One hour later

J-Star:

Practice over, I was still itching to pester my man. Xao had actually gotten to shower first, but I hadn't been long behind- and that was an accomplishment these days. Often in these trailer parks, there were community showers. They were split between the genders, but still, it was often a long wait if you wanted privacy.

Into the trailer I went, reattaching my faithful projector to my wrist. I only went to specific places without this thing, bathing, and sleeping, and even then it wasn't far from me. I looked around, seeing the mess on the ground around me. Clothes and snacks were everywhere. You could see spots where Nadine was trying to clean up, but with a home with three boys and the tomboy Raven, it was a losing battle. Jessica was neat, but she wasn't always in front.

Not that Nadine couldn't get help cleaning every so often, but there were times in the day you could just tell this was a full home, even when no one was in it. Right after training- right after waking up- that was such a time. I stepped over clothes and some of Kyle's equipment. Over to the boy's room, I crept.

I heard rustling in the boy's room. Xao was in. If it were Kyle he would have picked up his own stuff and Jaden rarely spent time in his room, he generally planned our training in the van or joined the day watch around the trailer park.

I knocked on the door. "Hold up!" some noises came from the other side of the boys' room door. In a few moments, Xao opened the door just enough for me to see him. He was wearing a cute shirt that cut off around the midsection. It was a weird fashion for boys in those days and- honestly, I didn't object to it. "Oh crap- sorry about the pj's, I'll get something else-"

I waved a hand at him. "Don't care. You'll just have to keep me from tickling you," I said.

"What are you Jessica now?" he grinned.

"So what are you up to in here?"

Xao peeked around me, looking into the girl's room. "By the way, you got any traps in there you need to disarm."

"None that are hard to see," I noted, us both referencing my love of making booby traps in my spare time. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh... Jessica. Hang on a sec."

I closed Xao's door and went back to the girl's room. Standing to one side, I turned the knob and threw open the door- a baseball flying out the door and pinging off the boy's door. I then walked into the room and picked up a series of springs and rubber bands, tossing them into a nearby drawer.

I then returned to Xao's room and knocked again.

He sighed, opening the door. "Can you keep a secret?"

"How bad could it be?" I asked. "I think the person who lives in illusions can pull off secret-keeping." He opened the door the rest of the way. I looked to see pieces of metal lying strewn around with several circuit boards of different varieties scattered among them. "You making something?" I asked.

"Yeah- I've been working on it since I met... since I met Kyle and Jessica," he said, looking ashamed actually.

"What's wrong?"

The boy went back to the floor in his room, sitting amidst his tools. "I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to prove my worth after all these years ya know? I preach about doing your own work. Kyle taught me about standing on your own feet, and I'm happy he did, I just don't seem very good at it. I haven't successfully invented anything in decades."

"Well I've only ever tinkered with this baby over the years," I noted, showing him my projector.

"Any mods on it by the way?"

"Just a better battery life, but not by much. Why not just modify your pulse cannon?"

He picked up his wrist device, not currently on him. He looked at it, staring down the hole where his arm would go. "Took me almost a century to make this thing," he said. "Reflects energy on people- if they ya know- shoot me with energy. No one does so, it's pretty useless normally. All I can do is feed it my own energy and use it to knock things over usually- well unless I have some charging time anyway. It's not worth improving, compared to what everyone else has made, it's a piece of junk." He tossed it on the floor. "I'm tired of barely bringing anything to the table in this group."

"I don't know that that's true."

"Really? Ya'll depend on me for..." he waved for me to continue.

"Um... well you're cute..."

"Jessica normally has that one covered. Also, been a boy for a while, pro-tip, telling a boy he's cute doesn't boost his ego on stuff like this."

"I don't know," I buzzed my lips. "I mean you can handle yourself okay in a scrap."

"Be honest- half the time, were I not your boyfriend, you would forget I was even around. I CAN fight, doesn't mean I'm built for it like everyone else."

I sat down next to him. "Well, what are you making then?"

He picked up a bag and pulled out- a mess of wires with a screen. "It's a backup DNA scanner. All kinds of inferior to what we have already but it can read the drive of our current unit and its radar... functions. Thirty years and Kyle has a functional radar and communications device along with a magnet weapon. Me- a piece of junk." He looked at the device with a grimace.

"This isn't for fighting. Just pointing it out."

