Derek's POV
It was Halloween, and it did not surprise me to find my brother sleeping on the couch without a costume that year. "Good morning, James," I said as I pushed him off the cushions. With tired eyes, he sat up and gazed up at me.
"Where is Sam?" He asked me.
"He wanted us to meet him this morning before school at the Mercredi Matin cafe," I replied, sighing with a lengthy yawn—my police work drained my energy.
Then, he pushed my shoulder and stumbled forward, saying, "What time is it?"
"It's time to put your powers to good use. Go!" I muttered as he stood up and rushed up and down the stairs, clothed and read, and ran back down, appearing next to me in a minute before I could even check the time on my phone.
"Wow, that was quick." It took me aback, and I stared at him in awe. I'm not kidding. James' was fast, and his super-speed grew faster the more he used it. You'd think I'd grown accustomed to my brother's superpowers. I didn't even come close.
"Let's go," I said, beaming.
James and I ran out of the house and into the car. I was okay with getting in trouble because of the other day's beaten-up bumper. James was incredible. Some of his superhuman saves were beyond his control.
James and I entered the coffee shop after about ten minutes of driving and parking. In the distant corner of the cafe, we caught Sam's gaze.
The enormous room included books for sale stacked on the back shelves and a large counter running off to the left, offering sweet delights and the tastiest drinks I'd ever tasted, and coffee dispensers full of uncrushed coffee beans in the opposite back corner.
For the sake of all of us, James always ordered everything non-caffeinated. We attempted to make everything non-caffeinated because caffeine sent his powers into overdrive.
James and I sat at an empty table in the back with Sam. We were okay sharing a few things that were too private because there were few people in the cafe.
"Aren't you going to get your drink?" Sam asked James.
James declined, "Eh," He groaned. If one grain of coffee accidentally went into his cup, all hell would break out, and believe me. It happens, so he didn't bother with it some days. It pleased me today since it was one of those days.
"How's it going, Sam?" I poked him. Sam glowed as he drew a stack of papers from the chair beside him.
"These papers provide the data I gathered while working on the prodigy project—" He paused and drank his coffee. He added, "And a few other things. I realized I must have saved it on my laptop after they fired me from the group."
"Good. So, what do you have?" James took the seat next to me and rubbed his palms together. Sam pushed the heap in his direction.
He ordered Superboy to flip through it. I smiled as I watched James groan and glare at Sam. I had a feeling it would go over well.
James ripped through the stack at breakneck speed, flipping to the last page. "It talks about the other supers and their abilities and me and my abilities. You said you knew nothing about supers, right?" James sighed.
"I knew enough about them and their habits to gain some understanding of them," Sam admitted, "but I didn't know them on a personal level."
"And there's me. You've been researching my superpowers since the beginning." Sam sighed after taking a sip of his latte.
"That was the only way I could learn more about the supergenes. I had little time to study the other supers," He admitted. Sam took my breath away. It was as if Sam had foreseen James discovering his experiments as a child. Didn't he?
"So, you studied me?" James roared.
I considered getting an espresso as I walked over to the counter. The girl behind the countertop, dressed as a sultry velvet black and white tuxedo cat, smiled and waved as we caught eyes. Meow. I got up and walked over to the counter, disregarding Sam's argument with James.
"What can I get for you, mate?" the girl asked, smiling. Her Australian accent came out as more American than Australian. I added a smile to the mix as well.
"A latte, please. Skim milk and creamer."
The girl chipped in, "That would be five dollars and thirty-one cents," she said. My heart melted. I stared into her beady brown eyes as she watched me—studied me.
"Are you from around here?" I inquired. I didn't recognize her and assumed she was a foreigner because of her Australian accent.
She twirled her hair at the ends with her fingertips. I dug into my back pocket for my wallet and took out my credit card.
"I'm a newbie. The university I attend is a few miles away. You appear to be a kind man. How about I give you a discount? Three-fifty."
"That won't be necessary," I told her.
