Unlikely Heroes

"I need you to throw those bricks at me."

Cal's head snapped up, his brows furrowing. "What?"

"I'm always practicing on things that aren't moving," Mikaela said. "I need to see how well I do while I and the objects in question are mobile."

"What if I hit you?"

"Then you'll burn in the eternal fires of hell. Come on, Bennett. Don't you want a little payback for all the bricks I threw at you?"

"I can think of other ways I'd like to settle our differences."

Mikaela smirked. "I'm not scared of a few bricks. Up." She grabbed his arm and tugged him to his feet, shoving a few bricks into his hands. She stepped back a few paces, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Turn invisible and keep moving," she instructed. Cal looked hesitant but did as she asked. Mikaela closed her eyes, trying to sense the bricks with her mind. She'd found that she didn't always need to physically see something in order to move it. She sensed a faint twinge of something along her consciousness and spun, turning the exercise into a sort of improvised dance recital. She tried to focus on controlling her own movements and still stopping the bricks from hitting her. A couple grazed her, and she heard Cal mutter a curse word every time one did.

After a while she called for Cal to stop and he reappeared. He was frowning ever so slightly but it turned into shock as Mikaela made a triumphant squeaking noise and hugged him briefly.

"That was amazing!" She beamed. She fairly waltzed over to the lunch table to take a drink from her water bottle.

"How long have you been dancing?" Cal asked.

"My mom enrolled me in a dance studio when I was five," Mikaela said, leaving out that it had just been a way to keep Mikaela out of her hair for a while. It was just fortunate that Mikaela had wound up loving it.

"What's this? Did the enigma that is Mikaela Chase just share something about herself with me?" Cal feigned shock and Mikaela rolled her eyes.

"I'm not an enigma."

"Come on, Your Highness. If we're gonna be friends we need to know stuff about each other."

"Who said we're going to be friends?" Mikaela asked, arching her eyebrow. Cal made a pouty face and Mikaela couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"Fine. What do you want to know? I'm not really that interesting."

"I don't believe that for a minute." Cal propped his elbows on the table and leaned back to study her.

"What's your favorite color?"

"Seriously? That's the best you can come up with?"

"I'm starting slow."

"Blue," Mikaela answered, carefully trying to ignore the fact that Cal was watching her with his own extremely blue eyes as she spoke.

"Why do you walk to school every day?"

Mikaela shrugged. "My dad uses the car to get to work, and when he goes on business trips he takes it and leaves it at the airport."

"What about your mom? How does she get to work?"

Mikaela hesitated, feeling her shoulders tense instantly. "She...hasn't been home in a long time," she said slowly, keeping her face blank. Cal seemed to sense that it wasn't an issue she wanted to talk about more and she was grateful that he didn't ask her to elaborate.

"All right, quit stalling by trying to unravel the layers of my life." Mikaela nudged him with her knee, shrugging off her gloom. "Get back to work or I'll make you drop and give me twenty."

"I told you I got kicked out of military school," Cal pointed out as she stood up.

"You were the one bragging about being able to do push ups like it was nothing," Mikaela retorted. "Keep giving me lip and I'll make you do forty."

"Yes, ma'am." Cal saluted her and she laughed again.

"I thought you said you didn't take orders well," she said, lifting the discarded bricks into the air and making them twirl in little circles.

"None of my teachers looked as good as you do in a mini skirt."

Mikaela rolled her eyes but found that Cal's teasing didn't annoy her like it used to.

"Well enjoy it while you can, because the weather's getting colder and pretty soon I'll have to be relegated to skinny jeans."

"Damn the weather."

"Oh, and I won't be able to come for practice tomorrow," she said, startled to find that the idea actually made her feel disappointed. "I'm doing some teacher's aide stuff for Mrs. Scarconi and I have to help her grade some freshman's essays." She grimaced.

"Teacher's pet," Cal teased. Mikaela stuck her tongue out at him.

"I should spend a little extra time at work anyway," he said and Mikaela cocked her head in surprise.

"You have a job?"

"Yes, Princess Mikaela. I do actually contribute more to society than my dashing good looks."

"Well that's a relief. Cause you're not that good looking anyway, Casanova."

Cal looked wounded. "I'll have you know I'm absolutely adorable. It's Calanova to you."

Mikaela groaned. "Oh my god, Calvin. I didn't know you could stoop so low."

"You drove me to it with your hurtful comments."

"I'm just trying to keep you humble."

"So you do think I'm good looking." Cal smirked. Mikaela was fairly certain Cal didn't need reassurances from her about his own attractiveness. Still, he hooked up off the bench and went invisible. Mikaela saw the impish gleam in his eye and had only a split second to brace herself before Cal reappeared right next to her, grabbing her around the waist and tickling her.

"Cal! Stop it!" she shouted in between her raucous giggles as she tried to wriggle free.

"Admit I'm adorable and I'll let you go."

"I'll never surrender!"

"Suit yourself."

But she couldn't endure the merciless tickling for long. She cracked and gasped, "okay, fine! You're adorable now stop it!"

Cal grinned and released her. Mikaela took a few moments to catch her breath.

"You know you used excessive force to make me answer you," she said.

"Whatever works. Hey!"

Mikaela had made his jacket hood come up, pulling it over his head and tightening the draw strings so he couldn't see. She laughed as he struggled to get it off, tightening the strings again every time he got them loose.

"This is not responsible super hero behavior," he mumbled. Mikaela finally relented and untied the strings. Cal's hair was mussed and the look on his face reminded her of a wet cat.

"It was justified retaliation," she said, still grinning. "All's fair in love and war, Bennett."