"I don't have any inspiration for that. This is what I got. A second-hand tracker. It's basically useless... like me."

I wrapped an arm around him. "No, you're not. You're the one who got me away from the tricksters. You're the one who talked sense into everyone over and over when we had- like a million crises when Raven showed up. You're the guy who didn't walk away from Kyle when he was throwing a fit when he was scared of losing Jessica." I squeezed him close. "I had to guess, you're probably gonna be lucky to be involved in bringing down Tyrin himself, but if I asked around, no one's gonna say we don't need you."

He gave a small smile. "Thanks."

"Freaking smile bigger ya dope!" I jammed a few fingers in his exposed belly- because I had been wanting to do that the entire time and finally found an excuse. He pushed me away, but still gave me a grin.

"I'm still gonna keep working on this thing- love ya Jay."

I walked out the door, giving a cocky smile back. "You bet you do!"

(***)

Raven:

A few days later Jessica sat outside the trailer we were staying in just outside the border of Texas in Oklahoma. Her eyes were still sore, but life went on.

Jessica's eyes weren't fully recovered either, seeing smudges and phantoms every so often, she or I not fighting was for the best for now.

To call where we were living a trailer park was a bit of a misnomer, but it was a decent shorthand. All around our trailer were run-down fences attached to mobile homes, some could still have been moved, others had long lost their wheels and sunk into the ground. Many had fire-pits outside for cooking and laundry was out on lines to dry.

If you just walked into this place from the outside, you would nod your head and say "yep, this is a trailer park". That was the idea.

Oh, some banshees really did live here of course. However, it was ONLY the banshees that lived here. They lived in trailer parks before because it was natural. Banshees were African and thus segregated into poorer communities.

However, banshees were more than just black citizens of any country. They had their own society. They hunted down criminals across the globe when the justice system failed- or just when they caught someone first. Often they killed those they cornered after committing an atrocity, but at times they tried to pursue gangs. Thus they would often take their prey here, to these trailer parks, for interrogation. These parks were actually bases of operation for vigilantes.

How did we in the Tracers feel about all this? I was okay with it, but apparently, Jessica thought the Banshees were overstepping, something about "playing judge and jury".

Our concern was using these places for protection when we traveled from place to place as banshees were known for being well-armed and vicious and probably hated Tyrin and his goons more than we did.

Kyle in particular didn't like being in these parks and spoke about it sometimes at length. He felt even being in these places was an expression of approval for their behavior. Jaden argued with him that this was needed, sometimes even screaming at the boy at the top of his lungs- which did nothing but make our neighbors take him aside and let him know there was a noise regulation even here. Kyle allowed himself to be here but never conceded the point.

Not that I blamed him. I normally tried not to argue with big brother Jaden, but... more and more his behavior was just so different from who he had been when we first met. I was his loving little sister- was there something I could do?

These thoughts ran through my consciousness, but Jessica was still in front at the moment- wow did our brain have a lot to over-process.

Jessica's eyes closed, she was posed with her feet together, her knees out, her elbows on her knees and her hands extended. Electric constructs flew over both of her hands.

'I still say you should have been nicer to Jaden,' I said in her mind. 'I get you're worried about him, and so am I... really worried... but-'

"Worried about him doesn't cover it," she snapped as a bolt of energy shot out from her left hand and nailed one of the gnats buzzing around us. "He's been changing. We go, we get a kid, we leave and he plans the next adventure with Kyle. Each time we stay in a new place and he only talks to Nadine about how he feels if he talks to anyone. Well- if he's not yelling at people. Especially Kyle- which as you can imagine doesn't make me happy." Oh yeah. Loyal as I was to Jaden, she was even more loyal to Kyle. She continued to nail one gnat after another with small and medium-sized arcs as we talked.

'Nadine is called mom, she's our mom.' I pointed out. Four more gnats had been downed.

"Forgive me the miss-label." She bit her lip. "It's been four years Raven. He's a different person. All he cares about is taking down Tyrin."

'Well, you care about that too right?' At least six more.

"I do... I just can't help feeling that someday he's gonna cross a line. He's scared a lot of kids and this wasn't the first time he's just slapped the picture of the next kid on the table while we're trying to calm down a victim of violent trauma. These are kids that are hurting. We can't focus everything on efficiency here."

"I think he does care Jessie."

