Steampunk Time: Cape High Book Seven (Cape High Series 7) (20 page)

***

I refuse to leave her side.  I can pick up Grandpa’s irritation, not to mention Jason’s little problem--Jack went straight to him, and is now walking around him with a curious expression on his face.

“Could you stop?” Jason asks, blushing at the examination.  It doesn’t help that half of the school comes over as well to look at him.

“NOELLE!” I hear Morgan bellow as she comes out of the dorm.  She rushes over, wrapping her arms around me tightly and picking me up for a moment.  “Are you okay? What happened?  You look like you’ve been rolling in the dirt!”  I wrap my arms around her, hugging her tightly in return.

“I’m going back to my own time,” I tell her.  “I can see my dad and my mom and--I’ll miss you, though,” I admit, pulling away.  “You’ve got to remember to come and visit me once I start going to Cape High, got it?” I demand.

She gives me a smile, reaching up and touching the mess of hair that had once been curls.  “I won’t forget,” she promises.  “The moment I hear you’ve started, I’ll come running.”

“Good, because I’m going to start when I get back home.”  I turn, looking at Mom--who’s still clueless about me.  Except, I think, she’s looking at Jason and Jack with a strange expression on her face.  She looks straight at me abruptly, her green eyes widening.  Crap, I think she just figured it out.  She looks over at Max, grabbing his wrist and tugging him closer to whisper in his ear.  He jerks, looking at me just like she did.

Well, then, that’s the cat out of the bag.  I look back to Morgan,
and then look for Aubrey.  “She can save her, right?” I ask, trying to ignore the stares.

“What happened to her?” Morgan asks.

“Mimic.”

“Then she can save her,” she says confidently
. Aubrey has already slipped through the crowd and is crouching down next to Tatiana.  “Who is she?”

“Tatiana,” I say.  “She’s amazing,” I add, absently leaning into Morgan since she’s letting me.  I feel like a little sister, which is so strange, because when I first met her I was positive she didn’t like me.  I blink as Jason comes over, Jack following him.

“Can we go yet?” he asks, shoving Jack’s hand away when the other male tries to touch his hair.  “Stop that already!” he says.

“You’ve got steel strands,” Jack says.  “Where’d you come from?  The future?”

“I can’t tell you,” Jason says. 

“You my kid?  I’ve seen DBZ--you’ve come back to defeat someone that killed me--”

Jason turns and looks at him with a dry expression, then I see something click in his head.  He places both hands on Jack’s shoulders, looking up at him seriously.  “You can’t tell anyone, okay?” he says, even though everyone’s listening.  “There’s a super villain that’s going to show up and threaten to destroy all of humanity unless you do a giant fighting tournament.”

“Seriously?” Jack asks eagerly.

“Nope, not at all,” Jason says, letting go of his hold.  “Don’t get your man panties in a twist.”

“IT
’S TRUE!” Vinny yells from the side.  “We have to start now and save the boxers!”  I would laugh, but I’m starting to worry because Aubrey still hasn’t touched Tatiana.  I walk over to her, crouching down next to her and reach up to push Tatiana’s hair out of her face.

“She’s beautiful,” Aubrey says, looking at me.

“She’s amazing.  Can you save her?” I ask her, looking her in the eyes.  “Mimic took her.”

“I can,” she says.  “I promise.”  I hug her, much to her surprise.

“Thank you,” I say, feeling a tear trickle down my cheek.  I look up as someone lands on the other side of Tatiana.  Great Grandpa Superior is staring down at Tatiana in wonder.  He gets down on one knee next to her, and then looks at us.

“Bring her back,” he says to Aubrey.  “Please.”

Aubrey hesitates.  “Please,” I add.  “She’s his wife.”

She looks up as
the Nico from this time enters campus.  “Nico?” she asks, looking from my Grandpa to the younger version.

“Do it, Aubrey,”
the younger version says.

Aubrey reaches out, grabbing Tatiana’s hand.  Her eyes turn white and her hair starts floating around her.  I forget to breathe, my hands clenching so tightly that I’m sure I’m going to leave little moon shape imprints on my palm.  It seems forever before Tatiana’s eyes open.

