mreow!”  Pepsi jumped up onto the bed, and crawled into my lap and settled down, purring loudly.  She was a beautiful cat, and I just sat there, petting her for several minutes.

 

                Eventually, all good things must end, and I realized I had better go find Dominic to be debriefed and fill out my reports.  I gently put Pepsi to the side, and let her snuggle up on the bed.  I went to find Dom.

 

 

 

*              *              *

 

 

                By the time my afternoon of debriefing and writing reports was done, it was pretty much dinner time, so I left Dom’s office, and headed to the cafeteria.  As I walked in, Mal and Mike waved me over – pretty much everyone in the MRT, including Jessica, was huddled together, talking about something. 

 

                “Karen, over here!”  Mike called.

 

                “What’s up guys?”

 

                “Planning Session.”  Mike whispered.  “Your little munchkin Pepsi got out of your room yesterday and discovered some really nasty stuff going on.  We need to talk – quietly.”

 

                “What the hell happened?” I whispered, sitting down between Mike and Cliff.

 

                “Simple.”  Said Mal.  “The Government is trying to learn how to kill us.”

 

                “What the fuck!?”

 

                “Shhh!  Not so loud!  Jessica, can you bring her into the party line?”  Mike asked.

 

                “Yeah.” Jessica replied.  “But not for long.  It hurts my head with this many people.”

 

                “Ok – do it.”  Mal told her.

 

                I felt a weird touch in my mind – the lightest of brushes, almost completely un-noticeable – and then I could hear them – all of the MRT, or at least their thoughts… like a psychic chatroom where we could all share thoughts and speak freely without being overheard.  Nice.

 

                “So… What’s going on?”  I asked.

 

                Mal began.  “A man named Mitchell is blackmailing Ms. Potter to get our weaknesses down in a file, so his government spooks can learn how to control or kill us – and if she doesn’t do it, he’s going to kill her kids and husband.  That’s the long and the short of it.”

 

                “Wha… and how are we involved?”

 

                “Ms. Potter saw that Pepsi heard everything, and asked him to be her go between so she isn’t seen talking with us about it.  If she’s seen talking to us outside work related stuff, her family is dead – she asked Pepsi if she could come to us and ask for help.”

 

                “I’ll help anyway I can.”  I said

 

                “We all will.”  Mal replied.  “But we don’t have much more time right now to talk – Jessica’s getting a killer headache.  We’ve got like 10 minutes before she’s reached her limit.”

 

                “Yeah, sorry.”  Jess joined in.  “I haven’t practiced this talent much and it’s really hard.”

 

                “Okay, then we should get to work.  Does anyone have a plan?”  I asked.

 

                “We’re beginning to get one.”  Emile replied.  “Let’s get back to discussing it.”

 

                I sat and listened as Emile and Jessica laid out their plan, along with Jimmy and some ideas from Rain.  As I listened, I realized, Mitchell – whoever he was – had no fucking idea what kind of hell my friends were going to bring down on him.  Unless he was psychic, or knew a hell of a lot more than he should, he was screwed and so was anyone working with him.  The only problem was in trying to make sure Nadine didn’t get caught as one of his agents as well.  This is why you don’t piss off an entire team of superheroes, I thought, laughing.  And it was all thanks to Pepsi having another adventure.

 

                Somebody was getting extra treats tonight!