• The dream was the same as always. It was more of a memory, distorted by time and her subconscious. It came from a time early in Sharon’s childhood, when her “talents” were still developing and often struck with surprising force.

    Her parents had taken her out of school, to protect her and the other children. Sharon was home alone, because her parents didn’t want to put a baby-sitter in danger. She had been practicing all day, learning to control her power in new and entertaining ways. Sharon muffled a squeal of delight, as the spoon lifted into the air and began twisting itself into the shape of a pretzel. Somewhere in the house a door slammed, breaking her concentration.

    Like an arrow the spoon dropped. Hitting the floor, it embedded itself in the wood. She shrieked happily, and threw her slight, ten year old body down the stairs.

    “Daddy! Daddy! Come look! Hurry! Hurry!” She screamed excitedly. Racing down the hall, she came to a screeching halt as her father’s emotions hit her with the force of a train. She rolled into a fetal position and rocked back and forth as the emotions and thoughts pounded her skull. Rage, fear, hatred, disappointment, concern and love flowed over her. One after the other they filled her mind, pounding relentlessly over and over. Amidst the pain she felt her world start to crumble as her fathers thoughts forced their way into her tender mind. Divorce, scientists, government, child custody, experiments, and through it all, the pain and concern for his only child. It was too much for Sharon’s young mind to handle; her inexperience prevented her from shutting it out. Slowly the thoughts began to recede as darkness engulfed her.

    2.

    Sharon awoke to feel the world crash down on top of her. Her dog yelped as he felt himself drop to the ground from where he had been floating midair seconds earlier. Sharon sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She sighed as she surveyed the carnage from that night’s episode. Her clothes were strewn about the floor and the alarm clock she kept next to her bed was suspended from a shoestring that had somehow lost its shoe and succeeded in wrapping itself around the ceiling fan. Her poor dog had crawled under the chest of drawers that was no longer upright, but instead had fallen onto its front, the drawers sticking out to form a sort of protective barrier for the frightened canine. Sharon grimaced; at least there weren’t any holes in the wall this time.

    She stretched, intending to fall back asleep. Today was Sunday, so she’d have all day to clean the mess. It was too bad her “abilities” were only that strong when she was having an emotional difficulty. Ever since that day she had found it almost impossible to control anything heavier than a toothpick. Her ability to read minds had also lessened. Her powers were still there, she just couldn’t fully use them unless she was having a bad day. Ironically, the only time she didn’t want to use her powers was when she was having a bad day. It was amazing how many people she could throw out the same window in less than a minute. (It was also amazing how quickly you could be fired for throwing people out the window).

    Sharon’s dog whined. His bushy tail flopped carefully against the carpet. The poor thing was utterly devoted to her, but absolutely terrified of her powers. The dog was the only pet Sharon had ever had, unlike the other animals that periodically followed her home, this one couldn’t be persuaded to leave. Sharon loved animals, but was terrified of what would happen if her powers raged out of control and injured one of the few creatures she could be friends with. The dog always seemed to sense her fear, and was amazingly talented at reminding her of his presence when Sharon’s temper began to flare. In the first few weeks since he had followed her home, Sharon had found herself having less stress-caused explosions of power. She was grateful he hadn’t been injured by any of her recent bad dreams.

    The dog whined again, his tail flopped a couple more times. Careful to avoid the alarm clock hanging from the low ceiling, he crawled to her bedside. A flashlight that had somehow balanced on the bedpost suddenly fell, and the dog scrambled for cover under her bed. The dog let out a loud “whuff” of exasperation as the flashlight set off a chain reaction of falling objects. When the flashlight rolled under the bed, the dog let out another yelp and backed away, hitting his head on the underside of the bed and accidentally letting his hindquarters stick too far out from under cover. The dog yelped for the third time as the alarm clock dropped and landed dangerously close to his nether regions. Suddenly struck by a bright idea, he made a quick dash for the bedroom door, which had been left open. He reached the threshold and turned around, not wanting to leave his mistress and afraid to come any closer.

    Sharon couldn’t help herself, she laughed. She hastily covered her mouth as the dog gave her an injured glare and stalked into the kitchen. Sharon giggled under her breath as she put on her slippers. Avoiding the alarm clock, she wrapped herself in her robe and walked into the bathroom. She took the time to measure the damage to the shelves that had dropped all their contents, pulled themselves off the wall, casually flipped themselves over and reinstalled themselves backwards, all in the course of one night. She sighed and grabbed her brush which had conveniently decided to land on the shelf under her mirror (the only thing that hadn’t moved). Running the brush through her thick, auburn hair, she made a mental list of how many nails she would need to buy. She didn’t use screws any more; they had a habit of taking sections of the walls with them. She glanced at the mirror. It had a thin crack in one corner and had somehow managed to cover itself in toothpaste. She shook her head. Her nightly episodes were getting more expensive as they became more frequent.

