Straylight."
I do not understand your need for a pet, Billy Case, Dude said. I would think keeping an eye on Emily was enough of a responsibility.
"Clearly you never had a pet growing up, Dude."
I do have you.
"Bite me."
Billy noticed the dog had come to stand stock-still and stare at something around the corner.
"Watson? What do you see, guy?" Billy asked.
He crept toward the spot where Watson had locked his gaze. Ready for an attack, Billy spun around the corner, a light blast waiting in his hand.
A woman stood facing him. She had metallic pink hair, red sunglasses not unlike Doc Silence's, and wore an olive green tee shirt with an orange star emblazoned on the chest. Garish tattoos ran up both arms and disappeared into the high sleeves of her shirt.
She flickered like a hologram, raised an eyebrow — also metallic pink — and reached out for him.
And then she was gone.
"Dude?"
I have no idea.
Billy looked at Watson. Watson seemed to almost shrug, then hopped up on his hind legs to beg.
"Okay then," Billy said. "Pink haired girl. Why not. Jane!"
* * *
Jane heard Billy yelling for her long before she saw him come charging in, dog bounding at his heels. She waved him off.
"Quiet," she said and gestured at the communications in the control room where she'd been waiting for Neal's analysis of the samples they had brought back.
"Jane, there was this — "
Jane cut him off again.
"We have an incoming call."
"We also have a pink haired ghost in the landing bay wearing Doc's sunglasses."
"What?"
"We have a — "
"Wait," Jane said. "I'm answering this."
Billy nodded and picked up his dog again, looking ludicrous in full costume with a ten-pound critter cradled in his arms.
"You've reached the Tower. This is Solar speaking," Jane said.
The woman on the screen was remarkably ordinary, with a plain but strong face and dark hair cut short and slicked back.
"Solar. I'm with the Department," the woman said.
"The Department of What?" Jane said.
Billy laughed, hiding slightly off camera.
"Glad to see you have a sense of humor," the woman said. "I've been hoping to speak with you."
"You've got me," Jane said. "But you've got an edge on me. You have my name."
"I'm Agent Prevention," she said.
"I take it that's not your birth name," Jane said.
"We started using code names a while back," she said. "It helps keep our families safer."
Jane nodded.
"What can we do for you, Agent Prevention," Jane said.
"I feel like we haven't done enough to work together," Prevention said. "I know you've been in contact with one of our retired agents, but we've been neglectful in getting in touch with you directly. In the old days, super-powered heroes working in the States had a good working relationship with the Department."
"I've heard," Jane said.
She found the woman slightly unnerving. Her tone was friendly, but there was something about the way she made eye contact through the monitor that set Jane's internal alarms on edge.
"I was hoping we could have a sit down," Prevention said. "Maybe talk about how we can help each other."
Jane looked at Billy out of the corner of her eye.
He shrugged.
"I thought the Department was shut down," Jane said.
"We always retained a skeleton staff in case things needed to be amped up again. A few agents locked away in an office park in D.C. With your team's emergence, it was decided we needed to escalate, get back out on the beat," Prevention said. "We've also maintained a liaison