Unlikely Heroes

Mikaela was in the middle of a pop quiz on the periodic table when her phone started vibrating incessantly in her pocket. She slipped it out under the desk while the teacher was gone, finding several texts from Cal saying she needed to come meet him in the parking lot right away.

kind of in class, Cal she typed back.

fake illness or women troubles. Leon says this is important. Life or death important

Holding back an annoyed sigh, Mikaela hurriedly filled in her last three answers and approached the front desk.

"I'm not feeling well," she said quietly, doing her best to look pathetic. "Can I please go to the nurse?"

"Sure. I hope you feel better." Mr. Lachlan was already scribbling a hall pass for her. The perk of being a good student was teachers never suspected you were bullshitting them. Mikaela took the pass and hurried to the parking lot, where Cal was waiting and tapping his foot restlessly.

"What's this all about?" Mikaela demanded. Cal grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the bus stop.

"I don't know yet," he said. "Leon just stressed to me that this is very urgent and he said you need to be there too. He wouldn't be freaking out this bad if it wasn't something serious."

"It better be, if I'm missing class for this," Mikaela grumbled.

"You're such a nerd." Cal rolled his eyes but he was smiling slightly as he laced his fingers through hers. They were mostly silent on the bus ride to meet Leon; both lost in thought and wondering what could be making Leon act so strange. Stranger than usual, anyway. He was pacing restlessly when they arrived and he practically sprinted to meet them as Cal held up the broken piece of fence for Mikaela.

"What took you so long?" he demanded.

"Neither of us has super speed, you know," Cal said.

"Whatever. I was thinking about what you said the other day when we..." he trailed off, shooting a sheepish look at Mikaela, who could feel her expression turning to one of annoyance. Cal was glaring at Leon as if to say "don't bring it up, stupid."

Leon cleared his throat and continued. "Well anyway the thing you said the other day, I was thinking about it. So I did a little sleuthing. I've been sniffing around cause Vito keeps talking about the case and they're pretty sure the guy who shot Brett is part of the same gang you guys busted at the prep school. Apparently there's been talk that they have it out for the 'super heroes.' That means they were never after Brett in the first place. They were after you."

Leon's voice has grown steadily louder and he started gesturing wildly with his hands and Mikaela stepped back before she got smacked.

"You think they were there to kill Cal?" she said, almost reflexively reaching out to touch Cal's arm.

"I imagine they plan to kill you too," Leon said. "Brett and Cal looked a lot alike; you don't look like Dana at all. They must have mistaken Brett for Cal but knew Dana wasn't you. But eventually they're going to realize they got the wrong guy, if they haven't already. They're not gonna stop till you're dead."

Mikaela had never seen Leon seem so strained and anxious before. She imagined the idea of his remaining friends meeting the same fate as Brett must be weighing hard on him. She glanced at Cal, tightening her grip on his arm when she saw how pale and tense he looked.

"He died for absolutely no reason," Cal said between clenched teeth. "He died because the dumb mother fucker's thought he was me."

"Cal." Mikaela shoved him over to one of the picnic tables and forced him to sit down. His eyes looked unfocused and the blue seemed to have turned a darker shade. Mikaela sat next to him and took his face in her hands.

"Cal," she said gently. "Look at me, now."

He blinked and focused on her face. "He died for no reason," he repeated flatly.

"I know. And I'm so, so sorry Cal. But it's not your fault and I need you to keep your head straight and not go off doing anything rash."

"I can't sit here and do nothing while those bastards are still out there," Cal bit out.

"They want you dead, Cal," Mikaela whispered. "You can't just go rushing into anything without thinking. We won't be doing nothing. I promise, we're going to do something about this. But I need you to keep a clear head right now. I need you, Cal. You can't go charging off half cocked and get yourself killed. Because then Leon and I will do something equally rash and probably get ourselves killed too."

Cal blinked once, twice. Then something in his eyes changed and he looked more like his normal self. He took a deep breath and let it out in a huff.

"Okay," he said. "You're right. We need a plan first."

"And you're going to stick to that plan," Mikaela added firmly. "Both of you. And don't even think for one minute of making a secret plan of your own and trying to go take care of this without me because I will find out and if you survive, I'll kill you myself."

"So what do we do now?" Cal asked.

"We make a plan," Leon declared. "I'll get everything I can from Vito and his files and everything I've recorded or made copies of already. I've been digging up info on this gang. We can all meet tomorrow and figure out what we're going to do. We're going to nail these fuckers to the wall."

