Mirage was pacing in the reception area of the Town Hall. The mayor had organized a press conference to formally recognize her for saving the driver who had almost gone into the river. Mirage had tried to decline, but he’d been insistent. Something about it making up for the bad press from the fight with Daybreak. He was clearly trying to guilt Mirage into agreeing to show up. Despite being able to see through it, his tactic had kind of worked.

“How are you feeling?”

She stopped pacing and turned to face Isabelle, who was smiling at her.

“What are you doing here?” Mirage asked, smiling softly.

“I work here, remember?” Isabelle asked. “I wanted to congratulate you in person for saving that man.”

“No, the emergency services would have got him. I just sped things along.”

It was hard not to blush a little, though.

“Miss?” someone else said. “It’s time.”

Mirage took a deep breath and said goodbye to Isabelle. She was shaking as she walked up onto the stage outside amid the flash of dozens of cameras. All she wanted to do was turn invisible and fly away. Being seen by regular people was one thing, but she wasn’t yet comfortable with the idea of cameras. Even for a press conference in a small town, this was a little much for her. Why did she think that she could be a superhero?

“The lady of the hour,” the mayor announced, leading a round of applause. Mirage came to stand by his podium and tried to smile at the assembled reporters. She was sweating.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the mayor said, “may I present to you Auburn’s newest superhero: Mirage.”

There was another flurry of camera flashes as Mirage waved nervously to the crowd.

The mayor continued, “We try not to ask too much of our citizen heroes. They’re noble enough to sacrifice their time to aid the needy, and it would be unfair to them and our own emergency services to put them in the line of danger. But sometimes a hero sees the opportunity to go above and beyond what can be reasonably asked of them. Mirage did that when she saved a local citizen whose car had skidded off the road from falling into the Auburn River. For her courage, I am proud to award her with a medal for her heroism.”

The mayor pulled a medal out of a small box and turned toward Mirage. She ducked her head a little bit so he could place it around her neck. Mirage was beaming, even as the cameras all went off at once.

For a few minutes more, Mirage stood there while Mayor Williams said a few more things to the press. It was a relief to finally return inside. Isabelle was still waiting there for Mirage.

“How did it go?” she asked.

“Nerve-wracking,” Mirage admitted, “but kind of awesome.”

Isabelle nodded, replying, “I need to get back to work, but you’ll hear from me if anything comes up. Okay, hero?”

Mirage felt herself blush.

“See you around,” she said, turning invisible and walking away.

Once Mirage was outside, she took to the air and headed over to the park. Once she touched down, she allowed herself to become visible again. There weren’t many people around; she wasn’t likely to be mobbed.

Mirage sat down at her usual picnic table and pulled the medal off. She held it up, grinning madly. She’d finally done it, then. The town finally recognized her. She was a hero. It was everything she could have asked for.

Back at home, Penny took a picture of the medal and sent it to Jada. She got a message back quickly: Saw the press conference. Enjoy the limelight. You deserve it. She also sent a message to Aaron, but didn’t get an immediate reply. It didn’t matter. He’d be proud of her too. Penny could have squealed, she was so excited.

“This has to be a sign, right?” she asked herself. “I’m meant to stay here. This is where I belong.”

A sharp knock at the door interrupted Penny’s thoughts and caused her to drop her medal. Through the door, her father told her that dinner was ready. She thanked him, then wrapped the medal up in paper and crawled under her bed to shove it in her box spring. The last thing she needed was her mother finding it.

After dispelling her illusion, Penny left her room to join her parents at the table. Her mother said grace and Penny paid half attention. After that, things became quiet except for the clink of silverware on plates.

“You really should get a haircut, Tobias,” her mother finally said.

“My hair is fine,” Penny replied.

“It’s getting long.”

“I’m an adult and I shouldn’t have to get a haircut if I don’t want to.”

Her mother was fuming.

“You should act like more of an adult, then,” she finally said. “A grown man would take better care of his appearance.”

