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Chapter Text

               Amber dipped the thick slice of bread into the French toast mix coating both sides and dropped it on the griddle.  Then moved onto the next.  She glanced back when she heard the pad of soft feet.  It was her little sister Martha who looked up at her.  She couldn’t believe how big she was, eleven years old.  Her beautiful brown eyes scanned the French toast analytically.  Amber silently pondered how different her little sister was now.  She had always been an odd girl, but the intervening years had left her even more strange.  Martha spoke.

               “You use inferior tools, spices, bread and eggs, yet your French toast is better in all measurable categories to other versions, why?”

               Amber smiled and shook her head.  The things that came out of Martha’s mouth had often shocked her since she had returned.  Amber smiled at Martha.

               “They don’t know the secret ingredient; Do you remember what it was?  I used to tell you and Sarah when you were little…”

               Martha shook her head.  Amber ruffled her hair playfully.

               “It’s love you silly goose, tell Sarah breakfast is almost ready and then get the table set please.”

               Martha shook her head.

               “There is no empirical data to prove that statement is true.  Are you going to argue with Sarah this morning again?”

               Amber raised an eyebrow.

               “Why?”

               Martha nodded.

               “I will get my headphones.”

               Amber shook her head as her baby sister walked off.  She flipped the French toast and smiled as she looked around the old farmhouse.  The good memories far outshined the singular bad memory.  She’d removed most of that with a couch from a thrift store.  She heard Sarah’s distinct gate.  She was walking again but she needed another surgery and more physical therapy before she could hope to join the track and field team again.  She sighed when she saw the shirt Sarah was wearing.  It was a picture of Cthulhu holding two hands over a pair of children with the words ‘In God We Trust’ along the bottom.

               “Really Sarah?”

               Amber shook her head.  Sarah was so much different; Her once beautiful blonde hair had been dyed blue-black and she favored black clothing and black eyeliner.  She reminded Amber of her once best friend, April, a goth-vampire-fan girl.  Sarah’s eyes betrayed the snark that was to follow.

               “You think you’re our mother.  You can’t boss us around.”

               Amber sighed.  Sarah’s attitude hadn’t improved since her surgery.  The girl had a chip on her shoulder the size of Mount Everest when she was wheelchair bound, Amber had hoped this would change once her sister was walking on her own, but it had not.  She couldn’t really blame her, she’d lost both parents, her grandparents, except for one who had washed his hands of the children and their mother.  Amber had been absent for the worst of it due to her own issues.  Their mother’s abuse had marked all three sisters, some scars would never heal.

               “I’m your legal guardian, that means I can.  I will ignore the shirt but put on a bra that is part of the dress code, as archaic as it is.”

               Sarah glared at Amber and was about to unleash every ounce of teenage angst she possessed but then she noticed Martha had appeared and started setting the table.  With the youngest’s appearance, Sarah seemed to lose all steam and retreated to her room.  She came back in a plain black T-shirt and was wearing a bra.  Amber dished out the French toast to her sisters and sat down they ate silently.  They all piled into their grandmother’s old orange and yellow pickup truck.  Even if they added all their ages together, they could still not even come to half of its age, yet it still ran perfectly and seemed to be in almost pristine condition.  Amber dropped Martha off first, then she drove Sarah to school. 

The sixteen-year-old looked over at Amber.  She looked almost sheepish as she spoke.

“You didn’t eat breakfast, you haven’t all week.  Are you okay?”

Amber smiled.

“I wasn’t hungry.  I’m fine.”

Sarah ran her fingers along her backpack’s strap.

“You haven’t been eating much.  I… I am worried about you, it’s what mom started to do when she… you know…”

Amber patted Sarah’s forearm.

“Money is just a little tight, I’m fine.  I want to make sure you and Martha have enough to eat.”

Sarah went even more pale as she came to a realization.

“My phone.  You aren’t eating because you bought me my phone this month?”

Amber shook her head.

“No, it’s not that, don’t worry about it Sarah, I’m fine, I eat for free at the bar and I get food at the store.  You should get to school.”

Sarah reached out her hand to pull the handle then for the first time since Amber had told her that their mother was dead Sarah hugged her so tightly it might have hurt if Amber wasn’t who she was.  Amber returned the hug and kissed the top of Sarah’s head.

“I, I forget how much you give up for us.  I’m sorry.”

Amber smiled again.

“Sarah, you’re a teenage girl, trust me, I know, I was there, not so long ago.  Now go to school.”

