^^Above, chapter title credit: Song by Elton John.^^

{Raina}

We have a hard time explaining to our kids why it looks like we've been through a war. Mila, when we got home, was shocked to see us stumbling inside covered in bruises. Both of Geoff's eyes are bruised, but only one is swollen shut. Frankly, I think he looks worse than me.

"You do know how to get yourselves into trouble," Mila says later, having whisked our kids promptly off for a nap and then taking us one at a time into the kitchen to have a look at us.

"Seems like it," I say dryly. I can't think of another time when I've sustained this degree of injury at once. "Ow."

She pulls her fingers back, in the middle of spreading anti-bruise cream over my cheek. "You must sit still," she admonishes.

"But it hurts," I protest, like a child.

"This will be the only way to stop it from hurting."

"I know, sorry." I let her keep going. "How was Geoff?"

"Very bruised," she says. "He would not say much about why."

I explain the rest to her, once I know what Geoff's told her. He must think he's keeping things from her, but I get the feeling she knows more than he realizes. Her reasoning is that she's known him since he was ten at least, when his powers started to show up. But it's hard for me to think of Geoff without powers. He's been that way for as long as I've known him.

He sleeps all that afternoon, the entire night, and then half of the next day. I end up calling in to his work for him, telling them he's taking a sick day. His secretary is where I run into problems. Apparently he's never told her he's married, and she thinks I'm the other woman, in her words. I tell her she'd better take a good long look at their relationship, because he's my husband and it takes one to know one.

Then, right before lunchtime that day, Howard Eckles calls. Mila tells me to pick up the phone in the living room from the hallway, because there's an anxious man on the other end.

"Howard?" I say when I pick up. "Hey."

"Raina, thank God," he says, with a genuine warmth and concern that makes me blush. "Heard about what happened at Wigmore. You two okay?"

"Just banged up." I support Cam's head as he attempts to sit up, reaching for his teething ring. "Geoff got the worst of it. Osborne threw him around pretty good."

"Krakatoa. Shoulda known," he says, and I hear his chair creak as he leans back in it. "If I had, I woulda told you to be careful around him."

"It's fine, Howard, there's no way you could have. I'm just glad we made it without worse injuries. He seemed dangerous."

"He is." His tone betrays nothing until he asks, "How badly did he hurt you?"

"He didn't touch me. His guard did, though. And Pascal."

He curses under his breath. "Wish I'd taken him out when I had the chance."

I think of the way Pascal looked at me before he'd knocked me out. Like I was an appetizing piece of meat. I shudder and push it away.

"Gotta be careful around him, Raina," he says, almost like he hears my thoughts through the phone. "Been diggin' around in his past a little bit...says he's a registered sex offender."

No wonder I feel so uncomfortable around him. "That makes sense."

"Yeah." Eckles's voice gets heavy. "He's got a reputation."

"No kidding."

"I should go," he says after a long pregnant silence. "Got some...things I gotta do."

We say goodbye and hang up mutually. I pick Cam up under his arms with a squeak, setting him on my hip as I go to Geoff's home office. Something about Eckles's tone of voice told me he hadn't been telling me the whole truth. I didn't pry, even though I'd been inclined to.

After I've set Cam down on his blanket and given him enough toys to occupy him for at least twenty minutes, I sit down at the computer and begin to dig. I find Pascal's sex-offense registry, and I'm surprised when I see a charge of rape. Despite the nausea turning in my stomach, I plunge into that afterward.

What I find disgusts me so much I can't look at it anymore. I close the browser, clear the history, and dig my knuckle into my bruised eye. The pain clears my head, and for the rest of the day, even when Geoff gets up, I try not to think about it. But it sits in the back of my mind, a poisonous weed. One of these days, it's going to infect me completely.

≈

One week later, with August two days away, we're arriving at Matt and Tori's for the baby shower. Her due date is soon, and given her slight stature, seeing her with a baby bump makes her look even smaller. When we walk in, she greets Geoff and I warmly, hugging both of us with difficulty.