Penny scowled, first at her mother then at her father. He wasn’t looking at either of them. Despite everything, he wasn’t coming to Penny’s aid.

It seemed like things were going to settle into an awkward silence again, but then Penny’s mother asked, “Are you taking hormones behind my back?”

Penny dropped her fork in surprise.

“No!” she cried, but her mother narrowed her eyes. “I’m not.”

“Stand up.”

“I’m not going to—”

“Stand up!”

Shaking, Penny did so.

Her mother stood up too and asked, “If you’re not taking hormones, what is happening to your body. Don’t lie to me. You look different than you did a few months ago. Answer me!”

Penny stammered, but couldn’t come up with an answer. What was she supposed to say? She glanced at her father.

“Suzanne,” her father finally said, “I think you’re being a little dramatic. All this is from him being lazy and inactive. Once he gets his hair cut and puts on a bit of muscle he’ll go back to looking like a man.”

Penny’s mother narrowed her eyes, but sat back down and continued eating. After a moment, so did Penny. Nobody spoke again after that.

After dinner, it was Penny’s turn to do the dishes. She could hear her father watching TV in the other room. Once she was done, she made her way into the living room to confront him.

“What was that?” she asked. “Saying I’ll go back to looking like a man? You know that’s never going to happen.”

“I had to say something, didn’t I? How about a little bit of gratitude? I’m the one who has to keep coming to your defense. If you hadn’t insisted on making yourself look like this while you were still living here, there wouldn’t be a problem.”

“How can I be grateful,” Penny asked, “when you still won’t accept me as the woman I am even after everything you’ve seen?”

“I’m sorry,” her father said, standing up, “but despite all… this, sex just isn’t something that can be changed. Even if people start to see you as a woman, you’re not going to be able to change what you are.”

Penny could hardly see through the tears in her eyes. She didn’t say anything else, just stormed off back to her room. The door slammed behind her, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to get away from this.

Penny snuck out the window and took to the sky, invisible. She found the neighborhood easily enough and was able to pick out the house without difficulty. Still invisible, Penny touched down on the backyard deck and leaned up against the railing.

Every few days since the flood, Mirage had been coming out to Gabriela’s house for a few hours at a time after sunset. She wasn’t sure what she was even looking for. If Shadow Pirate could merge with shadows and use that to travel, then what hope did Mirage have to catch her in the act. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t even here to spy on Gabriela today.

“Spying on someone,” Penny muttered. “How heroic.”

It did make her feel bad, honestly. It wasn’t even just Gabriela living here. Her family didn’t deserve to be under watch like this. Penny was beginning to think that the others were right: heroes should have boundaries that they didn’t cross. It wasn’t really her place to be investigating someone like this.

Penny closed her eyes and let her mind drift off. She gasped softly when she heard the back door open, but it was just Gabriela coming to take the trash out. For a moment, Penny just watched her put the bag into the outside bin.

“Gabriela?” Penny asked.

Gabriela stopped and started looking around.

“I’m invisible,” Penny said. “Hold on.”

She walked over to where she wouldn’t be easily seen from the house windows and let herself become visible.

“Hello,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

“What brings you out here?” Gabriela asked, leaning up against the fence.

“I… can we talk?”

“Go ahead.”

Penny leaned up against the fence and took a deep breath.

“Did you see the press conference?” she asked.

“I did.”

“It felt great. Like the town finally accepted me for who I was. But then I got to dinner with my parents and… they don’t. They don’t accept me at all. I’m trying to find a full-time job so I can move away, but I wish they… I wish they loved me more.”

She was close to tears. Gabriela placed a hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry, dear,” she replied. “I know it’s going to be hard to hear this, but we live in a small red Southern town. I’ve heard the things people have said about you and the other heroes. It’s not just that Daybreak fellow. This whole town is rotten and we should all be trying our hardest to get out of here if we know what’s good for us. Trust me, your parents fit right in with the rest of this town. And if more people find out about you, things are just going to get harder.”

“I’m not leaving,” Penny said. “I’ve decided. I’m not going to college. I belong here.”

