Electra

"I don't know!" Stesha told him, sounding a little shocked. "I had no idea anyone was still alive on this planet. When I got here, it seemed so plain that no one could've survived here. There just... there wasn't anything here," she tried to explain. "Even the Freedom League classified this as an extinct world. If there are people here, then I'm intruding, and perhaps I should leave the world to them. But that seems so unkind. They obviously need help! I don't know if I can give them the help they need, though." She shook her head, then rubbed her hands over her face. "The giant bees were one thing. Actual human beings... I don't know if I'm ready for a colony of them," she admitted.

"That would be too complex to manage," Miss A told him, smiling as she watched him watching the birds. It was nice to see how much he enjoyed the zoo, and made her appreciate it more as well. "If you do come back, sometime in the spring or the fall, I'll take you flying during the migration season. Then you'll be able to see some big flocks of birds. What kind of animals do they have where you live?" she asked. "Besides the urban avians?"

"There are awful things that happen in the world," Miss A agreed. "We have to do everything we can to try and prevent the bad things, and to keep doing good to balance out the bad. The elephants who live here will live their lives in safety and plenty, and by being here, help average people learn to care about their relatives in the wild. Why don't we go look at something else?" she suggested, seeing how agitated he still looked. "We could go to the aviary and see some birds less likely to try and eat you," she joked lightly.

There was a brief stirring within the crowd, but no one seemed to want to step forward. Finally, a young man, probably younger than Trevor, stepped forward. He was dressed the same as most of the crowd, but seemed to have sturdier footwear. Shoes in the group ranged from worn but serviceable shoes and old boots to makeshift wooden soles with rags around them. The ten or so children didn't seem to have shoes at all. "We, uh, we come from south of here, down in the caves by the aquifer, three days trip. I found this place when I was scouting, and, uh, I never saw anything like it before. Not like any of this place." The waved an arm to indicate the whole area. "We didn't know it was already yours, so the whole group came up. We... we can get out of here, you just gotta give us a little time, please? We got old and young, and some hurt." Stesha stared at the group, still seeming dumbfounded by the magnitude of this discovery. "No,"she murmured distractedly, "you don't have to leave. Just... would you excuse me a minute?" Without saying any more, she turned and hurried away, back towards the trees.

With a squawk of triumph, the kea bolted, Sharl's projector clutched in its curved beak. It raced across the enclosure, with Sharl forced to follow or risk being discorporated! A couple bits of plastic chipped off the outside of the projector, even as Miss A and the keeper hastened to the rescue. "Grab it by the feet, Sharl!" Miss A advised, trying to maintain her cover and Sharl's corporeality at the same time. "Don't let it get into the trees!"

Obviously intimidated, the man backed down, looking like he would like to run into the enclosure with the others, but he stood his ground. "This is our place," he said again. "You're strong, you go find your own. This place, there's lots of trees, good water, clean air. But we found this first." Stesha sighed. "All right," she said, "first off, we don't want to hurt you. Second off, you may have found this place, but who do you think built it to start with? This is my place." With that, she waved a hand and swept an entire section of the wall back like a curtain, just as a small demonstration of power. It was hard to decide who was more startled at the view, Stesha herself, or the more than two dozen people in the enclosure. The man won that contest, yelling as though he'd seen a demon and running straight through the open wall and into the dubious safety of the crowd.

It helped that this was a school day, so while Sharl was surrounded by small children, at least there were no other teenagers looking on and judging him. And with Miss Americana right there, not a lot of the grownup guys there paid him any attention at all. Miss A gave him some quarters to buy food for the animals, letting him experience the odd feel of sheep and goats eating out of his hand, and then took him into the avian enclosure, where a particularly determined kea chased him around, trying to eat his imaginary shoelaces!

Stesha nodded; that, at least, was a tactic she understood and could wield effectively. Stepping around the corner, she kept her hands down and turned out nonthreateningly, even as she tried to get the measure of the situation. "Hello!" she called. "I see you've found my enclosure. My name is Fleur de Joie, what's yours?" The instant Stesha began to speak, the two adults by the fire jerked to attention. The woman immediately ran for the enclosure, while the man, who appeared to be unarmed, nonetheless took up a fighting stance. "This is our place!" he announced boldly. "We found it, you can't have it! Go away!"

"It's not just that," Miss A told him with a smile, watching the big cats herself. "Lions are endangered here, there aren't very many left in the wild. Not every city that might want to keep endangered animals can get them. First they have to show that they're capable of taking care of them, and that they'll raise and breed them only for the good of the species. Look at that one over there," she indicated, pointing to one of the lionesses. "She's gravid now, she'll have her cubs in another month or so. You should come back then, there's not much cuter than a lion cub."