She looks at Aubrey blankly, only to be dragged into a hug by Superior.  Her eyes widen and she jerks away--then hits him in the jaw so hard that Great Grandpa goes flying across the campus.  “I have told you already, I DO NOT LIKE CLONES!” Tatia bellows, getting to her feet.

“TATIA!” I bellow, jumping her and wrapping my arms around her waist before she can go after him.  “That’s not a clone!  That’s Superior!”

“What?” she asks, looking down at me.  “Kitten?  But you were going to your own time--”

“We’re not in my time, but we’re not in your time, either,” I tell her.  Grandpa
walks over and places a hand on my shoulder--that’s probably a sign we need to go to our own time.  “Now I need to go back to my own time,” I admit.  “I love you,” I tell her, tugging her down so I can kiss her cheek.  “Be happy, okay?”

“You, as well, kitten,” she says, although she still looks confused.

“Jason!  Time to go,” I call over to the teen trying to fight off his teenage dad from the past.

“It won’t take long to shave it off, I swear--” Jack says.

“Gotta go,” Jason says, racing over to me as I head for Grandpa.  We both grab his arms as he presses the button on his watch.

“Bye,” I add before we disappear.

***

Tatia looks around the strange place where she woke up at, feeling confused.  The last thing she remembers is a man robbing a bank.  She’d grabbed his hand and squeezed it until the gun fell from his hand, and then--

“The one that knocked you out was Mimic,” a man with her Nicolas’s eyes says, stepping in front of her.  “He stole your powers, your memories, and your consciousness.  You would have stayed unconscious until this time, regardless, so when Noelle wound up in that time, I figure the other me decided that we could skip the thirty six years of unconsciousness and get straight to the healer that could wake you up.  Hello, Mom,” he says, smiling slightly.  “I’m Nico.”

“You are--you have grown so large and handsome,” she says.  “But I--I am not used to seeing you eye to eye.”

“I grew up,” Nico says, glancing behind him.  “And that was a great punch,” he adds as he watches Superior get up.

“Is he truly my Clifford?” Tatia asks, turning to watch Superior as well.  “He looks so very different.”

“He’s had a rough thirty six years, too,” Nico admits as Superior crosses over to them, rubbing his jaw.

“Tatia,” Superior says, just staring at her for a long moment before reaching up and touching her cheek.  “I almost lost you,” he whispers, dragging her into a hug.  “I did lose you.  I’m not going to let you go again--except,” he says, looking at Nico, “I’m going to kill Kunnins when I find him, regardless of whether he’s dead or not.”

“I am still confused,” Tatia says, pulling out of his hold.  “Are we in the future?  Is the cold war over?”

“It’s over,” Superior says.

“Oh thank God,” she says, starting to cry as she falls into his arms.  “I was on edge--all the years we were together.  I feared that at any moment--”

Nico goes still.  “At any moment WHAT,
Mom?” he asks.

“At any moment they would... the USSR would... call.  To test my loyalty,” she says, sniffling.  “But the Cold War is over.  I can live freely--”

“You were a SPY?” Nico demands, earning a nasty look from Superior.  “Don’t give me that look, how could you not know that your own wife was a spy for the soviets?” he demands.

“We all did what we had to do at that time,” Superior says.

“So you DID know!” Nico says.  He jerks slightly as two of the children race over, grabbing him around the waist.

“Dad!  Cool off!” the girl says.  “You just made the school lights flicker!  It was thirty six years ago--and she’s obviously Russian!  Can you really expect anything else?” she demands.

“I--” Tatia says, a bit stunned by that reaction.  “Nicolas,”she starts out, “you must understand, I had to volunteer, to save you.”

Nico goes still, his hands landing on his children.  “What?”

“The USSR, they took the children with abilities away from their families, raising them to be super soldiers,” Tatia says, her shoulders squaring.  “I was born before they came about, but I was nonetheless a part because it was still my mother land, regardless of who was in control.  The people, they were mine.  The land, it was mine.  I could not leave it--not until I met your father,” she says, looking at Superior.  “I fell in love our very first fight.”

“We married in secret,” Superior says, lacing his fingers through hers.  “Tatia got pregnant
, with you.”

