Lost in thought, Carmen straightened her upper body, the way she used to do before launching herself into the sky. She absent-mindedly bent her right leg into take-off position, putting her off balance. She caught her mistake at the very last moment, sparing herself yet another embarrassing tumble. At least nobody else would have been around to see it, this time.

Carmen slouched against the rear wall of Callaghan's Ale House. A faint odor seeped out from the dumpster, filling the alley with the scent of meat waste. She brought the e-cigarette cartridge to her lips. The mentholated vapor puffed out from her mouth, filling the air with a vague cotton candy scent before it was overpowered by the dumpster stench.

The alarm on her smartphone beeped. That breaktime just flew right by! She briefly considered ignoring it, but she didn't want to leave Aidan at the mercy of the happy hour regulars.

The crowd dwindled as the evening wore on. Eventually, Carmen spotted a familiar face sitting at the bar.

"Carmen Alvarenga, right here in West Hook!" said Rosh Pandey. He curled his pointer and middle fingers, raising a mock gang sign.

"I can't believe you're back again," said the pudgy man in sweat-stained office clothes. "You look like shit though."

"Really, Rosh?" she said, deadpan. "I never would have guessed."

He observed her pouring tonic water into a highball glass with ice. Then she carefully drizzled vodka infused with red Skittles. She gave the mixture one final stir before handing over the drink.

"Well, one thing hasn't changed," he said, taking a hearty sip. "You still make a damn great Sputnik Sweetheart."

"Thank you," she said. "And I mean that. Really."

"Does Old Man Callaghan know you fraternize with guests while you're on the clock?" asked Rosh.

The tattooed redhead at the sales register responded. "Well, Miss Callaghan runs the operations these days. And I'm perfectly satisfied with letting Carmen reconnect with old friends on the job."

For the first time in several days, a genuine smile formed on Carmen's face.

"But hey, if you're so concerned about her productivity, I can get her to cover for me."

"No, Ma'am!" said Rosh.

"So, uh, I noticed the store, and ..." said Carmen, her words trailing off.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't really the same place. Nobody buys comics as single issues anymore. Not on paper anyway," said Rosh, with the barest hint of bitterness in his voice. "By the time Jacob pulled out, we were stocking board games, tabletop RPGs, Magic cards. I swear, it was so demoralizing to know that Funko Pop toy sales were the only thing that kept the business running." He took a deep sigh. "But hey, it's probably nothing compared to what you've been through."

"Whatever," said Carmen. "I'm over it."

Rosh looked at her with sincere concern. "Really now?"

"I mean, what can I do, right? As it is, the only reason I can walk normally is because of experimental nanobots holding my spine together. It feels more than a little ungrateful to be grieving the loss of my powers."

Rosh couldn't restrain a grin. "So you finally decided to call them 'powers', huh?"

"It's just a convenient term," she said. "Superpower. Gift. Ability... What does it matter now?"

She picked up Rosh's empty glass and began wiping it aggressively. "Look, I still consider what I had a blessing from Dios El Padre. But I'll just have to accept that it wasn't part of His plan for me to keep them, okay?"

"I'm sorry," said Rosh.

"For what? You're not the cabrón who pulled the trigger."

"You know what I mean."

The Wallflowers' version of "Heroes" began playing on the bar's audio system. Carmen made a dismissive clicking noise, skipping to the next track.

"Do you ever miss being a superhero?" asked Rosh.

"Let me tell you something," said Carmen. "Everyone thinks being a sidekick means you're going to be a hero's protege. That it guarantees a spot in the Champions Union. But that's not always the case."

"Not with a boss like Lady Chrome, whose identity is public," she continued. "I spent three years in Umbropolis as a glorified executive assistant for Alexa Flynn. And most of the time, it probably felt like every other crappy day job you've worked."

Rosh nodded, letting Carmen vent.

"Look, I can't deny that I miss all the science. The projects I worked on for the Flynn Institute felt like real game-changers."

"Oh, totally!" said Rosh. "My grandma in Uttar Pradesh still tells me how impressed she was when your group set up the clean quantum reactor in her village." He began imitating her accent. "Roshan, when will you change the world like your friend Carmen? "

"Right?" said Carmen. "And the outreach work was amazing. I never felt more like a real hero than when I was teaching kids how to fly."

Her voice took on a more upbeat tone, and she looked Rosh in the eyes.

"Remember all those videos you took of me jumping off rooftops? It was just like that, but without the trial and error. Those kids didn't have to crash land on ratty-ass mattresses."