Sarah slid out of the old pickup truck and waved before heading towards Smallville High School.  Amber made sure her sister went into school before heading off to work.  During the day that was Value Fresh.  Kansas’ newest chain of grocery stores.  It had replaced Smallville General Store.  Just one of the few changes Smallville had gone through since a huge suburb had been built.  Amber had seen it advertised as ‘fresh country air and small town feel with the employment opportunities only a large city can offer’.  In her opinion the change wasn’t an improvement.

She hung her jacket in her locker and pulled on her work apron.  It wasn’t a glamourous job, and the customers were horrid, at least the new breed of wealthy housewives, but it helped put food on the table and the solid benefits package had helped her sister walk again.  She smiled at Delilah who was opening up the checkout next to hers.  The older woman, who was in her late thirties, possibly early forties, as far as Amber knew smiled back.  Delilah leaned back against the rear guard of her checkout and crossed her arms.

“I still haven’t figured out why you’re still here.  You’re what, twenty-one?  Saw your picture at Toby’s school last night during the Halloween party.  You won all of the events at State championships when you were in Grade six.  And I heard you went to that fancy Excelsior boarding school, won a bunch of state championships there, swimming, track and field.  Rumor has it you were in line for the Olympic team.  Hell, I bet you could still get a scholarship to any school in the United States.  Sheriff told my husband you are a certified genius and can turn junker cars into the fastest things on wheels.  Yet here you are, at Value Fresh, working a dead end cashier’s job, getting sexually harassed by Dick who never grew up after high school.  Gonna help me solve this mystery?”

Amber smiled and shook her head.

“Life isn’t straightforward.  Why are you here?  Sheriff’s deputies make good money, especially with that new sub-division.”

Delilah shrugged.

“Kids are all in school, and I want spending money.  Now you.”

Amber wiped down her belt and focused on scrubbing off some dried milk that the person on the evening shift had left.  She didn’t look up at Delilah.

“I got sick and fell into a coma just after high school.  Woke up to a mom who was a drug addict and a sister who couldn’t walk, another who has severe autism.  Found out my little brother had been killed in the same accident and my dad had died of a heart attack.  Also, my fiancée had run off with whatever money my mother hadn’t spent on her addiction.  Then mom was murdered.”

Delilah eyes had softened when Amber looked up again.

“I’m so sorry, two years, I had no idea.  Sorry, I shouldn’t have pried.”

Amber shrugged.

“Hey, that’s life, I’m doing what I need to make sure my sisters have food, health care and a roof over their heads.  Folks around here don’t like talking about my family.  The Kents used to be pretty important to everyone, mom kind of destroyed our reputation.  Now we’re the white trash they whisper about behind our backs.”

Delilah chuckled.

“I resent that; We’re the white trash they gossip about.”

Amber grimaced when she saw Amanda approaching.  The girl was part of the new problem in Smallville.  Toxic would be an understatement.  Her father was the pastor of a local Baptist church that used a very literal interpretation of the bible.  Since they’d arrived the conservative crazies had come out of the woodwork.  Amanda had tortured Amber for years because her grandmother was married to another woman.  Amanda walked up to the checkout and put her groceries in the belt.  Amber smiled at her because it was her job to be nice to the customers and only because it was her job.

“Good morning, Amanda.”

Amanda liked to come in and show off her newfound wealth.  She’d recently married a wealthy young hotshot lawyer from Metropolis.  With a glance Amber could tell her old nemesis was pregnant, and it was most definitely further along than the wedding two weeks ago.  So much for waiting until marriage and purity vows, she thought to herself.  Amanda had that morally superior look on her face.  As Amber scanned the expensive groceries that had priced her and her sisters out of shopping in Smallville.

“I see sin hasn’t paid, has it?”

Amber kept on smiling as she responded.

“Congratulations, what are you three, or four months along?  Your parents must be ecstatic.  Oh, and also congratulations on your marriage, what was that… two weeks ago?  Must have been a great honeymoon.”

Amanda glared at Amber.

“How do you even know that?”

Amber smiled warmly.

“I noticed the bump.  That will be two-hundred and fifty two dollars, and sixty four cents, oh, and would you like to donate to the Precious Angels today?”

Amanda slid her card into the reader and put her pin in.  Amber tore the receipt off and offered it to Amanda.

“Have a blessed day.”

