Fire

"By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire."

Lucas looked at me in shock. "FIRE?!" he yelled, "She set the leaves on fire? She's three?! There's no way her laser powers have developed yet. Mallory's boys have laser powers and she told Samantha, who told my mother, who told me, that Asher and Blaze developed their laser abilities at four, and just how proud she was that they developed so early."

"Well we can hardly gauge power development on the Flame family, now can we." I snorted at the memory of watching Mallory Carson spending all of college desperately searching for a man with any inkling of fire abilities. The girl was obsessed with fire and forever lamenting the fact she could "only turn invisible". As if invisibility wasn't one of the highest ranking powers us enabled could have! She could run the entire Society if she wanted. But no, Mallory Carson hunted down a man who's great, great, grandfather had laser abilities, and forced some babies out of him.

"Poor Jacob" I muttered to Lucas, who gave me a quick nod.

"I don't know what to tell you Lucas" directing us back to the topic at hand. "One minute Daphne is sitting in the yard, playing with her toys, and the next minute there is a burning pile of leaves and she's staring at it laughing as if the flames themselves had just told the funniest joke she had ever heard. I was stunned."

Lucas sighed and took my hands in his. "We always knew our daughter would be..." he paused, knowing to be delicate with his words, "...particular."

Particular. I scoffed at his choice. She was unusual. Special. Burdened with glorious power. Or that's what the Elder doctors wanted us to believe. How Lucas and I, two underachieving enableds, who had smelling powers, and the ability to talk to animals, respectively, created a child with such potential was beyond anything the Elders had seen before. Remarkable, they had exclaimed. Breathtaking, they marveled as Daphne's newborn test results showed aptitudes for all of the elemental powers, as well as invisibility, flight, and enhanced eyes. They assured us how rare it was that any one person would develop every power they had shown aptitude for, but after quickly floating out of my arms on the way home, at a mere 6 weeks old, I was afraid our Daphne was going to break all the records.

"Annie"

Lucas gently saying my name shook me out of my memories and their fears. "She will be okay. We always knew this was a reality. The doctors will work with us to teach us and Daphne everything we need to know to keep her safe."

He was right, of course. The Society Elders were some of the most talented and educated minds the enabled had to offer. The team of doctors that had been assigned to us after the testing were renowned for their research in infant power abilities. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that we had such a long road ahead of us.

"If your brother..." I trailed off. I shuddered to think what would happen if Lyle James found his way to our sweet little Daphne.

"HE WON'T." Lucas gripped my hands tighter as he almost shouted his assurances. "Lyle has been secured at the facility for decades. The Elders will keep him locked up until the end of time if they have to. He's too dangerous."

My poor husband had lived with the shadow of his brother hanging over his head since childhood, and yet he still hadn't let it break him. Lyle was charming, cunning, brilliant, powerful. Wonderful traits, were it not for the fact he was obsessed with gaining control of the Society and using the power the Society holds to wreak havoc on the non-enabled world. All of those poor, powerless humans. Unable to defend themselves against a tyrant like Lyle.

Before I met Lucas back in College, Lyle had amassed a small army of followers. Powerful enableds who believed they were better than anyone less powerful than them, with the non-enableds the lowest of them all. Scum, Lyle called them. He had posed for photos and held interviews with any Enabled news source that would meet with him. His platform grew, and so did his followers. If it were not for the quick thinking on the part of the Elders, he might have succeeded. Lyle confined to the facility was comforting, but I did not doubt that he would be working hard to secure a way out. And when he did... I didn't dare to think any further. He would not have my baby. Daphne would not be his for the taking and molded into a weapon.

Thinking of Lyle, something I had purposefully not done in years, brought a new fear to mind.

"Lucas" I winced, "the doctors were certain that despite the aptitude for pyrokinesis, Daphne would not develop the power. The ability is so rare, and had not been seen in generations, they told us. But your brother... Lucas, you once told me you believed Lyle to be pyrokinetic. That he hid his ability, contributing fires to his laser eyes instead. But what if he did have it. And what if Daphne has it as well?"

Everything started to spin. Daphne having fire powers would be the embodiment of everything I had feared. The Elders would take her at once to train her in a controlled environment, and slowly guide her towards leading the Society. The power was so rare and valued, they would leave us no choice but deliver her to them, for safekeeping. For all the horrors he had done, Lyle might have been right in hiding his fire abilities. The Society leaves nothing to chance with pyrokinesis.

I looked to Lucas, and he seemed to be mulling over something behind his light blue eyes.

"Did you see her, Annie? Did you see Daphne use her eyes to start any more fires?" His voice cracked with a mixture of hope and fear as he spoke. He was just as afraid.

"No. As soon as I got over my shock at seeing the fire, I whisked her back inside and returned to quickly put the fire out. She did not try to light anything on fire again. I put her down for her afternoon nap not long before you arrived home."

I looked to the baby monitor next to me, suddenly afraid I would see nothing but flames. I let out a breath I had not realized I was holding when I saw Daphne asleep on the floor. Curled up with our dog, Giant. I was going to have to have a talk with Giant. He knew Daphne needed to sleep in a bed during nap time, and not on the dog. Even if the big St. Bernard was the perfect sleeping companion.

