Title: Chapter Ten: Not The End

Series: Emesen’s Child

Author: Jennifer Lee

Email: jesca10@attbi.com

Web: http://home.attbi.com/~jesca10/ *Fictitious*

Disclaimer: All characters are the property of the author and are not to be reproduced without express consent.

Rating: G

Summery: Sometimes it's either let go or drown.

Author’s Notes: This is the end of this section, but not the book. The next section will deal with the main hero of this story. I'll have more when I can. Please email me if you want to put this or any of my stories on your website. I never say no, but I like knowing which sites are supporting my writing. Thanks!



Emesen’s Child 10: Not The End
by Jennifer Lee

“So correct me if I’m wrong, Sandy, but you were having lunch with Carl Williams again, weren’t you?” Sarah looked at her, almost accusingly, as they sat in the lobby of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority house. A couple of the other girls that were in the room stopped talking and either looked over at her or came over to find out the skinny.

“You aren’t wrong,” she said, smiling. She did so love to stir things up, and she knew she had been lately. She’d been seen with Carl Williams many times, and not only that, but she had even invited him to sit next to her and Darien at the ‘cool table’.

Darien had held onto his popularity after Sandy left him and dating a well-known model like Christie Stockwell didn’t hurt, either. Sandy was glad his reputation wasn’t damaged by her decision, but she knew when she had seen them together again, that she had made the right one.

Inviting Carl over had been partly for herself and partly for Darien. Since Darien had stopped competing with Carl for Sandy’s attention, their relationship had improved dramatically. Besides, Sandy figured that being Carl’s friend had its perks.

“So are you taking out stock in Losers-R-Us or what?” Nickie, another sorority sister, said. She was a cute little redhead who was by no means a leader. She didn’t even have enough air in her head to constitute an original thought and Sandy knew it.

“Are you serious?” Sandy asked in such a way that left everyone believing that she would consider her stupid if they didn’t see the wisdom in what she was doing. “I already told you. I’m keeping my options open.”

“Ew. For Carl Williams?” Nickie asked, looking around for support. Most of the others looked confused as well, but they didn’t say anything, afraid of looking stupid in front of Sandy Blaire.

“I think he’s cute,” Marcy said, also looking around for some supporters.

“Yeah, he’s cute, in a totally clueless sort of way,” Sandy said, giggling. A couple of other girls giggled with her. She wanted to roll her eyes at them. Half the time these brainless twits annoyed her, but they were a necessity for her. If she was going to maintain her social status, she needed followers. She knew she couldn’t be a trendsetter without people willing to follow the trend. “But no. I’m not keeping my options open for Carl. But, he is friends with Polaris and if Polaris likes him, he can’t be all bad, right?”

Sarah groaned and rolled her eyes. She was still a little upset about not being able to see Polaris when he came to their school, but at the time she was so upset from her break-up with Steve, that she didn’t think she could go. She knew Sandy had a big thing for Polaris, and she was convinced Sandy was going to give up some good dating years for something she didn’t have a chance with. Of course, Sarah wasn’t very concerned about Sandy volunteering to take herself out of the dating pool. More guys for me, she thought.

The other girls all nodded and smiled, understanding what Sandy now saw in Carl Williams. With the gossip delivered, many of them went their own direction.

Sandy felt a little bad about what she had said. Part of it was true, but she really was getting to know and like Carl Williams just for him. He was a sweet guy, albeit a little lost at times.

She had appreciated his friendship while she finished up her stay on Mount Royale. He had shown her around the valley while Darien and Christie got reacquainted. They had gone swimming in the swimming hole and she had listened to Carl talk about the future of NorthStar.

She found it amusing that although he would never eat chicken, like Polaris, eggs were one of his main staples. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that if he left the eggs alone they would hatch in to other chickens.

She had learned a lot about him though. Lying in the grass, staring up at the clear blue sky, Carl had told her a little about his childhood. She was shocked to find that at twelve years old his father had left and had never come back. Since then, Carl had been trying to maintain his poor chicken ranch by himself with no money and no help. She didn’t know how he did it, but she started to see the beginning of some of Carl’s social problems. But what was even more astonishing to Sandy than these problems was his attitude. He never seemed to curse his luck or say bad things about his father for leaving him. Instead he put his chin up, faced the problems head on, and showed Sandy a little of the strong character that made up Carl Williams. She didn’t know if she could have done what he had, and he impressed her.

When school had started again, she had tried to make Carl feel more included. She started waving him over to sit by her when she saw him in the cafeteria and she didn’t try to avoid him in the halls. He walked her to class on occasion and she sometimes followed him to classes. She was having fun just hanging out with him and she hoped that in the end, as well as having a good friend, she would have Polaris.

She knew that Carl knew, and it had become her new mission to get a real date with Polaris and prove to him that she was the one he was meant to be with. Either that, or she was going to try to get his identity. If she knew who he was then she could pursue him out of costume, without him being aware that she knew.

She looked around her at the other girls in the sorority. They were busy chatting away with each other about clothes and makeup and boys. She smiled a little. Part of her felt like a queen sitting at court, and she fully intended to rule this school and go down in its history as the girl who got Polaris.

*~*~*~*

Sandy watched as Carl slowly wormed his way into everyone’s affections. His steady stream of comedy and his off beat way of thinking had worked their charms on many of Sandy’s friends. She was amazed with how much he had come along in the last few weeks of hanging out with Sandy. She was equally amazed at how little he had really changed.

Carl never seemed to compromise the things that made him who he was. He didn’t stop wearing his flannel shirts and beat up jeans to opt for more stylish clothes. His hair was still kind of shaggy, as he always seemed to need a haircut. The only real difference now was that he seemed to be the mascot of Sandy’s group. He was the little brother everyone protected from bullies, but didn’t really take him seriously. But it was still a step up from where he had been, socially.