“I did not like leaving my land,” Tatia says quietly.  “I wished to protect them.  But in order to keep you from being taken, I had to do something.  Because I have--had shown no disloyalty, my superiors found the idea of me coming here as a detente offering amusing.  They believed your president a fool, allowing their greatest weapon into the country.  The cold war continued.  I prayed for it to be over before I had to prove my loyalty again.”

Nico goes silent, looking down at the twin teenagers standing with him.  After a moment of thought he speaks.  “Mom, you can’t be seen,” he says.

“What?” Superior demands.

“No one can know Mom’s back,” Nico says to him.  “Everyone needs to keep thinking you’re dead,” he tells Tatiana  “The Russians and America are having a hard time again right now.  Is there somewhere you can go that people won’t know about?”

“Yes,” she says.  “To our secret place,” she tells Superior.  “I will--”

“Both of you can go, right?” Zoe asks, stepping away from her father.  “Nobody in the norm world knows you’re back, Su--Grandfather,” she adds a bit awkwardly.  “If you two can go to a place no one will be able to find, you won’t be used against one another.”

“But--are you my grandchildren?” Tatia asks, looking at them.  “So beautiful.”

“We’ll be able to fly, soon,” Sunny says, giving her a grin.  “We can come visit, right?  We can get to know each other then.  Because, honestly, you look like you’d have some AWESOME stories.”

Tatia hesitates.  “This is no longer my time, is it?” she says, hugging herself and looking around.

“Take your earbud,” Nico says to Superior.  “Call us whenever you want.  I’ll make you both a phone, soon, too.”

“You’re avoiding the fact that Kunnins might still be out there,” Superior says.

“No I’m not,” Nico says, “but I’m ignoring the fact that you want revenge. I’ll get it set up so you can video message the kids until they’re flying.  I’m sorry, though, that I’m running you off the moment you get here, Mom,” he says, heading to her.  “I’ll come to you, soon.”

“I... feel as if I have lost my baby,” Tatiana admits, looking into his eyes.  She pulls him into a hug, tears welling up.  “I am sorry, Nicolas,” she whispers.

“No, Mom, I’m the one that’s sorry,” he says, hugging her back.  “I did what had to be done, though.  I always do.”  He looks at Superior over Tatiana’s shoulder.  “I’ll take care of Kunnins.  Call me when you get to your secret place.”

There’s an expression on Superior’s face that says he wants to argue, but he merely nods.  “Fine
, tell me when you find him.”

“Agreed.”

***

We’re back.  I look around Grandpa’s lab for a moment, taking in all the glowing objects, the various half finished toys he’s left hanging around--and am grabbed by my father, lifted into the air and swung in a circle.  “Noelle,” he breathes out, hugging me tightly.

“Daddy,” I say, wrapping my arms around him as well.  For a long moment I just stay there, burying my face in his chest.  Then I’m pried out of his arms and hauled into my mother’s, where the process is repeated.  Until she puts me down and places her hands on her hips, giving me that “You are SO grounded, little lady” look.  Whoops.

“You are SO grounded,” she says.

“I know,” I say.

“You will be going to church, school, and home--anywhere else is out of the question
, and no music or television for three months!”

“You might make it longer,” Grandpa says, patting me on the shoulder.  “She’s come into her technopathy.”

Mom’s eyes widen and she lets out a squeal, sounding like a little girl as she hauls me up in a hug.  “My baby’s a technopath!” she brags.  “I told you she would be, Max!”

“She’s also got gravity powers,” Grandpa says a bit drolly.

“HAH, I told YOU--” Dad says.  “Wait--what?”

Now everyone’s staring at me.  I look down, staring at the floor and feeling embarrassed.

“Isn’t that a bit... dangerous?” Mom finally says.

“You’re tellin’ me,” Jason says, drawing their attention.  “Cleaning up after her is a pain in the neck, too.  She gets all over-dramatic and sends everything around her swirling and the electricity goes out.  She needs one of those bracelets like Aunt Morgan’s got,” he declares.  “Any norm that knows about her thinks she’s a D class cuz of that thing.  She says it’s a lot easier on everyone.”