"It's good to see you and Matt so happy," I tell her as she shows me where to put the present we brought. I adjust Cam as he wriggles on my hip, digging his heels in to hitch himself up.

"Marriage is everything I thought it was going to be," she says, with a small fleeting smile. "And then some."

"What do you mean?" I set Cam down, even though he protests, to look at her straight-on. Her eyes are dark and shuttered.

"Matt didn't want kids," she says. "He's a little better when I told him it's a boy, but I could tell he wasn't happy."

"I'm sure he was just unsure of how to react." I know Geoff was, both times. He'd given me a look that was pure But how did that happen.

"It's not just that. He said that...being a super, he knows that the more you have to lose, the more vulnerable you are. So having a pregnant wife or kids makes things a lot harder." She flattens her hand against the bump, something I remember doing plenty of times.

"Tori." I take her arm, and she meets my eyes. "That doesn't mean he doesn't want kids. It might not seem like it now, but believe me, when your baby is born, he'll turn into a puddle. Becoming a first-time parent is scary, I get it. But you'll see. Matt's going to love that baby, because it's his."

"How did you handle it?" she asks after a while. "Matt said you were still nineteen when you got pregnant the first time."

"Not well," I admit. "But my mom kicked me out when I told her. Too many things came down the pipe at once. I almost didn't want to have the baby."

"Are you glad you did?"

"Every day." I think of Ettie, and her natural curiosity, her energy, her intelligence. The first time I held her in my arms, and the realization that she was my daughter was something I'd never be able to repeat. She was born from love, more than I'd ever had. In fact, my parents never treated me as more than a mistake and a liability. To them, that's probably what I was.

"Thanks, Raina," she says with another smile, longer this time.

"You can do this, Tori." I try to channel El as I say it. "I know you can. And like I said, don't worry about Matt. He'll come around. Trust me."

She takes my hand and squeezes it. "Now enough of that, how about some celebration? That's what this day is all about, after all."

"Gladly."

≈

Just like I've done every night since the Wigmore incident, I help Geoff with his injuries. He hadn't broken anything, fortunately, but he was bruised, and rubbing the anti-bruise cream on them was the only thing that seemed to help.

"I really should get injured a lot more often," he says with a wry wink as he sits down on the bed, pulling off his shirt. "If it means we get to do this more."

"Oh no, you don't." I trace the edge of the bruise on his cheekbone before rubbing the cream in. "I'm your wife, not your personal masseuse."

"You really want to go on record with that statement?" He slides his arms around my waist and pulls me against him.

"Geoff, seriously." I concentrate on applying the cream, even though the way he looks up at me, chin planted on my sternum, is distracting.

"We could make this much more romantic, you know." His hand slips up my back and into my hair, winding his fingers into it. "Much more."

"But you're injured," I say, pushing his hand back down when it inches underneath my shirt, the edge of his thumb brushing one of my scars. "You heard the doctor. No strenuous activity for at least two weeks."

"You think I care about that?" he whispers, tugging me down to kiss me between each word. "I miss it, don't you?"

"Geoff, stop." I pull away when he tries again, kissing my neck. "We can't do this right now."

"Why not?" He sounds annoyed, and his grip on me tightens.

"Because I'm not in the mood, okay?" I go on, despite the way his brow furrows. "I know you think you can do this whenever you want, but I just can't right now."

"You're distracted," he says, as a statement and not a question. "I can see it."

"Look, Geoff, it has nothing to do with you, it's just—"

"Who is it?" he asks, completely out of left field. "Who's distracting you?"

"What?" I shake my head. "I don't know what you're—"

"Don't play games with me, Raina." He grabs my face, making me look him in the eye. "You've been acting differently ever since we got back from Pittsburgh."

"Well, I'm sorry if being held at gunpoint and then being beaten and tied up is what's preoccupying me right now, but—"

"I know it's not that. I saw it after you told me Howard tried to kiss you too." He narrows his eyes. "Tell me what he's got that I lack."

"Nothing, Geoff, I..." I feel panic rising in my chest. I've never seen him this way. He's much stronger than me, and if he wanted to overpower me, he could. "It's nothing, really–"

"You want to tell him that?" Geoff's face twists into an expression I instantly dislike. "Because he seems to think you return his feelings."