    The doorbell rang, rudely interrupting her thoughts. She ran and threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt that had conveniently dropped into a chair nearby.

    “Lucky they match.” She muttered to herself. Sharon ran into the living room, hastily picking up the chair that had toppled over. In the last couple of years she had mastered the skill of moving quickly so no one could tell anything was out of place. She pushed her hair out of her face with her fingers and took a deep breath.

    “I’m sorry, I’m not interested in whatever your selli-.” Her rehearsed speech dropped from her lips as two men in dark business suits held up badges. The older one began to speak.

    “Miss Sharon Fledges? My name is Steve Smathering and this is my partner Brad Braghtum.” His face broke into an odd grin. “We’re from the government, and we are here to offer you a deal you can’t refuse.”

    Sharon couldn’t help herself, she let out a scream. Then she slammed the door, bolted it and shouted through the keyhole.

    “YOU HAVE THE WRONG HOUSE! GO AWAY! OR I’LL CALL THE POLICE!” It was an absurd thing to say, but she didn’t care.

    She peered out the window to see if they were gone. They were still there, and the younger one seemed to be hovering his hand over the doorknob. Sharon sucked in a breath. The agent had powers. They were different from hers, but she could feel them pulsing around the door. She watched fascinated as the bolt on the door slid backwards and unlocked itself. She had time to feel a momentary pang of jealousy over the way he could control his abilities, before the door politely creaked open and the two agents slipped in.

    “Really Miss Sharon, we just want to talk to you.” The one named Steve smiled again.

    The smile bothered her. It was pleasant enough, but there was something wrong with it. Sharon was sure the smile was real, it was just something about it that bothered her. She stared at his smile, it was soothing and repulsing at the same time. Something about it niggled at the back of her head. Then she got it. He had powers too.

    Sharon swore. “How the hell do people like you end up working for the government? I want you to know that I have every intention of fighting you off. I am not going to be the lab rat in some messed-up scientific experiment. I came into this world in one piece and I plan to leave it the same way.”

    Sharon’s dog came charging out of the kitchen.

    3.

    “Yeep!” Steve let out a strangled screech, then threw himself backwards as her dog tried to grab his throat. Sharon had time to snatch the lamp off the table before Brad reached out and grabbed the dog by his collar. He frowned at Sharon, and moments later Sharon could feel his powers reach past her and grab something from behind her. Sharon ducked the telephone that he was swinging at her, and threw her lamp in the general direction of his crotch. He caught it with one hand, and kept a firm hold on the dog with the other. By this time Steve had regained control of himself, and was intently staring at her dog. All of a sudden, Sharon couldn’t just feel his powers, she could see them. The pale, ice blue strands were weaving themselves around the dog’s neck, literally choking the life out of him. Sharon snapped. That was her dog, and no one was going to hurt her dog.
    The two agents suddenly found themselves stuck to the ceiling. Steve’s powers slipped off the dog’s neck, and began to inch around the room seeking a weapon. Her dog shook himself, barked once and then trotted back to the kitchen. Sharon stared at the two agents in shock, she wasn’t quite sure what she had done to get them up there, and she had no idea how to get them back down. She shook her head and began picking up the room. Cleaning always helped her think, and maybe if she didn’t do anything they’d just drop down by themselves.
    “Hey! I know you’re a little pissed right now, but how about letting us down, so we can talk?” This was the first time Brad had spoken, and she was amazed by how normal and laid back he sounded.

    “Why should I do that?” Sharon craned her neck back to look at him. He was looking down at her, for all the world like he was used to hanging from the ceiling. Then again, with his line of work he probably was used to it. Brad gave her an easy smile, but Steve was still intent on finding a way down. Sharon decided she didn’t like Steve, but she liked Brad. He was amazingly cute with sandy brown hair and deep blue eyes, not to mention well muscled, his shirt was ripped in a few places and managed to show off some very nice biceps. There was also a cheery red glow that seemed to glow from his entire body, it took her a second before she realized she was seeing his power. Unlike Steve’s which was faint and hard to see, Brad’s was strong and healthy.