“Penny, please. Think about this.”

“I have thought about this,” Penny insisted. “It’s my decision, Gabriela. After all, it’s not like college did a lot for you.”

Gabriela flinched and drew back her hand. Penny felt her face go red and she turned away. She’d crossed a line just there.

“I’m sorry,” Penny said. “I just—”

The sliding door opened and Penny turned invisible on reflex. Gabriela’s younger brother stepped outside.

“Gabby! When are you coming back inside?”

“I’m coming,” Gabriela told him.

She gave one last glance toward where Penny was standing before walking back to the door and returning back inside. Penny flinched as the door slammed shut. Then she sighed and took to the air. This had not done much to help her mood.

The next day, Mirage took some time after work to walk around town in costume. She was practically shaking. Occasionally someone would walk up and want to shake her hand and she’d have to smile and act polite. Keeping her breathing under control was difficult. But it was good. This was good practice. She could interact with other people.

But for the moment, she needed a break. Mirage found her way to her favorite ice cream parlor. As soon as she was inside, everyone’s eyes were on her. She placed an order for rocky road and went to pull out her wallet.

“Oh no,” the cashier said. “Your money’s no good here, Miss Mirage. It’s on the house.”

“Oh, thank you. That’s very nice.”

As she sat down, Mirage thought that could get used to this kind of attention, actually. Meeting new people was still a little nerve-wracking, but the attention was wonderful. She was so used to just gliding through life, completely invisible. Now, though, she had a reputation. Gabriela’s words started to claw themselves out of the back of her mind, but she pushed them down. There was no call for negativity, not today.

Mirage didn’t want to go home, yet. She was headed to the park, still smiling and waving at passersby. How long before her mom called her for dinner? Maybe she should just get something while she was out and—

A blow from behind sent Mirage sprawling forward. She had just enough time to throw her hands up before hitting the curb and bouncing off. Mirage scrambled to stand back up and turn around, and before she could make sense of what she was seeing a blow to the face knocked her back down.

“Awfully bold, and incredibly reckless,” a familiar voice said. Mirage felt a foot slam into her back and she cried out. “Painting a target on your back by walking around in costume? Were you trying to get my attention?”

“Fuck… you,” Mirage snarled, spinning onto her back and crawling away.

Daybreak stood there in his stupid chain mail outfit, smirking at Mirage. Mirage glanced around. Some people had run, but the streets were crowded and most people had just backed up but continued to watch. More than a few had cameras out. Mirage climbed to her feet and raised her fists.

“I’m not here to fight,” Daybreak insisted, raising his hands as if in surrender. “I just thought you’d want a favor.”

“A favor?!” Mirage scoffed. She glanced around again. Was there any chance Snap-trap or Transvection, or even Shadow Pirate, was nearby and could help her out? “What the Hell are you talking about?”

Daybreak grinned and a bright light erupted from his raised hands. Mirage raised her arms to block her eyes. Her heart plummeted quickly, though, at the realization of what he was doing. His powers were eating away at her illusion, threatening to dispel it.

Mirage turned and jumped into the air, intending to fly away. A sharp pain erupted in her ankle and in her surprise she fell out of the air, landing hard on her side. There was a bright golden chain fastened around her leg, tying her to the ground.

“Michael, please!” she cried. Penny was trying to hold onto her body but it was dissipating too fast. There were tears in her eyes. She covered her face but it didn’t do any good.

Finally, Michael relented. Penny had been reduced to a sobbing wreck in the street. There were people all around. He walked up and knelt down next to her.

“I thought it would be nice if people got to see you for who you really are. You know: a faker. Of course, that probably means your little superhero career is over, isn’t it, Tobias?”

Penny didn’t answer. Michael sneered and stood up, then took off into the air. She was alone, surrounded by people who could see what she really looked like.

On reflex, Penny turned invisible. The chain binding her ankle was gone, so she jumped up into the air and flew away. She flew until she was behind some building where nobody could see her, then touched down and curled up into a ball to start bawling.