"So then this is fair too?" Cal slid an arm around her waist again, pulling her forward and bending to kiss her. Her arms almost automatically went around his neck. She didn't know what it was about Cal. She'd made out with plenty of guys before but they didn't generally have any real effect on her. Cal's kisses made her want to melt into him and stay there. She felt slightly dizzy when he pulled back.

"Yes," she said quietly. "That's fair too."

"Good to know." He smirked again and released her, returning to his practice of phasing in and out of the school thought the wall. Mikaela's lips were still tingling and she found that as she turned back to her pile of bricks, she couldn't stop smiling.



The next day Mikaela really wished she had stayed home. Derek, Jeff, and their friend Mikey were clustered around the school entrance before the first bell, playing a graphic game of Would You Rather? while she, Sadie, Devon and Janice stared at them in disgust.

"You realize none of these scenarios matter, simply because none of these celebrities would ever fuck or marry you idiots?" Mikaela said. "Although if Jessica Alba married Derek and gave him herpes that would be really hilarious."

"But then I'd just pass it on to you, babe. Cause we all know you'd be my side bitch."

"I am not a side dish. I'm the main fucking course," Mikaela said haughtily.

"Please. No one's ever gonna wife a girl like you," Derek replied. She cocked her head.

"What do you care anyway, Der? Now that the Supreme Court made gay marriage legal across the board you can finally shack up happily with Jeff and decorate nurseries together."

Derek and Jeff scowled while the girls and Mikey snickered.

"Go fuck yourself, Mikaela," Derek grumbled.

"Well someone has to do it right," she retorted sweetly, blowing him a kiss and then flipping him off. The bell rang and she flounced into the school, leaving a still glowering Derek in her wake. She was relieved when the end of the school day came and she plopped herself beside Mrs. Scarconi's desk. They worked mostly in silence, but Mikaela didn't mind. She found the quiet a nice change from her friends' constant pointless chatter. She didn't even realize how late it had gotten until Mrs. Scarconi nudged her, gently taking the pen out of her hand.

"You should go home and get some sleep, honey. You look like you'll go cross eyed if you try to read one more essay."

"See you tomorrow, Mrs. Scarconi." Mikaela stifled a yawn and gathered her bag, heading outside to begin the long trek home. She should have left earlier. She'd be dog tired by the time she got there. She was halfway across the empty parking lot when headlights blinded her. She raised a hand to shield her face, seeing a large silhouette walking her way.

"Derek," she said, recognizing him as he drew closer. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, Mikaela." He yanked her roughly against his chest and she could smell the beer on his breath. Annoyed, she pushed away from him.

"You're drunk," she said flatly. "Go sleep it off and leave me alone."

She tried to walk away but he caught her arm, dragging her back.

"Come on, Mikaela. Quit holding out on me. We're good together and you know it."

"Derek, let me go."

He forced her chin up and kissed her roughly. Now furious, Mikaela shoved him back hard. That just made him laugh.

"Mikaela why are you even trying to play hard to get? We all know you always say yes." He pulled her towards the car, and she realized Jeff was behind the wheel, Mikey riding shotgun. Panic flooded her and she tried to wrench free of Derek's grip. She stumbled and almost fell but Derek didn't let go of her arm. He practically threw her into the backseat of the car and climbed in after her, pinning her to the seat.

"Derek, let me go," she said, trying not to sound hysterical. Pressure was rapidly building behind her eyes and her heart had kicked into overdrive.

"Oh, we will Mikaela. We'll let you go. Just not quite yet." Derek pressed his lips against hers again and she twisted her head away, stomach lurching.

"Yeah, Mikey and I wanna see what all the fuss is about," Jeff added from the driver's seat. He started the car and the pressure in her head became unbearable. The car swerved violently through the parking lot, sending Derek smashing against Jeff's seat.

"The fuck are you doing, man?" he snapped, wincing as he sat up.

"It's not me!" Jeff said, sounding vaguely panicked. "I can't control the wheel!"

The car accelerated, and Mikaela knew she was the one doing it. But she couldn't make it stop. All three of the guys were yelling now. She curled in on herself as the car slammed full force into the side of the gymnasium building. Airbags deployed. Glass shattered. The yelling stopped. Mikaela raised her head, blinking in the darkness. They were all unconscious. Derek had been flung forward, hitting his head on the dashboard. Hands trembling, Mikaela pulled her phone out of her bag and held it up. They were all bleeding, and Mikey's arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. Mikaela fumbled for one of their cell phones, dialing 911 on the cracked screen.

"911, what is your emergency?"

"There's been an accident at Ben Franklin High School," she croaked.

"Miss, are you injured?"

"Just send an ambulance." Mikaela hung up and the phone fell from her hand. She kicked open the slightly mangled door and climbed out of the car. Then she ran. She didn't stop running until she'd made it back to her own house, and then she promptly collapsed on the bathroom floor and retched until her stomach was empty. She felt wetness on her face and realized she'd been crying. Mikaela was terrified that she had killed them. They may have been assholes, but she didn't want to think that her power could get that out of control. Feeling disconnected from her own body, she climbed into the shower and stood under the pounding hot spray until it turned lukewarm.

She grabbed the first set of pajamas she could find and then crawled into bed, staring at the ceiling. Morning came and she couldn't make herself get out of bed. Soon text messages came flooding in as news spread about Derek, Jeff and Mikey. She cautiously read one from Janice.

OMG did you hear?? The guys crashed Jeff's car last nite!! They're all in the hospital!! :(

Mikaela put her phone on silent, pulling the covers back over her head to block the world out.