Sandy smiled and looked down at her fries. She looked around for the mustard and groaned when she didn’t find any. She never ate fries without mustard. In fact, there was rarely something she ate without mustard.

Sandy excused herself and got up to retrieve some mustard from the next table.

“Why don’t you just seduce him?” she heard from behind her.

Sandy turned to see Darien looking down at her. She smiled, confused.

“Seduce who?”

“Carl.”

Sandy laughed a little and then stopped when she realized he was serious.

“Did you hit your head?” She playfully tried to feel for a bump and Darien ducked his head away from her.

“I’m serious. He’d probably tell you if you seduced him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sandy replied, as she looked away.

“Uh-huh.”

“Look,” Sandy said, “he’s gone all this time without asking me to marry him and without me having to hurt his feelings. Why would I want to bring all that up again by making him think something that isn’t true?”

“For a date with Polaris.” Darien smiled at her and then turned when he saw Christie walk in. He waved her over to the table. She wasn’t working at the moment and he enjoyed when she came to school to have lunch with him.

Christie approached, eyeing Sandy warily. Sandy knew that Christie was worried that she was after Darien. Instead of looking guilty by slinking away from him, she stood her ground and waited for Christie to approach.

“Hey, Christie,” she said pleasantly as she approached.

“Hi.” She smiled politely and looked at Darien. “Hey sweetheart.”

Darien smiled and leaned down for a kiss.

“Come on, I saved you a seat,” Darien said as he led Christie toward the table. The guys at the table eyed Christie as if they were starving men at a feast. Most of them had never met a celebrity before and Christie Stockwell was close. Some of them even had her new calendar hanging on their walls. She smiled unsurely to them all and Sandy knew that she was kind of shy, despite her appeal.

Sandy brought the mustard back to the table and started to nibble on her fries after she had drowned them in the condiment. As soon as Christie started to joke around with Carl, the guys at the table started to smile. Although she was quiet and reserved to most everyone else, she seemed to open up dramatically when she was with Carl. It was amazing to some of the guys at the table, and Sandy too, that someone so beautiful would have a natural affinity for Carl Williams, but Sandy had heard some of their childhood adventures over Spring Break. Having grown up with Christie in Mount River Valley, Carl only saw the bony little girl who climbed trees with him and scraped her knees on a daily basis. He didn’t see the gorgeous woman most of them saw. He was probably the only guy at the whole school that wasn’t attracted to Christie Stockwell.

Some of the guys at first had thought Christie actually had a crush on Carl. It only took a short time before they realized that the bond that was between the two of them was much more that of siblings than anything else. When they mentioned to Carl that they thought Christie Stockwell had a thing for him, Carl had gotten grossed out and escaped. Since then the guys made a game of it, and they loved to tease Carl about the blonde beauty just to watch his response.

Sandy smiled at the conversation, and the looks the guys were giving each other. She let her mind wander to Darien’s suggestion. She knew she shouldn’t do it, but she did want to be with Polaris, more than anything.

She struggled with a solution all day long. Before the day was out she had Carl coming over to her apartment for dinner.

*~*~*~*

When the doorbell rang Sandy waked to the door and opened it. She smiled when Carl was standing on her doorstep.

“Have any problems finding the place?” she joked with him.

“Well that’s silly, Sandy, I live right next door to you.”

Sandy laughed a little and welcomed him inside.

“Well, I was thinking about one of two ideas. Either we could order a pizza and watch a movie, or we could go out someplace, my treat,” she added. She didn’t want him making a decision based upon money, because she knew he didn’t have much.

Carl just shrugged. “What do you want to do?”

“Either one sounds fine to me. But I rented a movie just in case you wanted to watch a movie here.”

“What movie?” Carl asked.

“Superman,” Sandy answered. When Carl’s eyes lit up, she smiled. “I take it you like Superman.”

“Yeah! That was one of my favorite movies, growing up.”

“Mine too. Pizza it is.” Carl smiled as she went to the phone and ordered a pepperoni pizza for the two of them.

Carl took a seat on her couch and Sandy asked him if he wanted anything to drink.

“Mountain Dew,” he answered. Sandy smiled and remembered how Polaris had asked for Mountain Dew during the disastrous dinner they’d had together. Knowing Carl was rarely seen without Mountain Dew, she was prepared and brought him out a can.

“There are more in the fridge. Just make yourself at home and go get them whenever you want.”

“Thanks!” he exclaimed, seeming pleased.

Sandy smiled and just watched him while he opened his can of Mountain Dew. Before Sandy met him, if she was told about some poor guy who literally didn’t have two pennies to rub against each other on a daily basis, she would have pictured someone who had little to smile about. It amazed her how many little things he found to be delighted in.

Carl looked up at Sandy who was staring at him. He frowned and looked down, to make sure he hadn’t spilled anything. He didn’t see anything on his shirt, so he checked to see if his zipper was up. After he was sure it was, he looked up to see if she was still watching him. She was.

“Sandy?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you staring at me?”

Sandy just smiled. “No reason. Want to start the movie?”

“Ok.” Carl watched her, wondering if she was feeling ok. She was being so nice to him lately that he had started to think something was up. “Hey, Sandy?”

“Yeah, Carl?” She looked over her shoulder as she got the tape out of the case.

“Are you dying?”

Sandy’s eyes widened in surprise at that question. Her mind raced to make sense of what he had just asked, but, as usual, she found no rhyme or reason to Carl’s thought process.

“Carl, why would you ask me that?”

“Because. You’re being so nice to me lately. I just thought maybe you had found out you only had six months to live and you were making up for all the mean things you did to me.”

Sandy looked at him in astonishment. Her conscience cringed when he mentioned her past treatment of him. She knew he was right. She was pretty awful to him, but back then it had just seemed harmless. Popular people picked on nerds. That’s what they were supposed to do. Now that she wanted something from Carl, she was doing her best to befriend him, and a little voice in the back of her mind shamed her. Although, she told herself, she really had been enjoying spending time with Carl.

