Adam was going to be okay in the end.
The funeral buffet did nothing for any of us. We left without a single bite to eat, instead nodding to the other superheroes we recognized out of their suits and heading back to our place.
Lexi was gone the following day without saying goodbye to any of us. Edwin only mentioned that she'd been approved for transfer immediately and disappeared right after.
I sat on the window seat, a parakeet named Pip on my shoulder and watching the world go by. Absently, I stroked her tiny head with one of my fingers. She wiggled around after it, nibbling my cuticle. I let her. Of the birds, she was my favorite. She could get away with murder, as far as I was concerned.
Strangely enough, we never got an invitation to Scribe's funeral. But we did get an invitation to Emma's custody hearing. I couldn't go. The kid didn't deserve to see her father's murderers talking about how great she was. I didn't know if she knew or not and I didn't want to know. Somehow, the state had become aware that she was a Clark.
It was easy enough after that. My parents took her in, being the nearest Clarks available. If she had Psychic powers, or any other powers, I was certain I'd see her in the Alliance eventually. So, I hoped and prayed that they skipped her generation and that she would never have to deal with the decisions we'd had to make.
Adam brought the sole remaining cockatiel over to me and placed her on my shoulder. Then he sat down beside me and put his chin atop my head. "What do we do?"
"I've been thinking about that," I said quietly. "I think there's too many options. The Alliance will have us back if it's what we want; all of us. I got word from Logan about that today. Apparently he advocated for us."
"Of course he did."
I clucked my tongue against the roof of my mouth. "Yeah. That's my feeling on it, too. He's kind of a snake, but he's the type that'll bite you in the face. And that's better than what Scribe did to us."
"You have to be a little bit of an asshole to be a leader, I guess."
Edwin came in and sat down on a seat across from us, turning it so he could put his chest against the back of the chair. "Call me an asshole, then."
"What?" I asked, the cockatiel preening my hair.
"I said, call me an asshole."
Adam worked up a flicker of a smile. "You're an asshole."
"I just got off a call with Logan, too. They want someone without powers, someone who understands the way the Alliance runs from the inside. It came down to me and Nate, but Nate's a shapeshifter and I'm-" Edwin shrugged. "-me."
The bird bit my neck. I reached out and gently pried her off, putting her in Adam's hands. "Are you going to take it? I mean, I'm sure they gave you an option to stay in your basement."
"Sort of. It was that, and never have another pay raise for the rest of my life, or take the reins here at Yarborough and see what I can do with the ruins of our superhero industry," Edwin said.
Of all the people I would have expected to be in the running, Edwin hadn't been one of them. On reflection of that, I'd actually been incredibly worried that they may come after me to lead. And though I can lead a riot on the streets or take care of what's going on in a battle, I couldn't imagine dealing with all the paperwork and the bullshit that went on behind the scenes.
That had been Edwin's lifeblood for the vast majority of his professional career.
I don't think I could have picked a better leader for us if I'd been asked to.
"You gonna let us come back?" I asked, trying to smile and failing; but it was a close thing. "I think most of us want to return, at least part-time. Especially since there haven't been any more Kipa sightings since Scribe fell."
Edwin gave me an appraising look. "I don't know. Who are you? What's your record like? Powers or smarts?"
"Edwin."
He tapped his chin. "And the big guy beside you. What is he? A fly boy?"
"Edwin."
The chuckle he gave made the room light up. "I'll get it passed with everyone else, but I can't see it being a problem. None of you have done anything illegal. I guess we could talk about the whole Allison thing with you, Adam, but I don't see the point. So many people were hurt during this, or killed, that the trials are backed up for years. She's gone, she tortured the hell out of us, and I think we would have had to kill her in the end, anyway."
"I can deal with that, I think," Adam said, his hold tightening on me a little bit more.
"In that case, I'd better get going. Dinner's at 7?" Edwin asked. I nodded and he returned the gesture. "I'll make sure I'm back for it."
He rose, spun the chair back to its proper position, and left Adam and I alone once more. Nishelle was busy out gathering groceries for dinner that night, Nate had an EMT shift, and that left the two of us at odd ends. He settled in to hold me and we ended up on the couch, after a while, with all the birds lined up behind us as we watched some old Disney movie to try to quiet our nerves.
Time wore on and I fell asleep against him. I was doing that a lot these days, finding myself too tired to sit through an entire television show or even most of
