[OLD] The Supers Experiment (#1)

Twenty-Seven

Tyler's gaze flickered to the security cameras. She wondered if she'd be able to slip a box of Twinkies into her bag without anyone noticing.

Don't be ridiculous, she chided herself. You don't need Twinkies.

But on the other hand, a snack would be nice. Her body still ached from the jump off Scorpion's roof. The broken bones had healed, but injuries like that took longer to go away completely. And Tyler was tired from being on the run.

She was almost to the White House, about half an hour away at most. What she would do when she got there, she wasn't sure yet. Maybe, she admitted to herself, she had been too focused on saving the day to come up with a real plan.

As she stood there, debating whether or not she should treat herself, she noticed a small boy standing nearby. Tyler gave him a sideways glance. He looked about eight years old, and was absorbed in some video game.

Then Tyler noticed the massive jar of misplaced spaghetti sauce on the shelf over the boy's head. It was dangerously close to the edge, like it could fall off at any second.

The ground began to shake. Somewhere overhead was the sound of jets and then the jar was tipping and Tyler found herself shouting at the boy to move.

He did, but not fast enough. The jar shattered against the ground and glass flew everywhere. One of the shards left a massive gash on the boy's bare thigh.

Tyler hurried over to the boy as blood spilled from the cut. The shaking stopped and around her people were shouting in confusion, throwing around the word 'earthquake.'

The boy was crying. "Help," he sobbed. "My leg."

"Hey," Tyler said. "Shh, it's gonna be okay. Let me help you."

Tyler helped the boy sit down and moved to inspect the cut. It was gushing blood. Tyler hoped it wouldn't be too deep for her to heal. She placed her hand on the boy's leg and watched the area around the wound light up with a golden glow. Warmth surged from her body into the boy's.

The cut began to heal, but slower than it would have if Tyler were at full strength. She glanced up at the boy's face. His eyes were wide as he watched the gash close.

Tyler racked her brain for something to say. It'd been a long time since she really interacted with anyone. Well, besides Claudia, but that was barely a conversation.

"What's your name?" she finally asked.

"Felix," the boy answered.

"Last name?" She was almost done.

"Rivera." After a moment, he added, "I have powers too."

Tyler frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I can turn into animals," Felix said. His voice trembled, barely more than a whisper. "Well, ones I've touched, anyway."

Tyler let go of Felix's leg. There was still a scar, but she didn't have the time or energy to finish healing it now. Frowning, she asked Felix, "How old are you?"

"Eight."

She was right. He wasn't old enough to have survived Cladis Point. "Where are your parents?" Tyler asked.

"My mom's at work," Felix replied. "I haven't seen her in a few months. My nanny's been taking care of me."

"And your dad?"

Felix shrugged. "I dunno. I don't have one."

Someone ran by the aisle, shrieking something unintelligible into their phone. Tyler looked up. "What's going on?" she murmured. She stood up and walked over to the end of the aisle.