“No, Carl. I’m not dying.” She got the movie ready and came to sit by him on the couch. “I am sorry for how I used to treat you. It was wrong. I just didn’t know how nice of a guy you really are.” She sat close to him and she put one hand on his knee. She knew she was flirting with him a little, and she felt bad for using this as a way to start her deception, but she was determined.

Carl looked into her eyes and smiled a little, nodding. Sandy just smiled back, but she held the eye contact, hoping he’d get the hint.

“We going to watch the movie?” he asked.

Sandy smiled, realizing he didn’t get that she was flirting with him. She nodded and used the remote control to turn on the movie.

As the movie played on, she thought about the deception she had planned for tonight. She knew it would be wrong for her to try to seduce Carl. Polaris could find out and think that she was Carl’s girlfriend. He might not appreciate her teasing his friend.

On the other hand, he might be flattered. Perhaps, she thought, if I just offered him something for a date. Then he couldn’t think that I was his girlfriend, and he’d know up front that there was a cost.

In the back of her mind, something tried to halt this train of thought. What if he asked for sex? Was she willing to go that far to get a date with Polaris? Sandy had only actually had sex with two people in her whole life. She doubted that three would make her a slut.

Sandy looked over at Carl and leaned close to him. He just scooted over, to give her room. So, Sandy leaned a little closer.

“Sandy?”

“Yes, Carl?”

“Am I in your way?”

Sandy couldn’t help it. First it was a giggle and soon it was outright laughter. Carl smiled and chuckled with her, not sure what they were laughing about, but he didn’t want to look like he didn’t get the joke, whatever it was.

“No, Carl. You’re not in my way.”

“Ok.” He looked back at the television screen and Sandy followed suit. She tried to just concentrate on the movie, but she was having a hard time doing so. Watching Superman was supposed to open Carl up to the idea of super-heroes and their secret identities and how she should know Polaris’. She wondered what effect it was actually having on him, because she knew that, for her, it wasn’t keeping her attention.

Almost without thinking about it, Sandy leaned over to Carl and put her head on his shoulder. As if it was a practiced move, he swung his arm up and around her shoulders. It felt very natural, but Carl and Sandy were both startled by what had just happened. Sandy looked up at Carl and saw that he was looking down at her. For once there was no goofy expression on his face. His eyes seemed to trail down to her lips and then back at her eyes and Sandy started wondering what it would be like to be kissed by Carl.

When the doorbell rang, they both jumped apart, as if they had been caught. Carl’s lips twitched and he pressed his lips together to try to keep from smiling. Sandy giggled a little, making Carl’s smile pop out. Soon they were both laughing a little at how ridiculous they must have looked when they were jumping away from each other like they had.

Sandy got up and answered the door, paying for the pizza that arrived. Whatever had happened, the spell was broken by the coming of pizza and for the rest of the movie they ate pizza, drank soda, and watched Superman.

When the credits started to roll at the end of the movie, Sandy smiled and turned it off with her remote.

“That was good. It’s fun to watch old movies once in a while.”

“Yeah. And Superman’s a cool super hero.” Carl smiled as he grabbed the last piece of pizza. Sandy couldn’t believe how much pizza he could put away.

“Have you ever wished you were a super hero, Carl?”

Carl looked up at her, a mouthful of pizza occupying his mouth until he was able to swallow it.

“Nah. Too much responsibility for me,” he lied.

“Not me,” Sandy said wistfully as she slipped off the couch to lie comfortably across the floor on her side, staring up at him. “I’ve always wanted to be a hero. If I were a super hero, I’d bust my butt to be Polaris’ partner.” Sandy smiled, her mind wandering to that.

“Polaris doesn’t have a partner,” Carl said, his forehead wrinkled in thought.

“No, not now. But he’d make an exception in my case.”

“Why?”

“Cuz, I’d be the best super hero, next to him, of course.”

Carl smiled.

Sandy sat up so suddenly, Carl jumped.

“Carl, I want to make you a proposition.”

“Why? What’s wrong with what I am?”

Sandy rolled her eyes with a smile and waved away his comment.

“No, I mean it. I want to offer you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” Carl asked suspiciously.

“Well,” Sandy got up on her knees and moved closer to Carl. When at his feet, she sat back on her knees and put her hands on his legs. “I want a date with Polaris. And I would do anything if you’d set it up.” She lowered her head, looking at him through her lashes, her thumb gently caressing his leg right above his knee.

“Anything?” Carl asked, his eyes lighting up.

Sandy took a deep breath and nodded. “Anything.”

A slow smile spread over his face and his eyes danced around a bit, looking for any sign that she wouldn’t go through with this outrageous claim. He gently sucked his lower lip in between his teeth and let it slowly fall out, touch the tip of his tongue to his upper lip as he looked like he was debating what to ask for. Or rather, if what he wanted to ask for was too bold. Sandy started to feel her skin get hot just thinking about what he must have had rolling around in his head at that moment.

“Can I drive your car?” he asked.

“I…what?” Sandy couldn’t believe that what she heard was correct.

“Can I drive your car?” he repeated.

“I tell you I’ll do anything and what you want is to drive my car?” Sandy was confused.

“Yeah. Can I?”

Sandy was sure he didn’t know what ‘anything’ had meant, but she wasn’t going to give up an opportunity like this.

“Done. But you have to set up a date with me and Polaris.”

“Sure, no problem.” He jumped up, smiling.

“Now?” she asked.

“Yeah!” He seemed so excited he could barely contain himself.

Sandy grinned and went to her purse, fishing out the keys.

“Have fun.”