Mikaela had never seen such a hard, flinty look in Leon's eyes before. She didn't want him or Cal to get hurt but she worried that their emotions might get the best of them in the end. She'd just have to make sure she remained a solid voice of reason. They agreed to meet at a pizza parlor near the public library the next afternoon before piling into Leon's car. Cal sat in the back next to her; with his head in his hands the whole way back to her house and she was, again, at a loss for how to comfort him.

"Maybe you should stay with Leon tonight," she suggested. "You guys need each other to get through this."

Cal frowned and opened his mouth to protest by Mikaela gently laid a finger agains his lips. "I'll be okay," she told him. "Go be with your friend for a little while. He needs you too, Cal."

Finally he relented and nodded. Mikaela kissed him before sliding out of the car. She managed a weak smile as Cal climbed into the passenger seat.

"You two behave," she ordered. It felt strange being in the house alone with her father. They hadn't spent much time in each other's company for quite a while and then Cal was always with her. Dread settled in her chest just like it always did and she squirreled herself away in her room to avoid him. She fell asleep reading Much Ado About Nothing and was almost late to school the next morning. She had practice after class, so she texted Cal to let him know she was going home to shower before she met him and Leon at Slice of Heaven.

She was disappointed to see her dad's car in the driveway; he hadn't left for his next business trip yet. She didn't see him when she entered the house and assumed he was passed out or packing in his room. She froze stiff in the doorway of her bedroom when she saw him sitting in her bed with a stack of papers in his hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I came in here to look around, since you spent the weekend with that punk kid. Now I know why you're dating him." His lip curled as he gestured to the shopping bags in her closet. Mikaela pursed her lips but said nothing. She could smell the Jack on his breath from where she stood. He threw the papers toward her, scattering them across the floor and she realized they were the brochures and essay questions she had collected from Stanford, UCLA, and University of Southern California. The schools she had applied to. Her heart sank into her feet.

"What are these?" Paul demanded.

"They're just school paraphernalia," Mikaela said quietly. "There were a bunch of college recruiters at school at the beginning of the year and they all handed out brochures and things."

"These are all in California," he said icily. "You really are just like your worthless mother. You're going to up and leave me here too?"

"Mom left because you drove her away," Mikaela snapped, before she could stop herself. "You had to know I wasn't going to spend my life with a violent drunk, either."

The air in her room seemed almost electrically charged for a heartbeat. Then Paul lunged at her, faster than she would have expected since he was drunk. He slammed her hard against the wall and she let out a hiss of pain.

"I don't care who your boyfriend's daddy is," he growled. "You're not going to talk to me like that."

He shoved her backwards and her foot met air as she tumbled down the stairs. She hit the bottom in a daze, her side and head throbbing. She heard Paul's thundering steps as he came down after her and she flipped onto her back and scrambled away from him.

"You think you can just leave without a word like your mother did? I won't stand for it, Mikaela."

"Then sit down for it," she retorted. She lashed out with her power, sending a lamp from the end table fly through the air and slam into his chest. He stumbled back, for once stunned into silence. The lamp swing through the air in an arc, whacking him on the back of the head. He swayed for a moment then fell forward with a dull thud. Mikaela tentatively crawled toward him, heart pounding.

"Don't be dead, you fucking bastard," she muttered. She placed two fingers against his neck and found a steady pulse. She sat back, wincing as sharp pain ripped through her left side. She touched it gently and found that it was tender. She sighed. It was definitely going to bruise; she may even have a cracked rib. Her shoulder would probably bruise too. Her phone rang, making her jump.

"Hello?" she said breathlessly.

"Are you coming?" Cal asked.

"Um, yeah. I'll be on my way in a few minutes."

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. I'll be there soon. Love you." She hung up then fished her father's phone out of his pocket. She set an alarm and turned the volume on high.

"Don't miss your flight, you stupid jack ass." She took a quick shower, grimacing at the bluish-purple spreading across her side. She dressed gingerly, pulling a jacket over her sweater to keep her shoulder hidden. Paul was still knocked out on the floor when she came down, and she stood staring down at him for a few minutes.

"Hopefully you chalk the flying lamp up to you being bombed off your ass," she said. "And we can pretend this never happened."

She pulled out her phone and texted Cal to let him know she was on her way. Then she put the lamp back in its rightful place and hurried out the door.