    “You’ve already proven that we can’t take you anywhere you don’t want to go, so what’s the harm in letting us down so we can have a normal conversation?” Brad was still smiling, but he was starting to tap his fingers impatiently.

    “I think that would be a nice change, but unfortunately I can’t do that.” Sharon smiled back, Brad looked like he might be a popular one with the ladies but she was not going to be won over by any supermodel smile.

    “Listen, I know you’re mad, but why can’t you just let us down?” Brad wasn’t smiling any more. He was frowning, his face clearly said he thought she was being unreasonable and he didn’t want to deal with it. Sharon smiled even wider, two could play at this game.

    “I can’t let you down, because I don’t trust your partner. He tried to kill my dog.” She spoke in a baby sweet voice, and ended her sentence with a flutter of her eyelashes and an even more flirtatious smile. Brad stared at her in disbelief.

    “What are you talking about? Your dog tried to kill him.” He stared at her, she was still smiling sweetly, but something in her face made him look to his partner. Steve was studiously avoiding Brad’s gaze, and seemed oblivious to the both of them. Sharon knew better, the blue streak that was his power had stopped searching and was withdrawing into his body, he wasn’t strong enough to keep it going. Brad probably didn’t know that, very few could sense someone else's power and Sharon didn’t know of anyone other than her who could see it. But Brad wasn’t an idiot, and he could tell something had happened.

    “What the heck is wrong with you, Steve? That could have been her familiar, you don’t kill a Powers pet. You KNOW that.” Brad glared at Steve and then flashed Sharon a confused look.

    “How did you know that he tried to kill your dog? The dog isn’t your familiar is he? He doesn’t look a thing like you.” Brad was definitely confused, but she sensed cunning behind his words. If the dog wasn’t her familiar it meant she could sense others and their powers and that was a very useful tool. If she said the dog was her familiar all they would have to do is catch him to know the truth. Sharon had to think fast. She smiled again, and made her voice sound as sweet as possible.

    “You are in absolutely no position to be asking questions, sweetheart. Besides, if he wasn’t my familiar, how else would I know Steve was trying to strangle him?” That might not be a good answer, but it wasn’t bad either. She hadn’t committed to anything and had even managed to sound ignorant about the power to sense. They couldn’t do much with that information, and they wouldn’t try anything against her or her dog unless they knew for sure. They knew now how she would react to threats. Judging by the look on Brad’s face, it was time to tell them why they were stuck up there.


    4.

    Brad stared at Sharon in disbelief. He had never met someone so infuriating. She had not only managed to glue them to the ceiling, but now she had no idea how to get them down. That wasn’t possible, they had been watching her for weeks, and she seemed to have perfect control of her powers. Then again, they had been watching her for weeks, and she’d never done anything as powerful as attaching someone to the ceiling. In fact, Brad had only ever seen her use her power once and that had been so small as to be almost unnoticeable. A bird’s nest had started to fall out of a tree, and then floated gently back onto the branch with the baby birds inside chirping peacefully. Strangely enough, Sharon hadn’t so much as looked at the nest. She had been quietly sitting on a bench a few feet away and petting her damn dog. Brad wouldn’t have even known she was the one moving it, if it wasn’t for the cozy orange glow that surrounded the birds. Brad had always been a talented Power, but moving things required concentration and focus. That was why the Phoenix Organization was so interested in Sharon; to be able to do something like that was a sure sign of untapped Power.

    But his partner had gotten sloppy; to attempt to kill a woman’s pet was a surefire way to get her to kill you. It was also a surefire way to test her power, but if she managed to kill them, there wouldn’t be any need for her power. Brad knew Steve had gotten impatient. They had followed Sharon from place to place and still knew almost nothing of what she could do. Brad couldn’t believe he’d let Steve pressure him into going and talking to her. Steve was getting old and his power was getting older. Steve wasn’t strong enough to be in a situation like that. He’d probably drain his power trying to fight her off and then end up killing himself when he had to resort to draining his life force. Brad could see Steve’s power. Like a small animal, it cowered inside him, weak and frightened. Brad had a strong power, but he was pretty sure he couldn’t handle this woman by himself. He needed Steve’s help if things got out of hand, but now it looked like Steve was purposely trying to get himself killed.