"You can call me Fleur," she reminded him, not unkindly. "Or even Stesha, if you want, but we're sort of on the job now, it seems." She did slow down a bit at his warning, looking around the corner with him before making their approach. The man at the fire had now been joined by a similarly dressed woman, the two of them holding a low-voiced conversation. "They've gotten into my supplies," Stesha murmured, noting the MRE packages strewn about, but she didn't seem upset about that. From somewhere inside the enclosure, a baby cried, and another voice rose to soothe it. "There must be more inside." Stesha looked over at Trevor. "Honestly, you're more experienced with this sort of thing that I am. What do you suggest we do?"

"They have larger enclosures outdoors," Miss A explained to him, "but they don't like the cold weather in the winter. The keepers give them enrichment toys and exercises to keep them busy and entertained." She pointed into one enclosure, where some fisher cats were batting a ball out of the little stream running through their cage. "It might not be as thrilling as being out running free, but they have all their needs met, and they're safe here." She led him around to the large glass wall that looked into the lion house. "Freedom City is lucky, not all zoos have a whole pride of adult lions."

It was a nice day for a trip to the zoo, at least, as nice as it was going to get in the middle of winter in New Jersey. The sky was clear and the temperature had reached the forties, melting the snow and bringing adventurous families out to see their favorite animals. It also brought Sharl and Miss A, neither of whom were much bothered by the cold, out to look as well. Sharl had hoped Gina might come with them, but she was very sensitive to cold weather and didn't want to go out. Miss A was dressed in civilian clothes today, so they landed well outside the zoo and walked in like all the rest of the people. Even in jeans, a blouse, and a light jacket, she attracted a lot of attention. "So Sharl," she asked, "what would you like to see first?"

Stesha looked absolutely baffled by the news that her world wasn't empty. "But... I've been here for months!" she objected. "I've looked at every inch of the surface for hundreds and hundreds of miles! If there were survivors, I would've seen them. There must be some other explanation," she decided firmly. "Maybe he comes from some other world himself." Intent to get to the root of the mystery, she strode forwards, obviously intent upon marching in and getting some straightforward answers.

As Midnight moved around the building, he became aware of the sound of voices and the smell of cooking food, all of which was quite odd on a planet that was supposed to be uninhabited. When he looked around the last corner, he saw the cause of the smoke, a campfire with a pot on a tripod over it. The source of the wood was obvious as well; there were several felled trees on the edge of the clearing, the branches stripped and the trunk split for firewood. As he continued to watch, a man came up to the fire and stirred the pot with a stick, then warmed his bare hands near the fire. He didn't look like a dimensional traveler or a misplaced Freedom City refugee. He had long hair and a full mustache and beard, and wore clothes that were a strange mix of extremely worn manufactured boots and jacket, and a shirt and trousers that looked to be homespun and handmade.

"You can scout ahead, but I'll be right behind you," Stesha told the young man firmly. "I am still a superhero myself, after all." She tugged off her fuzzy mittens and dropped them into a nearby bush, which obligingly swallowed them up with a rustle of leaves. "I hope the bees haven't been setting any fires. They don't usually venture out into this area unless they're visiting me." Upon closer inspection, it was possible to discern thin plumes of smoke rising up from beyond the building, on the far side where it was impossible to see anything on the ground from here.

"Then slow sounds like a good idea," Stesha agreed thoughtfully. "You both have plenty of time to decide where you want to go and what you're going to do with your lives. And it isn't like you don't have plenty keeping both of you busy at this point! If you give it enough time, you'll both be able to decide if a relationship is what you want in the long run... wait a moment." She stopped as they reached the top of the hill and cleared the treeline. "Something is different. Do you smell that smoke?" Ahead of them was a large cleared area, one that Stesha had apparently designed herself, given the relative neatness of the treeline and grooming of the winter-dead grass. In the center of the clearing was a very large, low-slung building, perhaps a story and a half high but as long and wide as a football field, with walls made of plants in the same way she'd built her house. The most striking part, by far, was the roof, which was made of some clear substance and faceted like a crystal, makng the whole building look a little bit like a massive square-cut emerald that gleamed in the sunlight. And indeed the air did smell of smoke, but not of burnt circuits or an electrical fire. It smelled like wood smoke.

"Oh, that's nice," Stesha told him with a sweet smile. "It seems like you would have a lot in common, and it's always a plus to have that special teamwork. Heroing can be such lonely work, especially if your team is breaking up. I remember when the Knights of Freedom broke up, Derrick was really at loose ends for awhile, but he still had me, and he had friends in the business, and it helped. Of course, the circumstances were totally different," she added with a wave of her hand. "I'm sure you'll all still be friends even after you graduate. So are you and Wander making any plans together for after graduation?"