*~*~*~*

Carl turned up the music in the car as he swerved to pass a slow driver on the freeway. He had the sunroof of the car open as well as every window in the car. The wind was whipping into his face, almost as much as if Sandy’s car had been a convertible. He squealed his tires a bit when he whipped back into the left lane to pass another car. He looked down at the speedometer and smiled when it read ninety-five. But he knew he could get it up higher.

He looked into the rear-view mirror, making sure that a cop wasn’t following him and he heard a honk from in front of him. He looked ahead just in time to see a truck coming straight for him. His eyes widened and he cranked the wheel to the right, just missing the truck in front of him and nearly hitting the front of the car he was passing to begin with. The car behind him honked and flipped Carl the finger. Carl just ignored them all. He was having the time of his life.

He had a truck at home, but it was in no shape to go over a hundred miles per hour. That was his goal today, to go over a hundred. Unfortunately for him, there seemed to be a lot of cars out on the freeway today. He hoped that changed somewhere between here and Vegas.

When Carl had left Sandy’s house, he had headed straight for the highway. He wanted nothing more than to get this car out onto the open road. He loved the feel of a speeding car and he almost never drove unless he was speeding dangerously down the road. He was reckless and a danger to other drivers when he was behind the wheel of a car, a fact that had gotten his license taken from him many times. But since they never actually physically took his license from him, he didn’t understand that suspended meant he couldn’t drive. He drove anyway, usually. He had been lucky so far to get away with it.

When Sandy let him borrow the car, Carl really had no comprehension that she thought he had meant around the block or around the town. He honestly didn’t think she’d mind his impromptu road trip to Las Vegas, and he intended to take full advantage of having this car.

*~*~*~*

Sandy paced across her living room and looked at the clock on the wall, only to confirm to her that it was five minutes later than the last time she had checked.

At one o’clock I the morning, Sandy was getting terribly worried about Carl. She had tried to call Darien, but his cell phone was turned off and she didn’t know Christie’s. She had thought about calling the police to report that Carl might be lying on the side of the road somewhere hurt, but she didn’t want him to be fine and for them to pull him over and for him to think he was in trouble and do something stupid. She had thought of calling the hospitals in the area, but she didn’t want to jump to conclusions. She thought of calling all the local tow trucks, but she figured there were too many. She was fresh out of ideas and afraid to leave the apartment, for fear he would call and need her and she wouldn’t be here to save him. So Sandy waited and paced.

When she looked at the clock again and again only five minutes had passed she made a frustrated sound and went to the phone to try Darien again.

When his cell phone started ringing she almost jumped up and down.

“This is Darien Maine.”

“Darien! This is Sandy.”

“Sandy? What’s up? It’s late.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I think Carl’s in trouble.”

“What’s new,” he chuckled.

“No seriously. I tried what you said. I invited him over here to try to get at date with Polaris. I told him I’d do anything and he asked if he could drive my car.” She glared when Darien burst out laughing at that. “Anyway…” she emphasized and he quieted. “He’s been gone for three hours now and I’m worried about him.”

“Sandy, I’m sure he’s just…” he paused. Darien knew Carl very well. He remembered when Carl used to drive his truck. “Ok, I’ll go look for him.”

“Oh, thank you. Call me! I’ll have my cell phone with me if I leave here, so just call that.”

“Gotcha. I’ll check back.”

She hung up when he did. She hoped Carl was ok. She hoped her car was ok. She took a deep breath and she grabbed her sweater and left the apartment.

*~*~*~*

Carl smiled as he drove through the streets of Dallas, Texas. He was ending his second day on this road trip and planned to be in Las Vegas sometime tomorrow. He pulled into the first café he saw, almost taking up two parking spots in the parking lot. He whistled as he went inside. He felt good. He loved driving cross-country. It was very liberating. Although, he could always fly across country anytime he wanted, there was something magical, to him, about having a good car zooming down the road, carrying you wherever you would go.

He sat at the counter of the café and looked at the menu. Things were a little expensive for him, so he just got a side of fries and a glass of water.

He was having the time of his life.

*~*~*~*

“Do you think I should consider calling the police?” Sandy asked as she paced in her living room. Darien and Christie were sitting on the couch, watching her.

“No, that’s not a good idea, Sandy,” Darien drawled. He felt bad for the girl. He probably should have warned her about Carl’s driving.

“Well, why not? I wouldn’t report it stolen, just that something could be wrong. What if he picked up a hitchhiker and the guy had a gun? What if he’s dead somewhere?” Sandy worried as a myriad of thoughts danced in her head.

Darien smiled. He knew better than anyone that a gunshot wouldn’t really hurt Carl. It would sting, but it wouldn’t do any permanent damage. But calling the cops was out of the question.

“Sandy, he doesn’t have a license.”

“What!” she exclaimed.

“At least there is a good chance that he doesn’t. He gets his license suspended just about every six months or so.”

“Well he didn’t tell me he didn’t have a license!” Sandy glared.

“Yes, well, I don’t expect he would,” Darien smiled. He seemed a little amused and that only added fuel to Sandy’s glare.

“I want my car back.” Sandy was getting more upset by the moment. Although, she reasoned with herself, trying to calm down, that even if he had said he had no license she probably would have let him take the car. Getting a date with Polaris has its price and she was definitely willing to pay it. She probably would have given him the car, if he asked for it. She plopped down in one of her chairs, covering her face with her hand. This was a nightmare.

*~*~*~*

He couldn’t wait to get out on the open road again. He swerved to pass a truck that was puttering along in front of him. When he was finally back on the freeway again, he smiled at his luck. The only time he had seen any policemen or police cars were times when Carl was parked and then he would just wait until they were a good distance away before he would go again. He hadn’t come across any accidents, roadblocks, police cars, or anything of that nature.

Nighttime was a particularly fun time for him. He loved driving in the dark. He couldn’t see anything past his headlights, unless other cars were coming toward him, but he liked that. There was a certain mystery to the whole thing.