    Brad almost couldn’t blame his partner. The last few potential Powers had been absolute flops. Super-Bubble Woman Catherine wasn’t even the worst of the group. In order to succeed with their mission, the P.O. needed strong powers, not flimsy sidekicks. The P.O. needed an entire army of Powers to even make a go at taking over the world. Brad mused on this while he stared at the woman standing below him. After explaining the situation, she had just continued to stand there and stare at him. Brad was used to girls staring at him, but this girl seemed a little different. Brad knew he was cute, he had looked in the mirror more than once and been more than a little shocked at how his power had affected his body. As a youth, he had been the very definition of ugly. In his own mind, he had once resembled a large frog with an acne problem and an afro. When he came into his powers at the age of 16, the change had been instantaneous. He had subsequently been orphaned after his parents refused to believe he was who he was. His own mother had chased him out of the house with a broom stick and a bottle of Windex. It was then he had first learned he could see powers. The faint orange glow that surrounded his mother and almost seemed to soak into her skin was her power. The darker red glow that twined around his fathers hands when he grabbed his son by the shirt collar and threw him out the door was his father’s power. At the age of 16, Brad had gained both powers in double measure. The power that made his mother cute and charming was the power that made him handsome and seductive. The power that made his father intelligent and strong, gave Brad the ability to move things with his mind. Neither of his parents had known of their powers, they had been too weak to be noticeable by anyone who knew the signs of special abilities. But Brad was different. Powers are not always inherited, but when they are, they are generally intensified. When a mother with the ability to sense feelings gives birth to a child, the child will either have the ability to read minds or have no ability at all. In Brad’s case, he gained both of his parents’ powers and became the strongest Power yet in alliance with the Phoenix Organization.

    Thinking about the girl, she was definitely different. Most women who saw Brad instantly doted on him, not because he was handsome but because his power compelled them to. Sharon seemed absolutely oblivious to his seductive powers, instead she seemed to flaunt her own beauty as a way of getting what she wanted from him. She wasn’t even slightly fazed by his charming smile or dazzling eyes. Instead she just stared at him, with that charming flirtatious smile. Brad felt quite put upon, he was used to being the best of the best. He was not used to someone who could whip his a** when it came to having powers and getting dates. Yet there she stood, staring up at him while he stared down at her. Her eyes were the purest blue he had ever seen, they were beautiful, dazzling, sparkling. He was getting lost just staring into them. He could feel himself spiraling down into her eyes. He was floating on a cloud, closer and closer to their shining beauty. Shining flecks of silver and gray dotted her iris and seemed to spin around in a dizzying whirlwind of color. Closer and closer he spiraled, until the next thing he knew he had fallen off the ceiling and landed on top of her.

    5.

    Sharon’s squeal was cut off by the large, mass of human flesh that suddenly smothered her. To say Brad was heavy was an understatement. He weighed at least a ton, maybe more. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t speak and she couldn’t move. Sharon opened her eyes and found him still staring at her. He had his mouth slightly opened and a dazed expression on his face. They stayed that way for about 5 seconds until Brad started to look self-conscious. He gave a half-smile and rolled off her.

    Leaping to her feet, Sharon reached back and grabbed the lamp she had managed to set back on the table. Brad eyed her warily as she waved it back and forth threateningly. He held his hands up in a gesture of peace. At this time, Steve let out a groan, making them both jump. He was still stuck to the ceiling and had been so quiet they had forgotten he was there. Sharon looked up at him. Steve looked absolutely miserable and his face was shaded a pale green color. She felt a pang of regret, she still had no idea how to get him down. Brad took advantage of her distraction and grabbed her from behind. She dropped the lamp and winced as it shattered on the floor. Brad had his hand over her mouth and was holding her tight. He bent over and started whispering in her ear.

    “Don’t do anything you’re going to regret. I want you to get him down the same way you got me down, and then I want you to sit down while we have a nice conversation. If you do that, I’ll let you go. Okay?” Brad’s voice was soft and calming.

    Sharon gathered her wits and elbowed him in the stomach. When Brad exhaled, she wiggled out of his grasp and turned around to kick him in the balls. He caught her foot and twisted it. She fell and landed on the shattered lamp. Sharon let out a shriek as jagged bits of pottery cut into her skin. A small piece of blue pottery jutted from her palm. She glared at Brad and felt a door in her mind open as her powers came to the surface. Suddenly, Brad’s thoughts filled hers.

    Sharon could see herself sitting on the ground, surrounded by the broken lamp with hands dripping blood. But that wasn’t all, door after door seemed to open as she flew deeper and deeper into his mind. She could sense his concern for her. For all his actions to the contrary, he was a nice guy. He was actually worried about her bleeding hands, even after she tried to kick him. She could feel his life story, every thought, every memory, and every feeling he had ever experienced. They floated past so quickly, she couldn’t even watch them go.