When Caden woke up the next morning, the sun's rays were only just beginning to stream through his window. He followed the soft sounds of movement to the kitchen.

  Deflector stood near the coffeepot, holding a warm mug. The smell of coffee filled the air.

  Caden smiled. “Morning!”

  Deflector nodded. A half second later, he added a verbal reply. His voice was tired. “Good morning.”

  “This is good timing, cause I had a question about-”

  Deflector tapped his wrist. “Not before 0700, Reed.”

  “Got it! Wait, no talking or just no questions?”

  “Preferably both.”

  Caden mimed zipping his lips as he poured himself some coffee, his finger dipped in the mug as usual.

  “Remember to meet me in the training room at 7 AM. If you're going to eat, make it soon. Keep it light.”

  “There’s yogurt in the fridge,” Ryn's voice drifted over from the kitchen table. “Middle shelf, roughly face height.”

  “Thanks,” Caden replied.

  ****

  The training room was noticeably warmer when Caden entered. Also noticeable was Gabriel's attire. Rather than his usual long sleeves, he was clothed in gym shorts and a tank top. Caden felt more than saw the space heater sitting in the middle of the room.

  Deflector's forearm sported a dark blur. The skin was ever so slightly warmer. A tattoo, but he wasn't sure of what yet.

  Caden listened as Deflector explained his new schedule. He tuned back in somewhere around the mention of “basic fire safety and science”.

  Caden groaned dramatically. "Science?"

  "Yes. After lunch," Deflector repeated.

  "I was more of an English kind of student, so, uh, be patient with me."

  "Noted. Warm up. Start with jumping jacks.”

  As Caden moved through the exercises, he found himself trying to catch a glance of the mark on Gabriel's forearm.

  Deflector finally instructed him to stop.

  "You're not focusing," he chastised. "You want to see my ink," he stated, not asked.

  Caden felt his face warm.

  "Yes," he replied sheepishly. "Or maybe some alt text. I don't know what I'm looking at."

  Deflector sighed and paused.

  "I'll tell you about it," Deflector finally said, "if you give me 30 minutes of real effort."

  Caden nodded eagerly. "I can do that!"

  The younger man kept his word. After what felt like ages, Deflector finally called it to a halt.

  "Weary with toil," Caden quoted, dropping down from his stance to lay on the floor. "I haste me to my bed-"

  Gabriel interrupted. "No hasting anywhere until we finish, Reed."

  He handed something to Caden.

  “Ooo, sugar,’’ he said, sitting up to eat.

  After Caden finally recovered, he looked up at his mentor expectantly. "So... what did you choose to have etched in your skin forevermore?"

  "A lightbulb," Deflector said, extending his arm out towards Caden. Caden got as close as he dared, tilting his head to examine it. "Realistic, black and white. Red heart-shaped filament. Juan uno-cinco written below the bulb. La luz en las tinieblas…”

  He shook his head, leaving the verse unfinished. "For my father. Electrician."

  "You speak Spanish?"

  "If you want me to answer another question, earn it. Make fire."

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  Caden gasped, scandalized. "You're weaponizing my curiosity, jefe!"

  The ambient hum of Deflector's contained energy pitched a bit higher. "If it works, sí."

  "Sí?! Like Spanish yes?! You're taunting me."

  Gabriel ignored him. "Begin. Use the heater, not your core temperature."

  “Sí, jefe!”

  Caden closed his eyes and focused on the heat around him. It was a comfortable 80 degrees. He reached for it the same way he had reached for his core temperature the other day. The feeling was familiar, yet strange. Slippery in a way his own heat hadn't been. He furrowed his brow and concentrated harder.

  “You work with clay,” Gabriel stated. “How do you start a piece?”

  Caden opened his eyes at the interruption. “I center it on the wheel. Guide it.”

  “Try that.”

  Caden nodded and shut his eyes. He tried again, this time gentler. Guiding, not grabbing. Slowly, warmth began to gather between his hands.

  A tiny flame flickered to life. Barely bigger than a match.

  Caden's eyes snapped open. The flame died immediately.

  "I did it!" he announced. "Did you see that? I-"

  "You lost focus," Gabriel cut him off, but there was no reprimand in his tone. Just observation. "The fire needs constant attention. What happens if you stop centering your pottery?”

  "It goes lopsided and..." Caden trailed off, understanding. "Flies off the wheel."

  "Exactly. Try again. This time, keep it burning.”

  ****

  "Break," Deflector announced. "Drink water. Shower. Eat. Meet me in my office in an hour. There's leftovers in the fridge."

  "Wait, what about my question? Didn't I earn another one?”

  "You can ask it later," Deflector answered. "Consider carefully."

  "Got it, jefe."