Carl frowned, though, as the radio station he had been listening to began to fade out. He hated listening to the fuzz of the station, so he tried to tune into another station. His eyes kept darting between the road and the radio, but trying to get through the rap stations as quickly as possible distracted him. When he looked up and there was a big dog in the road, Carl freaked out, not sure what to do. He slammed on the breaks and the car started to lose control. He swerved a bit to miss what he now knew was a coyote, and he watched in horror as he headed straight for a freeway sign. After plowing that over, the airbag shot out at Carl, half suffocating him until he slammed, hard, into something that stopped the car.

Even though the car was stopped, Carl was still fighting with the airbag. He had never had a car that had an airbag, so he never had dealt with them before. He couldn’t seem to get the bag to deflate, though, so in desperation he used a very small concentrated energy beam to tear a whole in the fabric of the bag, deflating it. When it was down, he saw that it was a light pole that stopped the motion of the car. He swallowed heavily as he just stared at the light pole, which Sandy’s car now wrapped around.

*~*~*~*

Polaris paced back and forth in Serrated’s office.

“So tell me again, what happened?” Serrated leaned back in his chair, scratching his scruffy jaw with a gloved hand.

“I told you already. I was driving my friend’s car and a big coyote jumped in front of me and I slammed into a light pole.” He looked at the super-hero, knowing that the bigger man was getting a kick out of this moment. It wasn’t often Polaris came to someone for help like this, and he was making the most of it.

“Why didn’t you just fly?”

“Because I like to drive,” Polaris answered.

When he had crashed into the light pole he knew he could only do two things. Buy Sandy another car, or get this one fixed. Since he didn’t have the money for the first option, he really only had the latter. He was terrified that Sandy would kill him when he got back.

He did the only thing he could think of. He went to the local Protector’s base. The Protectors were an international syndicate of super heroes. When they began, they were a small unknown team in the United States, but as history will sometimes show, American’s had a tough time trusting someone as different as mutants and paranormals were. The group, still bent on helping others, starting setting up bases around the world, hoping to do good elsewhere. They set up and scouted out new places until they were twenty bases strong. Each base had approximately six to ten super heroes that reported on a full time basis and some that were reserves that could be called in when needed.

After their many heroic deeds became noticed, they were more widely welcomed in the Untied States. Super heroes like Polaris had paved the way for many of the heroes that were now Protectors. There were three bases in the Untied States and Dallas happened to be one of them, with a base in New York and California as well.

When the Protectors made a big come back to the states, Polaris joined, alongside Reaper. He was part of the reason they gained such wide acceptance. But, as he sometimes did, Polaris decided that he was better as a free agent, not answerable to any one area. He liked that he patrolled the entire world. It made him feel like he was making a difference. So he left the Protectors, but he still kept in touch with them, in case of emergencies.

They were the only people he could think of to help him out when Sandy’s car was destroyed. He knew that the Protectors tried to help out super heroes with aspects of their real lives, but fixing a car wasn’t one of their usual aides. He was lucky when Serrated knew a hero that was a self-taught expert in mechanics and bodywork. It was going to take a little while, but it was getting fixed.

Serrated was actually happy to have such a tragedy befall Polaris. For the longest time, Polaris had been one of his idols, and he was glad for the opportunity to help him out. As his name might indicate, Serrated was an expert in knives and blades of every kind. His mostly leather outfit was multi layered with many small slits in the top layer. It only took the speed of thought before he was able to telekinetically spring free the blades that littered his costume, each with a potentially deadly serrated edge. He was a no nonsense hero, who fought hard and was known for his decisiveness. He was a good leader to the Dallas chapter of the Protectors.

The phone on his desk buzzed and Serrated reached down to press the button.

“Yes?” his gruff voice barked into the speaker.

“Reaper is her, sir.”

Serrated took a deep breath, but kept his facial expression blank. If there was one hero that he couldn’t stand, it was Reaper. In his opinion, someone like Reaper didn’t belong in the same organization as the many fine men and women of the Protectors. He called him hero, but he used that term very lightly when dealing with this wildcard.

“Send him in. Guarded.”

Polaris smiled to himself. Not many guards would be able to hold Reaper if he was here to make trouble. He was just glad he was here. He had called Reaper when he got to the Protector’s base.

There was a short knock on the door before Reaper opened it. He glared down at the guard beside him, but the man stood his ground. Scared as he was, he couldn’t let Reaper see. When Serrated cleared his throat, Reaper looked up, a small smile playing on his lips. He knew there was no love lost between him and Serrated. Reaper imagined that Serrated wanted to be too much like him, and when he failed horribly, he was resentful.

Polaris smiled to Reaper.

“Hey Reaper. Thanks for coming.”

“Of course. What are buddies for?” He hadn’t taken his eyes off of Serrated.

After a moment, Serrated dismissed the guard and offered Reaper a seat. He declined, opting to lean against the wall. He was in his element. He had dealt so often with people who judged him for his reputation that he had become comfortable, almost glad, to do so. Finally he looked at Polaris, is ever action deliberate.

“So, I hear you had a car accident.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t my fault. This coyote popped right out in front of me and I didn’t want to hit it so I swerved and lost control.” Carl fell back against the wall on the other side of the room.

“Hm. Well, I think we should go check on the progress of the car.” He pushed himself off of the wall, and opened the door. “Shall we?”

When the door opened, Serrated stood up, drawing Reaper’s eyes to him.

“I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to roam around the base, unguarded.”

Reaper’s eyes narrowed and he took a few steps towards Serrated, stopping when the desk pressed against his legs.

“Well now, I’ll have Polaris with me. You trust Polaris, don’t you?” His voice was even, but it was apparent he was a little irritated. He didn’t like to give people the impression he would be easily subdued. He reveled in the conflict that he could tell was going on in Serrated’s head. The amateur let it show on his frustrated face.

“Fine. Stick together, though.” Serrated conceded.