"No... maybe... Raven, Travis turned out to be a dud case anyway. The police brought him home while we were out. Jaden was good to you when you woke up all those years back. You have a fondness for him and you're assuming the best." My anger was building in me as she spoke like this- I had long lost track of how many bugs she had zapped with her powers, at this point, I didn't even care.

'Like any of us could have known that, how could he have checked exactly? He's your big brother too Jess. Why aren't you assuming the best?'

A tear squeezed out of one of her eyes. "You don't know what this means to me. Sixteen years. Sixteen years of rescuing kids and taking them home. Before it was always about saving lives and bringing them home safely. Now it's about moving from one case to the next, grab the kid, and go. We don't get to know them and we only ever go after kids taken by human traffickers because, let's face it, we only care about tracking down Tyrin." Hearing her, I calmed down. It felt like she might have been being sentimental, but even so...

"It's a small sacrifice, Jessie. You remember the threat Tyrin made."

"You didn't meet Jaden when he was four, he was so sweet and innocent. But more than that, we've all changed. J-Star seems detached when she used to care so much, Xao rarely even meets the kids... Kyle seems the same I guess. We used to be about saving people, now it's just fighting this monster." She opened her eyes, looking up into the sky. "You know my biggest fear on each adventure these days?"

'Someone will be dead before we get there?'

"More of a fear than it used to be. When it was me, Kyle and Xao we always stopped and made sure there would be a way for people to find the body. It was scary and heartbreaking, but it mattered. These days, if someone is dead, Jaden has us just leave for the next case. We've done that... so many times now."

'I'm sure he has a reason. Jess... I hate to say it. Need I remind you? Many kids were killed while we were looking for them in these past few years. It turned out a number of them were specifically victims of Jacobson, meaning Tyrin was keeping his word- and just as proof one of them-'

"There was a message near him written in blood..." Jessica leaned down and grabbed her stomach, her eyes open now as she was in a more natural sitting position. Her training had been forgotten. "I wanna quit Raven. I used to love doing this but... I can't do this as just a job and the price of doing it wrong I just can't stand." She got up slowly, letting her arms hang by her sides as the electric constructs she still had started to orbit her body.

'You told the others about that? You gonna talk to Abba about it?' Abba had become my own name for God. It was a Jewish word I learned that apparently meant father, but in a different way- a father who was in control.

"I've prayed... just haven't heard much yet." She shook her head. "There's a growing feeling I'm getting. It's starting to feel like... like the color is fading from what we do... it's hard to put into words. I'm the goof of the group- I think they need me to be that so I kinda keep my negative thoughts to myself."

'I mean... that's not just a thing you're doing now right? You still like playing pranks and stuff like that? Please tell me you're not just doing it...'

She smiled. "I'm not. I still love making people smile whenever I can... c'mon, let's collect all those gnats I was killing while we were talking and plant them in J-Star's socks."

'That's vicious!'

"I will pull one over on her!" Jessica asserted with a snicker.

"Will you now?" a voice from an invisible source said over Jessica's head.

Jessica just sighed. "Hi Jay."

J-Star's form appeared beside the door of the trailer. "Perception is reality girl," she leaned against the vehicle with a cocky smile. "Hence why if ever we fought, you'd be helpless."

Jessica shook her head. "You always wear metal, there's an easy way to beat you... we've discussed this." She gave a sly grin. "How much did you hear?"

J-Star looked at the ground. "Naturally nothing from Raven but a lot from you. For instance, I've still got a heart girl. But I feel the same as you at times. I want to be kind to the kids with the time I've got, but I know it won't be much so I don't like getting attached anymore- we still did things your way for a little while Jess, even while I was here. It was fun to get to know the kids then, but these days we spend an hour max with them- sometimes only a few minutes- depends on how efficient the banshee team is. But really, what really matters is that we save the kids, not how much time we spend with them."

"Still... on the kids who pass away... what we do there isn't exactly right."

"Too predictable. We can't bury or move them around- you're angry about that, don't look at Jaden. That was my idea."

"WHAT!?" Jessica practically shouted. She clenched her fists.

J-Star glared at Jessica. "Like it or not the rules of what we do have changed. We find a living kid, we stay in place and fight it out with the bad guys. If we find a dead kid we just move on. Now think like Tyrin for a bit. What if we stopped for a... a... a person who's passed on like one who was alive? There would be no difference from his perspective then. If we get too close to some of his "merchandise"-"

"Don't talk about them like that!" Jessica snapped.