"Stop this, Geoff, please." He stands up, towering over me. "It really is nothing. Nothing's happened between us."

"Is that really what you believe?" He curls his lip. "Or did you think that after one time, he would stop?"

"No, of course not. I know he's just like that. But I've never indulged him. I've never let him think we're more than just friends." I don't mention the part where I can tell he wants more.

"Fine, but you want to explain why he's telling you things he won't talk about normally? About Felicia being his cousin and everything?"

"You never questioned it before," I fire back, not answering him.

"Maybe not, but ever since we merged our companies, he's gotten much more friendly towards you. He thinks that you're fair game too. And you letting him do it is the signal to him that he's allowed to keep asking for more." His mouth tightens. "Or did you not think I would notice?"

"You want to think that, fine," I snap, hurt that he doesn't trust me. "But you take it up with him before you start accusing me of things, okay? And you'd better consider his powers too. This can't be all my fault."

Then I toss the tube of cream on the bed behind him and leave the room without looking back. I don't even want to know what I'd see.

≈

"Mama?"

I feel Ettie's hand batting at my face. When it brushes my bruises, fresh pain blooms in my head. I catch her arm as I open my eyes, for a second unable to remember where I am. Then it occurs to me that I left things on bad terms with Geoff last night, and everything comes flooding back.

"Hey, sweetie." I cup the back of her head and kiss her hair as I stand up. "Have you seen Daddy yet?"

"Matt," she says, and for a second I don't understand what she means until I glance over my shoulder and see him in the doorway, already dressed.

"Hey, Matt." I'm hardly presentable, nor am I dressed.

"Morning," he says, leaning inside. "You're up early."

"Yeah. Couldn't sleep." I don't want to tell him about last night. That's too much detail. "Have you seen Geoff?"

"Went out swimming in the pool," he says. "I think he's out there now."

"Thank you." I give him a small smile as I pass him. "Come on, Ets. We're going to see Daddy."

She trots after me to grab my hand, holding two of my fingers the way she always does. I'm unused to the house, so it takes me ten minutes to find the door to outside, and from there another five to find the pool, behind a wall of glass bricks. Matt was right though – Geoff's in the last lane, just finishing a lap.

"Geoff," I say as I reach him, just as he's about to start across the pool again. "Wait."

He stops, resting both elbows on the edge. "What?"

"Sit there, sweetie, okay?" I set Ettie on a chaise lounge and then turn to him, sitting down on the edge. "We left things on bad terms last night, and I'm sorry."

"It wasn't bad terms, Raina," he says with a sigh. "It was me assuming too much. You like to stay on people's good sides, I get that."

"You're not mad?"

"At you?" He slicks his wet hair out of his eyes, drawing a wet line up my shin. "No. At Howard, maybe. Or myself. But I didn't mean to get so angry, I'm sorry."

"You were right to. I should have told you."

He smiles, raising himself up on his hands to kiss me. I cup his cheek and let him. Then he pulls away, pushing himself off the side of the pool on his back.

"You sure you don't want to come in?" He raises an eyebrow. "You wouldn't even have to get undressed."

"Geoff, not in front of Ettie."

"Ettie?" He looks up and behind me. "Where is she?"

I whip my head around, and with a plunging feeling in my stomach, I see he's right. Ettie's gone.

"Ettie!" I stand up and cast about for her, desperately hoping I won't see a spot in the pool where she fell in. "Where are you, sweetie?"

"Stay here a second," Geoff says, and then he's gone, his body sliding along under the water like a fish. He must have come to the same conclusion I did, but when his head breaks the surface at the other end and he shakes it, that increases my panic. If she's not here, then where is she?

He leads the way back to the house, toweling off as he does. Matt must see us coming, because he emerges as we approach. His expression's concerned, his brow furrowed.

"What happened?"

"It's Ettie. She's missing."

Matt nods. "Okay. Okay. You two, start down by the pool. She can't have gotten far. I'll go around front, ask Tori if she'll search the house."