“Sure. We’ll do that,” Reaper said, unconvincingly.

When the door shut, Serrated sat down and took a calming breath. One day, he told himself, I’d just like to be allowed to go toe to toe with that one. See if that irritating smirk he always wore ever left his face.

*~*~*~*

“Sandy is frantic,” Reaper said, keeping his voice low. He knew there were listening devices in the halls, and he didn’t want them to be able to pick up everything so well. They were all on the same team, but Darien had paranoia about too many people knowing his secret identity.

“Why? Did you tell her about the car?” Polaris looked panicked.

“No. If I did that, I wouldn’t be able to see how you plan to tell her.” He smiled, thinking of how funny that was going to be.

“I’m not going to tell her!” Polaris said, loudly. Reaper rolled his eyes. So much for security, he thought.

“You have to tell her. She’s got a right to know her car’s been wrecked.”

Polaris remained quiet for a moment.

“Well if you didn’t tell her about the car, why is she frantic?” His brow furrowed in confusion. “She said I could drive the car.”

Reaper chuckled a little. “I don’t think she meant to Dallas.”

“Well, I wasn’t going to Dallas. I was going to Vegas. I just had the accident in Dallas.”

Reaper chuckled to himself and shook his head a little.

“In any case, I think she meant you could drive the car around Castlerock. She rather expected it back that night.”

“Oh. Well I didn’t tell her when I’d return it.”

“Obviously.”

They walked into the hanger that housed their jet, the Eagle. It was amazing what could happen when you had a rich government backing you, Reaper mused. He knew there was one at his base as well.

The car was sitting beside the jet, and no one seemed to be working on it. Polaris looked around until he saw the man charged with the responsibility of fixing it.

“Hey, what are you doing?” He frowned. “I thought you were going to fix the car?”

Tinker looked up at Polaris and his eyes widened. He looked back behind Polaris and saw Reaper. He stood up. Although they were all on the same side, it was rare that Tinker would see a hero as famous as these two, much less these two in the flesh.

“Uh…well, I’m waiting for the parts to get here. We’re replacing the front end, although the motor is salvageable.” He smiled as if he had given good news. Polaris just groaned.

“So what’s this going to cost,” Polaris asked softly, almost afraid to ask.

Tinker smiled a little. He was a mechanical genius. If it was mechanical, electrical, technological at all, he could fix it, improve it, or probably take it apart and build something uniquely different with it. He wasn’t a full-fledged hero, in the sense that he didn’t go out and fight the villains directly, but he was proud of his contribution to the Protectors. Whenever they needed mechanical work, he was there. Whenever they needed some sort of device created, he could likely do it. He tinkered constantly with things at home, giving them to Serrated when he was done. That’s what earned him his nickname, Tinker. He proudly wore the mantel as if it were a real super-hero name. He helped design Serrated’s suit, as well as helped to secure their computer network. He lent a hand wherever he could and in time he became a permanent fixture around the base.

“For you? Nothing.” Tinker smiled.

Polaris’ eyes widened a little, unsure if he understood what he had heard.

“Really? Nothing?”

“Really. It’s my pleasure, Polaris, sir. Reaper.” He nodded to each, prospectively, just glad to be in their presence. Polaris grabbed his hand and pumped it heartily in a handshake.

“Thank you so much!”

Tinker smiled, pleased with himself. This was going to be a day he would remember forever.

*~*~*~*

When Sandy threw open the door she immediately threw her arms around Carl.

“Oh thank God you’re alright,” she said as she hugged him close. He smiled, pleased to have her in his arms, as he held her to him. When she pulled away, it was like her face completely transformed from worry and relief to anger and she slapped his arm. “Where the hell were you? I was worried sick about you!”

“Ow!” Carl cried, putting his hand up to rub his arm while pouting.

“Uh, can we come in, or are we going to have this conversation on the balcony?” Darien drawled from behind Carl.

Sandy barely glanced at Darien as she stood back and opened the door wider. She was waiting for Carl’s response. He just stood there, rubbing his arm until Darien pushed him inside. Carl glared at Darien for a moment before looking at Sandy, sheepishly.

“Well?”

“Well, what?” he asked.

“Where were you?”

“Well, I was driving. Like you said I could.”

“Yeah I said you could take my car for a drive, but Carl, that was two days ago!”

“Well yeah, it takes a while to get to Vegas,” Carl answered, almost as if she should have known that was where he was going.

“Vegas? As in Las Vegas?” Sandy screeched, completely shocked by this announcement.

“Yeah, I don’t think there is another place that has Vegas in the name except for Los Vegas. And if there was, I never heard of it. And they probably don’t have casinos. I don’t know why anyone would go to a Vegas with no casinos.” He shook his head as if he honestly had given the matter some thought, and came to the conclusion that anyone who would go to another Vegas was crazy.

“Carl, when you asked if you could drive my car, I didn’t mean to Vegas! I meant you could drive it around town that night or something. I thought it was understood that you would have to bring back the car.”

“Oh I was going to bring it back. I just wanted to go to Las Vegas first.” He looked a little sheepish.

“You aren’t going to tell her, are you?” Darien said from behind Carl. Carl turned immediately to glare a warning at him. Darien was leaning up against the door in the apartment, effectively blocking Carl’s escape route.

“Tell me what?” Sandy looked worried.

“Nothing,” Carl said, looking like he was hiding something.

“Tell me what, Carl?”

“Nothing, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He took some medicine before we came over here, and I think it causes him to lie. So don’t believe him.”

Sandy looked over his shoulder to Darien.

“What happened?”

“Carl wrecked your car.”

Carl cringed when he heard Darien spill the truth.

“What!” Her eyes got big as she looked at Carl. Carl slowly started to back up and then turned to run. He stopped just before running into Darien, who was still leaning against Carl’s exit. “Carl, what happened to the car?” Sandy said from behind him. He gave Darien a look that let him know what he thought of Darien’s big mouth.

