When we got to the house, I led the way in. “I’m home!”

“Alix!” Grandma came hurrying over to check on me, pausing only a moment when she saw my mother. “You’re okay? Valiant called and said you were but… We were so worried!”

“I’m fine. And we have company, as you’ve noticed. She wanted to talk a minute.” Grandma nodded and led us to the living room, where the TV was on the news. I stopped and looked.

It was my standing up to the rouge, Jet and Hurricane backing away as I faced the building and spoke. I felt odd, watching that scene. I didn’t see what I expected to see, a young woman trying to be brave after a terrifying experience. Instead, for a brief moment, I was a little kid again, watching a strong hero stand up to evil even as others around her showed fear. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever look like the people I had grown up watching and admiring. Even on the broadcast, I could see faces light up with hope, relief, admiration.

“You grew up well,” my mother commented as she stepped into the room and saw what I was looking at. “I knew you would. You didn’t need me.”

“No, I managed without you. It’s not the same,” I answered quietly. “There were… So many nights I woke up screaming for you. So many days I came home from school and just wanted my mother. I coped. It doesn’t mean I didn’t need you.”

“You didn’t. You just thought you did.” There was something in her voice. I couldn’t quite tell what it was. Hurt? Anger? Sadness? “Even if you did then, you don’t now. You’re a strong young woman, out saving lives. You don’t need your mommy to help you.”

“Nonsense, Bella, dear,” Grandma cut in, her voice full of love. I still couldn’t look away from that image on the screen, even if it had since changed. “You still need me as much as you always have. You’ve just gone a bit astray, that’s all. Just like when you would get lost in the store as a child. Alix will never say it to you, but all she wants is her mother back.”

“No. All I want, now, is to put a stop to this before someone gets hurt. I gave up on getting my mother back years ago.” What was that voice? Who was that woman talking? “I want to protect people, keep them as safe as is reasonable. Keep villains from destroying their lives. Keep my friends safe. Keep my family, what I have left of it, safe.” There was fire in this voice, and determination. It was firm, solid, steady.“And… If I can, I want to save Micah from whatever this mess is. There has to be a way to get through to him and snap him out of whatever he’s after. Or help him get it in a better way.”

If I could sound like this, feel like this, could I really be as great a hero as Valiant or my dad? I felt like one, as I turned to face the two older women in the room. I felt like I could stop any threat, great or small, to the people of my city. Grandma smiled warmly at me, and my mother looked away. Was that a tear in her eye? No, she wouldn’t get emotional over a little speech.

And that speech! I didn’t do speeches! What had gotten into me? Who did I think I was?

“Just like your father,” my mother sighed, rubbing her face. Wiping her eyes? She turned and smiled ruefully at me. “He was always positive he could stop the world’s ills all by himself. Ultimately, that’s what did him in. Alix, not every rogue or villain can have a happy ending. Some of us delude ourselves into thinking we can settle down and grow old with someone, but it will always come crashing down. Micah won’t change just because you decide to try and help him. If he’s gone rogue, he’s gone.”

“Just because you’ve given up on the world doesn’t mean that everyone has, Belladonna,” I growled. Funny, I had never seen that look on my grandmother’s face before. Nothing ever seemed to startle her. It wasn’t fear, though. More… Concerned surprise. “I am going to do everything I can to help my cousin, because that’s what family does. We stick together and help each other. You may suck at that, but I don’t. I won’t abandon him.”

I don’t think she liked me using her villain name. Her face only got redder as I spoke. “You don’t even know him, idiot. He’s not the fun loving little guy you knew when you two were little. You haven’t the slightest idea what makes him tick, or how to negotiate with him. No one does.”

“Girls, that is enough. Bella, Alix is right, she has to try.” Grandma was always a voice of reason.

“No she doesn’t! She doesn’t need to throw herself into this and get herself killed! Not if I can stop that from happening!” I stared at my mother, confused. “I’m not going to watch her throw herself at the impossible, like Levi did!”

That confused me. No one had ever given me details of Dad’s final mission. “Wait… What do you mean? Dad just died in an accident, didn’t he?” My mother stopped, her face paling again as she looked away from me.

“He tried… He tried to stop a fire. A five story building fire that had been raging for too long. There… There were people trapped inside, children, and… No one was getting it under control. It was too large for a pyro to put out, but he tried it anyway.” Her voice was so soft, I had to strain to hear.

“They got all the civilians out, your father was the only death. You know how it is, dear. A pyro can redirect some of a large fire, but… Not control it completely. And to drain its power… There’s nowhere to go but into the pyro. That’s too much even for a fire resistant body to handle,” Grandma told me gently.

So, now I knew. Dad didn’t just die in an accident, he did the one thing all pyros knew was a death sentence. It was the real reason Hurricane couldn’t stop storms, according to her. Why an aquamancer couldn’t stop the tides, and terraformers couldn’t stop earthquakes. Energy couldn’t just disappear.

“I refuse to let you do something as stupid as he did. Micah clearly wants you dead. I will not let you make it easy for him. I’ll call in favors to have you locked away safely, if I have to.” 

Why was she acting so protective of me? “You disappeared from my life for 14 years. You walked away, then told everyone on national television that you have no family, no parents, no spouse, no children. Do you even understand what seeing that as a kid, at 16 and just starting to figure out who I was, did to me?” Why was I crying? I was over this. I’d been over this for a few years now. “You abandoned me, and Grandma, and Grandpa, and Dad’s memory, and for what? To go ‘rule the world’ or get rich or something? What do you even want as a villain, huh? You had everything you could ever need here, or were we just not good enough for you?” 

I saw Grandpa peeking into the room with a concerned look. Why hadn’t he jumped in before this? I knew he was pissed at her. Why wasn’t he in here, chewing her ass like he would do to me if I did something stupid?

“That’s not it-”

“Then what?! You said this wasn’t revenge, you wanted to cause change. Well, what change is more important to you than your own daughter? What change was worth missing all my school dances, my sports, my graduation? What could you possibly do without me that’s worth more than me, than us?” I couldn’t see her, or Grandma and Grandpa for the tears. I hadn’t cried like this since I watched her on TV, renouncing any family connections she had.

“You won’t understand, Alix. You won’t understand because you can’t understand. You have a hero’s way of thinking. You see things differently than I ever could, and I see things differently than you can.”

“You should try,” Grandpa scolded, his voice properly gruff. “You don’t know what people will understand if you aren’t brave enough to tell them. Alix is a smart girl. She knows villains tend to see things differently, different means to different ends. She isn’t afraid to admit that, either. But she at least tries to understand, so she can try to help people without causing more harm.”

I wiped my eyes to see my mother shaking her head, wiping her own eyes. “No. At least, not now. Not tonight. Alix… Why don’t you go rest? You’ve had a long day, too long. I want to talk to your grandparents for a few minutes before I leave.”

Grandma moved over to hug me and usher me out. “Go on, dear. Shower. Sleep. You’re exhausted, I can see it in your face. Bella won’t do anything to cause trouble, not tonight.”

“Okay… Goodnight, Grandma. I love you,” I said softly.

“I love you too, dear. Goodnight, and sleep tight.”