Both of them started laughing.

"But actually fighting villains and being responsible for saving the day? Yeah, I quickly realized that wasn't for me," she continued. "And every time I put on that ill-fitting bird costume, I felt like the hugest impostor. Like I was always one dumb move away from hurting a bystander or causing property damage. But I never considered how just much I might hurt myself until..."

"Listen," said Rosh. "It's okay if you're not ready to talk about it."

A few moments of tense silence passed.

"You know, the whole time I was the Skylark, I was still renting my own place. And don't get me wrong: Miss Prynn gave me a fair stipend. But even that was barely enough to cover rent on a studio apartment in Penumbra Heights. And I guess I kinda got caught up in the whole lifestyle. Bespoke upcycled outfits. Yoga classes with a telepathic guru. I was eating lab-grown meat on the regular, just because I could afford it. Except I couldn't. Not really. But I thought if I kept up appearances, that would somehow make it real."

"After the fight with the Gray Cowl, I started rehab in-house at Prynn Plaza. So there I was, convalescing, with nanobots fusing my back together. But I had domestic staff on call, a gorgeous view of the Upper Shades, and nearly unlimited time to catch up with all those Netflix shows. If it wasn't for the risk of complete paralysis, it was the most comfortable I had been since I left home."

"But the moment I could walk by myself again, it's like I became an afterthought to Alexa. And you know what the worst part is? The new Skylark is the same bitch who shot me. I mean, sure, she had undone the neural reprogramming by the Council of the Blood Rose. But at the end of the day, she was like the daughter Miss Prynn never had, while I was just a very qualified intern."

"So you moved back here?"

"Not right away. I took advantage of Alexa's guilt money while it lasted. More than once, I stood on a ledge, wondering if I could just will my power to return if I jumped off."

Carmen shook her head and grimaced before she went on.

"So then I headed to Sagebrush City. Reconciled with my dad. One evening, I was at Nuestra Señora de la Misericoridia, and I just broke down in the pews. Padre Chino said the altar boys thought I was possessed. The next morning, I booked my ticket home."

"So what now?"

"Well, I'm going to Dr. Yu again. It's just like sophomore year. Only this time, I kinda welcome the sessions."

"That's cool. So are you staying with your br–" Rosh paused to correct himself. "With your sibling?"

"Yeah, for the meantime, anyway," she said. "It's so weird how much Angel and I get along now."

"Well, they've come a long way since hotwiring Toyotas on Perimeter Street."

"Yeah, Angel's really mellowed out. They work from home, so they can watch over Yasuo's kid, Shiro, while he's up in Umbropolis. That's why I feel like I'm getting in the way sometimes."

"Where do you plan to move?"

Carmen sighed. "I don't know. Haven't really thought that far ahead."

She left Rosh alone for a moment to prepare a Fuzzy Nipple for Buddy Kowalski.

When she got back, Rosh said, "Hey, I don't know if I should be telling you this, but have you seen this before?"

He played a streaming video titled DAEDALUS TEST II-B on his tablet. On the screen, a wiry man tested a flight-capable exoskeleton in the Garrayurra outback. Unlike the bulky armored power suits used by Lady Chromium, the Daedalus design was minimalist and unobtrusive, with lightweight metal wires and nodes attached to various joints. If it weren't for the compact, back-mounted power cell, it gave the appearance of someone flying at will. But the real shock was the identity of the person testing the system.

"¡Joder! Not this pendejo again!"

"You know this guy?!"

"Yeah. Noah Wenk. He used to be an engineer at Prynn Labs. Got himself fired for leaking trade secrets."

"Sounds like a real dick."

"He seemed pretty nice at first. Then at this Halloween party, we ended up wearing matching costumes. It was completely random. But he was convinced it was fate or something, and he kept sending me these long messages about it. Nothing lewd or inappropriate, just annoyingly persistent. So I told him as blunt as possible that I wasn't interested. That's when he started going full aggro on me, so I blocked his ass. I would have taken it a step further too, but he was terminated soon after."

"So I guess you won't be signing up to test Daedalus anytime soon?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted." She watched Wenk do a near-perfect vertical take-off from a crouched position. "But no. If it means dealing with this guy? So not worth it."

But now it was too late. Carmen was seriously considering the possibilities for taking flight once again. 

Submitted for Lost & Found: A Bookshop Writing Contest, based on Prompt 5: The Gift of Levitation (see header image). Approx. 1,720 words.