“It lost control. It wasn’t my fault.” He turned to face her. He was surprised by the worry in her eyes.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

“Yeah. And I fixed your car. Or I had a friend fix it, anyway. So it’s ok, right?”

“Carl, I don’t care about the car that much. Just as long as you’re ok.”

“Yeah,” he smiled. Sandy nodded and took a deep breath, calming herself.

“So,” Sandy said, a smile starting to play on her lips, “when’s the date?”

“Date?” Carl looked confused.

“Yeah,” Sandy said with a small laugh. “The date with Polaris, when is it?”

“Uh, I don’t know. He didn’t tell me.”

“Carl, you said you were going to set me up on a date with Polaris if I let you drive my car.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“So, hook me up!” She grinned at him and he nodded.

“Well, I should go do that then. I’ll see you later, Sandy.” Carl reached in his pocket and gave Sandy her keys back and turned to leave. Darien pushed off of the door and opened it grandly for him. Carl glared at Darien as they both exited the apartment.

“Some friend you are” Carl said, grumbling. He opened the door to his apartment, and Darien followed him.

Since Darien and Sandy had broken up, Darien had been staying with Carl again. It only took mild persuasion to get Marvin and Anthony out of the place, threatening to not pay Carl’s portion, forcing them to have to collect from Carl. From living with him, they knew very well that Carl wouldn’t be able to afford a raise in rent, and they didn’t have the heart to ask him. They had the luck of being able to room with a couple of friends who didn’t mind the extra bodies.

“What?” Darien drawled innocently.

“I hope you guard your secret identity better than you do your secrets.” Carl plopped down on the couch and folded his arms, a scowl marring his handsome face.

“Carl, it wasn’t my secret, it was yours.” Darien smiled, amused at Carl. The logic seemed to make Carl more agitated as he pressed his lips together in a firm line and got up, going to his bedroom and slamming the door.

Darien just chuckled to himself, going to the mini-bar to get himself a drink.

*~*~*~*

The rest of the Spring term had been hard on Sandy. Constantly striving to push herself had given her little time to play and a lot of time to work. Throughout the work, she was frustrated. Three times now, Carl had set a date with Polaris, but all three times now, there had been things to interfere with that date. She knew he was a busy superhero, but she was starting to get antsy and wondered whether or not she was going to be able to have her date with Polaris.

As time went on, a small part of her started to doubt whether he wanted a date with her. The last time they had dinner; he had pretty much not liked anything but the salad, and ended up throwing up the chicken. She still groaned every time she thought of that disaster.

Yesterday, when she had cornered Carl into setting up the date for tonight, she had tried not to get excited about it until she was sure it was happening. She avoided Carl all day at school, to avoid giving him the opportunity to tell her if Polaris backed out of the deal. That wasn’t hard to do, given that this was finals week. Everyone’s classes were screwed up, and Carl was stressed about his own finals.

Sandy rushed home from her last final of the day and made a mad dash for the shower. She had been tied up in traffic and now she only had an hour to get ready for her date. They were meeting at a coffee shop on the other side of town. It wasn’t the ideal setting for a date, but Sandy was happy with what she got. She knew all she needed was an in, and she could capture his heart, the way he had captured hers.

After speeding through her shower and blow drying her hair, Sandy applied a very light amount of make up to her face, not having the time for anything more extravagant. She threw open her closet door and groaned. She had no idea how to dress for this date. Usually when she went out for coffee with friends, she just wore jeans and a t-shirt. She wouldn’t be caught dead going on her first date with Polaris in jeans. She pulled out a skirt, thinking that it could be casual, but also show off her legs. It would have to do, she thought as she looked at the clock by her bed and realized she had twenty minutes to dress and get there.

Throwing on her white denim skirt, she pulled out of her closet a form-fitting baby doll t-shirt that was decorated with rhinestones in different patterns. She slipped her feet into white-strapped sandals and grabbed her purse. She left her hair to tumble just past her shoulders, putting her sunglasses up on her head to hold the strands back from her face. It was more casual than she would normally go, but she desperately didn’t want to be late for this date, and she knew that if she got much dressier she’d look out of place at the coffee shop.

Speeding, she pulled into the parking lot of the Java Hut. It was a small coffee shop, trying to compete with the Starbucks in town. It was a favorite hang out of the college students due to a strategic move by the owners to hire popular kids to help around the shop, hoping their friends would come hang out to visit them. It seemed to work, as the place was able to do some pretty good business in the town.

Sandy looked around the parking lot and inwardly grimaced at the few cars that were in the parking lot. It was unrealistic, she knew, to believe the place would be deserted, but she didn’t want people hanging around them throughout the whole date.

Sandy walked in and seated herself in a back corner of the shop. She usually preferred a place by the window in front so she could see all the action as it was happening. Instead, she chose a place where she hoped she wouldn’t draw too much attention with her guest. She took the seat that faced the door, so she could see him when he came in. She waited, nervously for him to come.

She nervously fidgeted with the things on the table. She started out crossing one leg over the other. But then she decided to cross her legs the other way, so he would have a view of her tanned limbs. Then she decided that perhaps that looked too suggestive and she tried just crossing her ankles, pressing her knees together. She leaned over, placing her elbows on the table, but she worried he would interpret that as irritation for his tardiness. Instead, She leaned back and folded her hands on the table in front of her.

When the waiter came to her table, she jumped, startled out of her thoughts. He smiled reassuringly.

“Sorry about that. Hot date?” he smiled and looked her up and down briefly.

“Yeah, you could say that,” she smiled in answer.

“Can I get something for you while you wait?” He readied his pad to take the order.

“Um…I’ll have a toasted marshmallow mocha, extra froth.” He smiled as he wrote that down. “And we may want to get some pie or something when he gets here. Oh! Do you serve Mountain Dew?” she furrowed her brow.