We split up, Geoff veering off the path left, while I go right, towards the garden. It's so big she could have wandered anywhere.

"Ettie!" I call, hearing my voice crack. "Ettie, sweetie, where are you?"

I come across a groundskeeper, but when I ask him if he's seen a little girl wander past, he shakes his head and waves his hand. No English. I don't try to describe her, I only thank him and keep going, scanning the garden paths. I try to fight my panic, but it's proving harder to keep down. Seeing the luck we've had lately, she could be captured and long gone already.

"Ettie!" I wipe at the tears now streaming down my cheeks. "Ettie, honey, come out, please!"

The hedge rustles behind me and I spin around, anticipating a threat. I freeze, fear constricting my chest. Then, a second later, Ettie crawls out from underneath it, clutching a frog in her hand.

"Oh my God..." I rush forward and scoop her into my arms, crushing her against me so hard she squeaks in protest. My tears soak into her hair as I kiss it, over and over again. Then I let her go, checking over her for injury. "Are you hurt, honey?"

"Found a froggy, Mama," she says, holding it up. "Can I keep it?"

"Froggies are wild animals, Ets," I say without thinking.

"But I wanna froggy, Mama! I want this froggy!"

"Okay, okay." I catch her arms when she starts to scream, stamping her foot. "Ets, look at me. You can keep it until we go home. But then you have to let Mr. Froggy go."

She nods, head bobbling.

"And don't you ever run off like that again, you hear me?" I cup her face in my hands. "You scared me. And you scared Daddy. Promise me you won't do that again."

Another nod. "Promise."

I pick her up again and she wraps her legs tightly around my waist. She clings to my neck with one arm and holds the frog in her hand. It stares at me without blinking, its throat moving in and out.

"Raina!"

I stop on the path, seeing Geoff and Matt jogging towards me. Geoff reaches me first, pulling me into a tight hug and sandwiching Ettie between us. Then he steps back and cups Ettie's head, kissing the top of it.

"You found her," he says, pulling me in again and dropping his forehead against mine.

"She was just chasing a frog, Geoff," I say, through a half-laugh, half-sob. "A stupid frog."

He smiles, just a small one, and kisses my forehead. Then he wraps both of us in his arms, and I drop my head against his chest. I never want him to let go. It feels so safe.

≈

I make it up to Geoff that night, after our kids are in bed and Matt and Tori aren't around. It doesn't seem to affect him, even with his injuries. His grip on my hips is hard enough to bruise, but I barely feel it. I don't want the accusations of last night to happen again.

When I wake up the next morning, however, stretching my arm across the bed for Geoff, I can't find him. I pull my arm back, prop myself up on an elbow, and look around. He's gone, and his side of the bed is cold. I get up, pull on a robe, and poke my head out into the hallway. I hear voices coming from downstairs, and that sparks my curiosity. I don't have time to shower or change clothes, so after I've thrown on the same clothes from yesterday, I head downstairs.

I find Matt and Geoff at the dining room table, with a newspaper spread out in front of them.

"...didn't think he would actually do it," Matt's saying, with awe in his voice.

"He's mentioned it a couple times," Geoff says, rubbing the back of his head.

"Who is it?" I ask as I come in. They both straighten and turn around, Matt elbowing Geoff and grinning as he catches sight of me. Same clothes as yesterday. Damn it.

"Hugo," Geoff says, with an eye roll in Matt's direction. "He's written an article exposing Ridley's attempt to sabotage his candidate's chances."

"He's done that?" He was really intent on winning this race. "How?"

"Remember that Blob attack?" Geoff makes room for me between them as I come in. "Apparently he'd had it going after Salinger's press manager and campaign manager beforehand."

He taps the paper, in the middle of an article titled Green bid for Mayor could be in jeopardy. I scan it, finding what he's talking about. Three from Salinger's campaign team are in critical condition after a mysterious super villain attack two days ago, when a monster with tentacles broke into their campaign headquarters and wreaked havoc on the office.

"Who was the third?" I ask when I'm done. "You only mentioned two."