J-Star actually rolled her eyes and just kept going. "If we get too close and he finds out he may as well order them killed if we spend the same time either way. He'll lose the money either way and he knows doing that will get to us- especially you. Every fight we get in, we get a chance to make progress in tracking him down and he gets a chance to hurt or kill one of us. If we won't even stick around if they're dead he gains nothing. Think I like just moving on? If you got a better idea go ahead and offer it up." J-Star waved a hand to her, but Jessica just looked down, slowly closing her eyes. J-Star leaned on the trailer. "I'm only guessing on Tyrin's motives here. This is chess, we have to calculate our moves."

"It... it's like he's stealing our innocence. I want to fight him on that but... I can't."

J-Star gave a weak nod. "I don't know what to do on that one Jessie. Maybe we just fight for what little innocence we can ya know? No reason to give up and let a wedge get driven between you and Jaden. No reason not to still have fun when we can."

"I still owe you one heck of a tickling..." Jessica said with a pursed smile. "But I'll just settle for a killer prank.

"And on that note, I have to find out where you're ticklish," J-Star replied. Jessica put her hands behind her head with a shrug. "Oh, I know it has to do with confidence and expecting the attack. Don't you worry, I'll figure out a way around all that." Jessica just rolled her eyes. "You're such a twerp you probably always expect someone to try to get you... ya know what? Tickling is just ONE way to get someone's goat. I'm gonna find something I can do to you that you can't stand, some torture that will make you beg me to stop or flip your lid."

"Well, I guess you could try drowning or cutting or-"

"Wow!" I shouted. "Sheesh, girl don't get dark on me. Just ya know- spicy foods, pink bellies, loogies, bad jokes- something has to get to you." The teen girl finally started laughing. "We. Are. Kids." she stated flatly.

"Yeah, we are," Jessica said with another shrug and a creeping smile. Jessica felt a few pinches on her stomach, looking up to see the image of J-Star still by the door though the pinches came from another angle. "No dice."

J-Star looked up at the sky. "Everyone has a spot."

"Raven is ticklish enough for two people," Jessica said with a grin. "Maybe that explains it."

"Maybe it does... like I said, we're kids. The stuff going on around here is so serious but- this game of ours is so dumb." A grin split her face too. "Let's not stop."

Jessica looked up with her. "Maybe. You get to me or I prank you first. I will win this... what does the winner get, hm?"

"Like there's even a point in asking who's gonna win. Your mind is my playground, you're not even talking about stopping me cause you know you can't."

"If spicy food is the worst you got I won't have to." she bit her lip even after saying that with a grin.

"Jess... I know everyone has changed. But we still love each other- you're all still a family."

"You're? What do you mean by that?" Jessica asked. "Jay you've been with us for years now. You're not new anymore, you're family as much as anyone else."

"I was still never adopted into the Reigns by your father. I'm a Tracer, but not a member of Allen Reign's family. You know what they say, blood is thicker than water."

Once more Jessica shrugged. "What do they know? Not like any of us are actually related by blood anyway." She looked at the image of J-Star. "You do belong with us... can I look you in the eyes when I say that?"

J-Star rolled her eyes and started to talk with a smile-

The door to the trailer suddenly flew open. The head of a brown-haired woman poked through. "There you are!" she exclaimed seeing Jessica. She zipped out of the trailer. "Our time already started let's get inside and..." she grabbed at Jessica's shoulders- only to realize Jessica had moved when she came out of the vehicle and J-Star had cloaked her and projected an image. Her hands fell through the air. The woman grunted and rested her hand against the trailer. Jessica looked at her from her cloaked body as the image of her faded. The woman was dressed in a white suit coat and pants, her long hair in a single braid. "Really?" she asked looking at J-Star. "You know you're becoming an interesting subject yourself girly. I wonder, you use those illusions so much, can even you tell what the truth is anymore?"

J-Star grinned. "I can. Can you?"

"Try looking me in the eyes and saying that," the woman said with her own cocky smile.

"I am looking you in the eyes Floreen."

"Let me see them," Floreen said, her smile broadening.

J-Star sighed. "Jessie, you're a good friend but I'm not dealing with this even for you. Good luck."