“Yeah, you want one?” She could tell he thought a mocha and a Mountain Dew was an odd combination and she shook her head.

“No, I was just checking.”

“But I do,” she heard from behind the waiter.

Both Sandy and the waiter turned to look at the man who spoke and Sandy’s heart leaped into her throat when she saw Polaris. With the waiter blocking the doorway, she had been unprepared for him to sneak up on her like that. She smiled, a little breathless in his presence.

The waiter’s eyes were wide with shock. He looked a little bit like an animal caught in headlights. He had never seen Polaris up close before, that much was obvious. Sandy looked around the coffee shop to see if anyone had noticed his entry. Polaris was a hard person to miss, but he had tried to be a little more concealed by putting a trench coat on over his costume. He also sported a brimmed hat that left his face in shadows. No one else had seemed to pay the mysterious man any attention, though, as Sandy smiled a satisfied smile that no one else was rushing over or begging for autographs.

Polaris smiled at the waiter, who was obviously star struck by him. He put a hand on the guy’s shoulder, his touch having a calming effect, and he smiled pleasantly to him.

“Can I get a glass of Mountain Dew?” he asked with a smile.

“Uh, sure. Uh…” The waiter scrambled to write down the request.

“And could you bring us a dessert menu?” Sandy asked sweetly. The waiter nodded and scurried off to get a glass of Mountain Dew for Polaris.

Sandy smiled as Polaris took a seat across from her.

“Glad you could make it,” she said, crossing one leg over the other.

“So am I. I really feel like I owe you an apology for the broken dates.” He smiled apologetically at her.

“No, that’s ok. You have no control over when the world needs you.” She smiled, trying to be understanding. “I’m just glad we could get together at all.”

He nodded. “Carl tells me you two have been spending quite a bit of time together, lately.”

Sandy smiled and nodded. “Carl’s great. He’s always there to make me laugh. Did he tell you he took off with my car for two days?” She laughed a little.

“Yeah, he did,” he chuckled. “It was nice of you to let him drive it. I know that meant a lot to him.”

Sandy shrugged and smiled. She looked up when the waiter came and placed a glass of Mountain Dew in front of Polaris, giving him a straw and bringing the dessert menu.

“The mocha is on its way,” he said to Sandy and she nodded as she picked up the menu.

“Ooh, they have cheesecake.” Sandy smiled and looked up to Polaris. “Do you like cheesecake?”

Polaris made a face that reminded Sandy so much of Carl that she burst out laughing.

“I’ll take that as a no.” She chuckled as she looked through the other deserts. “What do you like?”

“You mean, you don’t know?” Polaris feigned surprise. “I’ve been told so many times that you are the utmost expert on super-heroes, and me in particular.” He grinned as Sandy blushed prettily. “I would think you’d know everything about me by now.”

Sandy grinned, pleased that he had apparently been checking up on her.

“Well, they don’t really outline your eating habits in most of the books I’ve read. I could tell you the tactics you used the last time you fought The Destroyer. I could tell you the idea behind the plan that you used to get Alexander the Great to retreat from this world. I could tell you which of your powers you rely most on and which hand to hand move you typically rely on when you are forced to fight that way. I could tell you how many hand to hand fights you are reported to have gotten into. I could tell you how many times you saved the world and from who. But I have no idea what your favorite flavor of ice cream is.” She smiled. “Otherwise, I would have known what to serve last time we were together.”

Polaris looked shocked. “I’m impressed. I don’t know if even I could tell you all of those things.” He gave her an amazed look and she blossomed under his praise. She opened her mouth to respond, but spotted the waiter and waited for her coffee to be delivered.

“You’ve always been a fascination of mine.” Her voice was low and she lowered her head, looking up at him through her lashes. She saw him smiled a little and she hoped his expression meant he was endeared.

“Why?”

The question startled Sandy. Even though it was something she had surmised about him, his humility in the face of all he had done to keep the peace throughout the world was astonishing. She just watched him for a moment, wondering if he was serious or just fishing for a compliment.

“Polaris, you have to know the answer to that.” She shook her head in amazement and she leaned back in her chair. “There is no one on this planet that has done more for the safety of the people than you. You’ve saved the world seventeen recorded times, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if you had helped fashion the success of other super-heroes when they have contributed to the safety of the people. You’ve repeatedly stood up for what was good or right. You helped build the Protectors to what they are now, and then without claiming your rightful spot as their leader, you left, giving them all the credit for your accomplishments in the organization. Your charity contributions are amazing. From what I can gather from reports and articles, you refuse to make money from being Polaris. Everything you earn and whatever is donated, you give to your foundation, Americana, which is an amazing foundation. If it weren’t for your contributions, Americana would likely not have been realized and the underprivileged kids that visit that ranch each year wouldn’t have that bright spot in their lives. Plus Americana donates a third of all your donations to other foundations and organizations. So not only do you save the world on a large scale, but you aide other heroes in keeping the peace on a smaller scale, and then still have time to make a difference in a handful of children’s lives who have you to thank for the good in their lives.”

Polaris blinked, an astonished look on his face. He didn’t know what to say to that, so unprepared by the praise, that he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“Wow, I kick ass!” he said, almost as if he wasn’t aware of that fact before.

Sandy stared at him a beat and then threw her head back and laughed at what he had blurted out. He smiled at her laughter and started to chuckle himself. After a moment she calmed, wiping tears from her eyes.

As the night progressed, Sandy knew she had made a dent in his mind, and she was hoping that dent would show in his heart as well. They talked back and forth the rest of the night with the ease of old friends.

Sandy knew that one day she would be married to this man. She had often thought of marrying Polaris in the past, but now, as she mused on the progress she seemed to be making with him, it seemed to be a realistic goal for her to reach for. And she intended to do just that.



end this section