"Intern," he says. "Underage, so they can't release a name."

"How'd he find out it was Ridley's doing?"

"Tricks of the trade, I guess," Geoff shrugs. "But I'd be interested to find out some specifics."

≈

It takes a few more days for us to set a meeting with Hugo. Apparently Ridley had released a statement saying that the report was untrue, and that there was no evidence that he had anything to do with the attack on his opponent. So as a result the paper had to print a return statement saying the article was based on unfounded evidence and apologized. Hugo was laying low for now, but at some point, Geoff said, he'd rear his head again.

"Jesus, what happened to you two?" he asks when we do meet him, at the bakery in Grand Central Station. This is too public an area for Ridley to put a hit on Hugo, because we know by incensing him like that he just made himself a target.

"Heard about what happened to Wigmore and Sons?" Geoff says. "Their CEO was turned into a puddle of lava. That was me who did it."

"You...?" He sounds incredulous, glancing back and forth between us. "Then...how'd you both get beaten up?"

"Pascal. He was there too," I answer before Geoff can. There's no use in denying it now – we're going to have to get our hands dirty if we want to win this. "The whole thing was a trap."

"Was he the one who hit you?" His eyes flick from the cast on my wrist to the bruise on my face and then over to Geoff's face, still pretty bruised.

I just nod.

"So how'd you find everything out, Hugo?" Geoff leans forward, across the tiny table we've all crammed ourselves around. "The paper said the evidence was false, but..."

"I have an inside source," he says. "I'm not allowed to reveal who it is, but they're close to Ridley's campaign, covering the elections. The evidence isn't all that unfounded. That Pascal you mentioned? My source got him drunk and he revealed they were planning an attack."

"Is that reliable?" I raise one eyebrow. "It could have been the alcohol talking."

"More than you'd think. Pascal might be a jerk, but he's really not good at keeping secrets."

"That's not surprising," Geoff says with a shrug.

"Do you think you could do something for me off the record?" I ask him when Geoff's gone off to use the restroom.

"Yeah, sure." Hugo shrugs. "What?"

I tell him about Felicia, quickly summarizing everything that's happened so far. And when I get to the part about staking her out and ruining her, he starts to nod. Then I mention she's Ridley's pick for deputy mayor, and that seems to shock him the most.

"I know what he's doing," he says. "He's trying to keep her close. I think she must have told him you're onto her."

"What'll we do, then?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, I know where they are right now. Ridley's scheduled to hold a press conference in an hour outside the New York Public Library. If you want a chance to talk to Felicia, that would be it."

"I don't want to just talk. I want to sucker-punch her." My fists curl. Even though I've never punched anyone and I'm sure I would break a couple knuckles if I tried, hitting Felicia in the face would be so satisfying.

"Not a good idea, if you expect her to not see you coming," Hugo says, pointing at me. "But if you let me go with you, I'll make sure to head Ridley off so you two can have a good talk."

"Good. Because I was planning on asking you anyway."

≈

Once I'm sure Geoff's safely off to one of his numerous company meetings, Hugo and I hoof it to the library. The press conference is started already when we get there, but I see Ridley, standing on the steps in front of a podium. I bet he loves the attention from the press, cameras constantly flashing in his face. He struck me as the type to love any camera trained on him. I see Felicia, standing slightly off to the side, with an expression of passive interest.

"Press only, ma'am," says the police officer as we reach the crowd, stepping in front of us.

"Relax, Reubens, she's with me," Hugo says, grasping my shoulder.

"Doesn't look like a journalist," says Reubens, looking me up and down.

I narrow my eyes at him and open my mouth to protest, but Hugo gives my shoulder a warning squeeze before speaking.

"It's her first week. She's still in training."

Reubens rolls his eyes, already losing interest. "Fine. Go on."

"What is it about you men and thinking you have to speak for me all the time?" I jerk my shoulder away as soon as we're out of earshot.

"Because I could see you wanted to tell him off," Hugo says placatingly. "I didn't want to get us thrown out."

"Don't patronize me, Hugo. I get enough of that from my husband."