It is a wonder how something so small and innocent could be so dangerous. What yet to be discovered powers sat dormant inside my precious girl? Would she tap into the elements and control water, or wind? Was she actually capable of controlling fire, or is it only her enhanced eyes? My fears for my daughters unknown future began to fill my mind and I could feel myself slowly start to breakdown. Tears building in my eyes.

"Oh Lucas. What are we going to do? She is so young. How will we ever manage to keep her safe. How will we ever manage to keep her? I will NOT let the Elders take her away from us. I don't care what they think. We are her parents and she will be safest with us."

My tears broke free of my eyes with those final words and the slow shakes of panic settled in.

Lucas pulled me towards him on the couch and wrapped me with his strong arms. "She is safe, Annie. We are safe and we will continue to be safe, together."

He said those words with such conviction, I wanted to believe him. I knew my husband; he would stop at nothing to keep our daughter safe and in my arms. But he was afraid too, that I knew. I could always read him so well, and I did not mistake the low, slow breath he released as he held me tight. He was trying to stay calm, keep his fears inside him so as to not shake his resolve.

"We will watch her," he continued, "and keep track of her and any new abilities she displays. A colleague at work has had great success with tracking abilities in newborns. Teaching them to control their abilities as soon as they reveal themselves, rather than blocking them until they are older. I can petition the Elders to let us enter Daphne in to his tests. Even at three years old, as one of his subjects, she stands to gain from the extra support."

Leave it to Lucas to have a plan. A good plan. A plan that just might work. Yes, I though. YES. This could work.

"It will work, Annie." Lucas said, as if he was reading my mind, though I knew he did not have that ability.

"Always so certain. You're my rock, Lucas. I could never do this without you." And every word I spoke was true. I would be an utter mess without him.

"Psh" Lucas pulled me back to him as he spoke. "You are the strongest person I know."

"Hey, hey Annie look at me."

I had turned away, the start of new tears forming in my eyes considering his words. I wasn't strong. He was wrong. I was small, and fragile, and weak.

Lucas cupped my chin with one hand to turn my face towards his, and brushed away my tears with his other.

"You're wrong, Lucas" I told him "I would crumble..."

But he cut me off with a kiss and I melted. He could always find just the right way to calm me. His kiss started fierce, and grew, his hands wrapping back around my waist. But as he drew me closer his lips lightened, and a whisper escaped. Just my name. Annie. Short and sweet, but filled with such love and tenderness. My heart ached for him. For Daphne. For everything I wanted us to be. Our family.

I deepened the kiss. Needing to feel his strength surging around me. Throwing my hands to his hair and gripping tight as his pulled me ever closer. Losing ourselves in one another. Sharing our grief, and our joy.

We stayed wrapped in each others arms long after. Not wanting to break the moment. As if we could freeze here forever and never lose this feeling of safety and contentedness.

It wasn't until Lucas's stomach gave a low grumble of hunger that the veil lifted and our reality came thudding back to the forefront of my thoughts.

"I guess we should eat dinner. Go wake Daphne and I'll get the leftovers out from yesterday. We could all do with a warm bowl of Chili" as he spoke, Lucas untangled his limbs from mine and hopped back into his pants.

I marveled at my husband as he walked towards the kitchen. I thought back to his earlier words, the strongest person I know. I believed him. He actually considered me brave and capable. Lucas was never one for white lies. If he said it, he stood behind it 100 percent. His faith in me bolstered my own resolve.

I dressed and went to wake Daphne from her nap, finding Giant sleeping protectively around her. Such a large dog; Daphne almost disappeared in his fur.

Giant glanced up as I enter the room and had enough sense to give me a sheepish look.

"Giant" I start, knowing he will understand, just as every animal had since my powers showed themselves when I was 8. Boy was THAT a fun time for my parents. Constantly trying to explain to me that I could not just bring home every animal that asked for a home or a bite to eat. She banned me from going to the zoo when I was 10 because I kept trying to free everyone.

"Giant, you keep encouraging her to sleep on the floor. We are never going to get her to sleep in her big girl bed with you sneaking in to her naps every day. You know how much she misses her crib. If you must nap, at least nap on her bed."

Giant gave me another sheepish smile, as only a dog can, and despite not making a sound, assured me sleeping in a big bed sounds like a mighty fine idea. One big stretch and a few sniffs of the air later, and I know Giant can smell the chili warming up and is hoping for Lucas to spill some on the floor as he lumbers off to investigate.

"He never spills, Giant. Lucas is much more careful in the kitchen than I am." But I hear Giant grumble from the hallway and laugh when he lets me know he plans to scare Lucas into dropping a full bowl.

This silent communication from animals used to shock me when my powers first developed. That they didn't have to actually speak in order for me to understand. I would talk, and they would just... respond. I would hear them in my head as if I had thought up their responses all on my own. It was a surreal experience, to be sure, but one I had gotten used to over the years. Especially with a guy like Giant around.

"MAMA"

I turn at the sound of my name. My second, beautiful, wonderful name. Daphne is awake and practically glowing to see me. I blink, momentarily blinded by light. But that isn't the light from the early setting sun now that fall is in full swing, blinding my eyes. The light is burning out directly from my daughter. Daphne is quite literally, on fire.

"Lucas!" I call.

"Lucas!!" A little more urgently the second time.

"Yes, dear?"

"Please grab the fire extinguisher."