"Wander, she's the tall girl, right?" Stesha asked, giving her companion an appraising look. Unless she very much missed her guess, here was the source of Trevor's blushing. "I haven't seen much of her in the news write-ups, but she seems nice. I suppose if you go to school here in the city, you two will still see a lot of each other, then," she commented casually. She didn't make any comment on the foolishness of the Freedom League, since she was, after all, a bit biased.

With the little ones squared away, the bridesmaids came down the aisle next, each with a stunning bouquet of blue roses and silved-edged white lilies that were obviously the work of the bride herself. Taylor was first, looking lovely in a simple silver gown, the eye of Heshem snug around her throat as usual. She was followed by two women who looked quite a lot like a younger and then an older version of Stesha herself, except they were both still blonde. The trio of bridesmaids lined up opposite the groomsmen, and then the string quartet were joined by the organist for the traditional strains of the Wedding March. Almost as one, the crowd rose to its feet. In her full white gown, Stesha looked like a bit like a lily herself, one at the peak of bloom. Those who were familiar with dresses might note that there were extra decorations at the waist and down the front of the dress, but that was partially concealed by the large and lustrous bouquet she carried. She'd eschewed a veil in favor of an elaborately curled and pinned hairstyle under a circlet of white flowers. Her father, a handsome man in his mid-sixties, beamed as he escorted her down the aisle, but it was obvious that her gaze and her smile were focused on only one man in the entire room. At the front of the church, Derrick watched his bride approach with equal raptness, looking a little joyful, a little staggered, but not nervous anymore. At the front of the church, Stesha kissed her father on the cheek, laughed at whatever he murmured to her, and then turned to Derrick as her hand was placed in his. In that moment, for the two of them, the packed church might as well have been empty. The minister smiled benevolently at them and began the ceremony. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..." The words were familiar, a traditional wedding service slightly modernized for the sake of equality, but hewing closely to the well-established. Despite their unusual line of work, Derrick and Stesha were surprisingly traditional people. Those listening closely did notice that the couple chose to omit the part about objections, just to minimize the chance of interruption to the ceremony.

She smiled at him, one that was a little more crooked and somehow more genuine than most of her smiles. "I hope it works out for you, and that you're very happy," she told him honestly. "I can't step into your shoes, but I know a little bit of what it's like to have people judge you based on what you look like, instead of what you are like. Let me know if the projector ever gives you any trouble, or if you need a hand. You know how to get in touch with me, right?"

"I see," Stesha said, trying to conceal her amusement at Trevor's sudden blush, since that was obviously what it was. Apparently he knew exactly what she was talking about when she spoke about the best kind of teamwork. Well, it wouldn't be high school without romances and puppy love. She couldn't help but be a little curious. "Even within a team, some bonds are going to be tighter than others, I imagine. Are you all going to stay in touch after graduating?"

"It feels good, doesn't it?" Stesha said, not really a question, with a smile that told him she understood. "Even with powers, and in places that are familiar to you, it's good to have people you know you can count on. That's why I came to Freedom City in the first place, really. I did a lot of practicing in Chicago, but there weren't enough heroes there for it to really be a community. In Freedom City, I was able to make friends and contacts, join a super-team. And I met Derrick." Her smile softened. "Which is the best kind of teamwork." With the offending plant dispatched, Stesha resumed progress towards the enclosure, following the line of the electric cable. "I actually haven't met most of Young Freedom, but I've heard all sorts of impressive things. I know Derrick thinks highly of all of you."

"You can use it whenever you want," she told him. "It's yours now, your secret identity, to do with as you will. You don't even have to hold onto the Harrier identity anymore if you don't want to. Tell anyone you trust that you're taking on a new identity and why, then just let go of that name. Sometimes it's easier to just start over from scratch. But you don't have to do that right away," she added, not wanting to make him too nervous. "It's your choice."

"Oh, you're more than welcome, I was glad you could make it," Stesha replied, stopping for a moment to take a closer look at a small and innocuous-looking evergreen bush. "Mm, furze, that's invasive," she noted disapprovingly, pointing finger at the bush as though to scold it. The plant withered instantly, becoming brittle, dry, and dead in a matter of seconds. The branches cracked and fell apart, adding to the cover of humus on the forest floor. Straightening up, she turned her attention back to Trevor. "We were both happy to have so many of our friends from the hero community there. It meant a lot to us. Derrick and I both have had opportunities to work with you and Mark, so it was especially nice. You're teammates on Young Freedom, aren't you?"

"You look perfect," Miss A said with considerable professional pride, looking him over and scanning him at the same time. "Sufficiently sophisticated instruments will be able to pick up on the fact that you're projecting a hologram, but most people don't carry those around with them. For the purposes of the people of Freedom City and the heroes you'll meet, you can just be Caradoc, protector of the weak and upholder of justice. It's a good look on you."