She frowned. "All good, but we give officers discounts if they ask for them." I looked at the officer's emblem carved in the leather binding of my wallet.
"Oh. It's all right. I never pay less than the full price."
"All right," she said as she took my card. "Perhaps next time." She slid my card through the slot and yelled something to the two boys costumed as mice in the back.
"I need a latte made with skim milk and creamer." She screamed at the guys. I gave her a kind smile. She returned the smile.
"I'm Grace," the girl introduced herself.
"I'm Derek, " I replied.
"You're adorable. Could we have a date sometime soon if I wasn't working?" Her grin widened. I was a little reddened.
"Funny enough, I was about to ask you the same question." My heart thumped in my chest as I grinned. A boy from the back pushed a to-go cup in front of me.
"I hope you enjoy your latte." Grace purred and pawed the air with her paws. She slipped me her phone number, which I accepted.
"Thanks." I gave Grace a friendly grin before taking the drink and walking away. When I returned to the table, James and Sam were still arguing. Sam was mad at James because he didn't understand his studies, and it angered James that Sam had researched him in the first place, but they agreed on the other supers.
"What did I miss?" I inquired.
"In the documents are some notes about Max and Noah's abilities. They have a lot of the same abilities as James."
"That appears to be promising information. We can take advantage of this." I dipped my fingers into my cup and sipped.
"Noah is not our enemy," James said, but I already knew.
"However, Max is," I reminded them. "Is there anything we can use against Max?"
"I'm not aware of any. Keep in mind that I just worked on the research. I know nothing about the boys." James and I agreed though I assumed Sam knew more than he let on. Sam and I both finished our coffee. We got out of our chairs, and I gave Grace a wave.
"Happy Halloween," I said with a smile. As Sam, James, and I walked out of the cafe, she smiled and waved back.
∆∆∆
James POV
"Your dead meat, Knight," Max hissed as he stood beside me in the men's bathroom. I just finished detention because I got into another fistfight with Max and Mark, and I wasn't looking forward to another fight that evening. Mark and I had matching black eyes. However, mine had almost faded. I leaned on the side mirror, scrubbing water off my filthy cheeks.
"I'm not sure why we're arguing. I know Samual's your father, and I won't let you hurt my family."
He muttered something incoherent and drew his arms across his chest with an arched brow. "I want nothing to do with Sam other than terminating the bloody son of a bitch."
I laughed. "Sure, try me," I said.
"Piss off, cunt." he growled. Geez. Max was aggressive.
"I'm not intimidated by you." I let out.
He chuckled, "You've got to be joking." I finished wiping the dirt off my face and looked in the mirror at him.
Max was strong, broad, powerful, and resembled Sam in appearance. He trimmed his hair, curling and black, and his eyes were a honey brown. Is it possible that he is Sam's son? Was Sam telling the truth? Noah was the same. His curling, dark brown hair was a little shorter than Max's. His eyes were a dark chocolate brown, although he resembled Sam more than Max.
It's possible that neither of them was Sam's children or both his and shared some of their mother's characteristics. I shrugged, then pushed the thought away when Max appeared beside me in the restroom and shoved me against the restroom mirror.
He pressed a pocket knife against my throat, causing the bathroom sink to fracture and leaking water all around the musty restroom.
"If you don't stay out of my way, this will be your family," he snarled, releasing the grip of my shirt, retracting the straight edge, and sliding the knife to his side. I took a deep breath. I would never let Max touch my family over my dead body.
"Either you don't touch my family, or I'll murder you." He hissed, "Please. You won't do anything. You're a wimp." "I'm more powerful than you realize," I countered.
He swore, "Weak bastard." I bit my lower lip and clenched my teeth. In seconds, he vanished from the room, leaving behind a pile of paper towels that flew to the ground when he disappeared. I took a few steps back to gather my breath, staring into the bathroom sink again—my eyes gleamed a little, the purple hue noticeable under the dim bathroom lights above me. Then I walked away from the sink, catching my breath before leaving the restroom.
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