"I'm not, I'm just being honest." His hand is firm in the middle of my back, guiding me forward. "I get that you want to offer your opinion. But getting angry and being rude to the police isn't the way to do it."

"Fine." I squeeze my eyes shut and will myself to calm down. I know it's because of Felicia. It's because of her that I've lost my best friend and my husband doesn't fully trust me around other men. Eckles is trying harder than ever to try and get me to betray Geoff, and every time he touches me he makes me want to. Felicia can do the same thing with him, but unlike her cousin she's probably perfectly aware of what she's doing. I know she has no feelings for Geoff. I see it.

The conference lasts forty minutes. I'm sweating standing out in this heat, making my clothes stick to me. Compared to the few female reporters that I see in the audience, I know I must look like a sweaty mess.

"Look, there she goes," Hugo says in my ear as Ridley steps down from the podium. Felicia's headed into the library, probably to escape the crowd.

I shove my way free and follow, hot on her heels. I catch up to her with her hand on the door handle, clamping my good hand down over it.

"Well, well. The queen of the gutter herself," Felicia says, unperturbed. "What happened? Your husband slap you around a little bit? Put you in your place?"

"I know my place well, thanks." I try to keep my voice calm. Still, I can hear the steely edge. "You want to tell me what you're playing at?"

"I'm not playing at anything," she says, and her surprise is clearly forced. "I don't even know why you're accosting me again, of all people. I could have the restraining order transferred to you, you know."

"You don't scare me, Felicia. You want to do your worst, then do your damn worst. But you went too far, using my best friend as a means to your own ends." I tighten my hand on hers, and I actually see her eye twitch. I've gotten to her. "Next time you want to fight, do it face to face."

"With the way your face looks right now?" She raises an eyebrow. "I don't think so."

At that I move so fast she doesn't have time to react, grabbing her chin in my hand and backing her against the door. I'm glad I have a couple inches on her, because otherwise this wouldn't have worked.

"You listen to me, Felicia. Don't think we don't have the power to implicate all of you in this scam you call a campaign. You might think hiding behind Ridley makes you immune, but it doesn't. We can take you down any time we want."

"Well, news for you, but you're nothing without Geoff. You had nothing to begin with, and once he leaves you, you'll have nothing when it's over."

"Who's he going to leave me for? You?" I want to punch her, just once. "News for you, but I don't need superpowers to keep him."

"You think you're so tough." She sneers at me. "But guess what. You're not. You'll lose everything, even Geoff, and then we'll see who the winner is."

Then her hand comes up, and she digs her thumb into my sore temple. That makes my vision go red in one eye, and the pain is so bad I can't think straight. She pushes harder, and I cry out, but I redouble my hold on her. I'm sure I have the strength to strangle her, but I know she won't let me. She keeps going, and now I feel her pressing in on my eye. I let go of her face and shove my forearm into her neck despite the pain.

"What's going on here?" says a voice, and a second later, hands are pushing us apart. It's Ridley. "What are you doing trying to strangle my deputy mayor?"

"She's a poor excuse for a deputy mayor," I say, hurling each word at him. "And the both of you should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Now you listen to me, Raina." Ridley steps in front of me and blocks my view of Felicia. "You're on thin ice here. I catch you around anyone on my campaign team again, I'll have you arrested. Is that clear enough for you?"

"Go on." I narrow my eyes at him. "Arrest me now. I don't care. It'll be nothing compared to the time you'll spend in prison for everything you've done."

Ridley raises his eyebrows, and then a second later Reubens's voice comes from behind me. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

"Oh, I see. You've got the police on your side." I cross my arms, not moving.

Ridley sighs wearily and waves his hand. "Reubens, arrest this woman, please. She's clearly hysterical. Or just a lunatic."

"You don't scare me, Ridley," I narrow my eyes at him as Reubens takes my purse away and handcuffs me. "As hard as you try."

"We'll see about that," he says as Reubens grabs my arm and spins me around.

I turn my head as he leads me away, glaring daggers at Felicia. She won't be so lucky next time. I'll make sure of it.