  Caden headed for the showers. After he was dressed, Caden wandered until he found Sadie in the kitchen.

  "Greetings! I have been instructed to sustain myself on the delicacies of yesterday. I have merely half an hour before I must meet your uncle again. Can you point me to the containers that are least likely to have achieved sentience?"

  "I was just going to reheat last night's rice and beans. Want me to throw some in for you too?"

  "You spoil me, dear healer. I accept your kind proposition."

  "How was your morning?" Sadie asked as the microwave hummed.

  "Brutal. Buuut I get to interrogate Deflector soon as a reward!"

  "Interrogate?"

  "Yep," Caden beamed. "He promised to answer a question in exchange for making fire. I know technically one question isn't really an interrogation but whatever. Anyway, guess who made fire?"

  "Well, it's hard to tell since you're upright, but I'm going to guess… you,” Sadie teased. “Congrats. That's awesome."

  "Exactly! Soon I'll be ready to go on missions with you. Speaking of, how did the last mission go?"

  “It could've been worse. Bank robbery. Villain who goes by Interstice. He's annoying, but mostly harmless. There wasn't anything to heal so I was just keeping civilians from going in.”

  “I'm sure you did great anyway.”

  “Thanks, potter.”

  “Hey, can I…tell you something?”

  “Sure, what's up?”

  “I…don't really deserve the title potter, if I'm being honest. If I were a real potter I wouldn't be leeching off my sister. Tess is an engineer. Practical. Apparently gets contracts with the League. I moved into her apartment when I turned 18. I love my parents, but they were overprotective. I guess that's what happens when you're the baby and- never mind.

  "I still haven't told my parents about what this job is. I told them I was interviewing for a government job. Let them assume it was, you know, desk work."

  "That's probably safer anyway," Sadie interjected. "A lot of the League have secret identities for a reason."

  "But you don't," Caden observed.

  "No, not exactly," Sadie agreed.

  "Why?"

  "I'm just a healer, Caden. We're not big targets. If it makes you feel better, Sadie is a nickname. The public doesn't know my full name."

  "You're not just anything. Also, can I ask your real name?"

  Sadie considered him for a moment, then: "It's Mercedes. But only my family calls me that. Uncle Gabriel, mostly, when we're alone."

  "Like the car?"

  Sadie rolled her eyes. "Like María de las Mercedes. Mary of mercies. It was my great-grandmother's name. One side of my family is Puerto Rican.”

  Caden winced. "Sorry. Wait, is that the same side of the family that Deflector is on?"

  "That's classified, potter."

  Caden groaned. "O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain! Not just you, dear healer, but your kin too!”

  Sadie laughed softly.

  “Anyway,” Caden continued. “I was talking about my pottery. I'm good, or at least I like to think so. I just... Who would want a handmade mug from someone like me when you can either get one from a real professional or buy a cheap mass produced one? I was lucky to sell one a week, Sadie."

  “That's still better than a lot of artists, isn't it? And you showed me that bowl. You are talented.”

  “Thanks, healer,” Caden's face brightened.

  Sadie glanced at the clock. "You better hurry. Your half hour is almost up. I'll take care of your bowl if you like."

  Caden shoveled a few final bites into his mouth before shaking his head. He only hesitated a second before navigating to the sink to rinse his bowl.

  ****

  "Hola, jefe," Caden said, passing a hand across a seat before lowering himself into it. "Puedo... askar una, uh, una pregunta?"

  "Try again,” came Gabriel's reply. “Hacer una pregunta."

  Caden smiled anyway. "Puedo hacer una pregunta?"

  Caden heard the sound of wheels on hardwood as Gabriel moved to face him.

  “So you do speak Spanish.”

  “Is that what you're wasting your question on?”

  "No! I have another one. I've been wondering this since you quoted Hamlet at me. What's your favorite Shakespeare play?"

  Time stretched on long enough that Caden thought he wouldn't answer. Caden cringed internally. Deflector probably didn't know Shakespeare well enough to have a favorite. He'd just wasted a question.

  "Henry V or Julius Caesar," Deflector finally said.

  Caden's eyebrows shot up. “You have not one, but two favorites?! You have a secret dramatic side, jefe!"

  "It's about leadership, not drama."

  "Sure, sure. Mine's Twelfth Night if you were wondering. Wait, no, maybe Romeo and Juliet. Depends on how romantic I'm feeling."

  The sound of wheels again. “We're going over basic fire safety. Record, take notes, whatever helps. Then we'll go more into the science behind it over the upcoming weeks.”

  “You're going to teach me?”

  “As much as I know. The rest will be outsourced.”

  Caden sighed. “Nobody told me being a superhero meant going back to school. Speak on, but be not over-tedious.”

  Deflector ignored the dramatics and began.