Amanda tore the receipt out of Amber’s hand and stormed off her with cart.  Delilah had been snickering for half of the interaction.

“Wow, that was some nice shade, I wonder how they’re going to spin that.”

Amber shook her head.

“I shouldn’t have.  It was just so tempting.”

Delilah made a gesture with her chin.

“Dick alert.”

Amber shifted and glanced in the direction Delilah had indicated.  She sighed and prepared herself.  Richard, or Dick as they liked to refer to him was one of those guys in school that had been picked on, and now that he had a shred of power, he threw it around.   He was in his thirties and treated his assistant manager position at the Value Fresh like it was his destiny.  He walked over to Delilah’s station and looked it over and gave a small nod, then he moved over to Amber’s and looked it over.  He leaned close to her.

“I see your name tag is crooked, let’s just fix that.”

He reached up and slipped his fingers under Amber’s apron brushing up against her breast as he pulled the back off the pin before sliding it back in.  He nodded.

“There you go.  Are you free tonight?  There is a Halloween party at the Roxy, I have two tickets.”

Amber bit her tongue and instead of telling him what she really thought she just shook her head.

“Sorry, I have a shift at my second job.”

He sighed.

“Too bad.  You know, today seems kind of slow.  We’ll pay you for the hour but why don’t you head home.”

Amber protested.

“I need this shift.  The tax payment on my house is coming out next week.”

He shrugged.

“Maybe see if you can pick up an extra shift at your other job today then.”

Amber resisted the urge to call him what she wanted to, she just sighed and pulled off her apron.

“See you tomorrow, Delilah.”

Richard spoke up.

“Actually, sorry, I took you off the schedule for tomorrow too, it’s just business, you understand.”

Amber clenched her fists, then shook her head before heading to the back and getting changed.  She could go to her union and create a stink technically he couldn’t do this under their contract but the last time she’d done it he’d made her life even more miserable.  The fact his father was the area manager meant most of his antics including the sexual harassment were laughed off as boys will be boys.  She closed her eyes and slammed her locker shut.  This would make food tight until the end of the month.  She leaned against her locker and her head against it.  She should have just said yes to the date, she knew he’d do this, he always did.

She pulled out her old cellphone.  The screen had cracks.  She tapped the number for Jimmy’s Auto. Maybe she could pick up some work there.  Jimmy picked up the phone.

“Hey Mr. Gott, it’s Amber, you got anything that needs done that you don’t have the hands for?”

“Actually, I do Amber, Bernice overbooked us for oil changes today and Frank called out sick.  You not working at the Value Fresh today?”

Amber sighed.

“No, they cancelled my shift, not enough business, and tomorrow’s too.”

Jimmy sounded almost angry when he responded.

“Said no to that little prick again I guess.”

“Yes.  I’ll be right there.  Thanks Mr. Gott.”

The rest of the day went well.  Amber loved working on cars.  She definitely stood out when it came to working in an auto shop.  She had long silky platinum blonde hair, ice blue eyes that reminded those who saw them of a blue winter sky and frankly could have been a star had she chosen that route.  Put simply it was like she’d been crafted by a sculptor.  She’d been called angelic.  Not that the oversized blue overalls she was wearing did her any favors.  She was under an SUV on a wheeled cart working on an oil change.  The lift bays were all full.  Jimmy hadn’t been exaggerating when he had said he was overbooked.  People were rushing to get their cars ready for winter. 

The last few days before this one had been so cold there had been frost and a few flurries.  Typically, that didn’t start until mid-November at the earliest around Smallville.  Amber had been working through oil changes at a break-neck pace.  She heard her name called.  She rolled out and looked up at the source.  She sighed.  A Korean man was looking down at her.  She recognized him.  Everyone called him Gangnam.  She had no idea why, and only knew it was a reference to a song that was released the year she was born.  His real name was Hu Dae-Ho.  He was a street racer from Metropolis.  Amber sighed.

“What do you want?”

He put his hands in his jean pockets, and he smiled.

“I thought you were dead.”

She sighed.

“I am to you.  Go away.”

He took his hands out of his pockets and kneeled down.

“Don’t be that way, Amber.  My friend said he saw you working here today.  I had to see it with my own eyes.  You’re wasting your talent here.  I have a shop in Metropolis.  I’ll pay you ten grand just to show up for the job interview.  At the end of which I’ll hire you, guaranteed.  People will line up to get their cars worked on by you.”

Amber rolled her eyes.

“I don’t do that sort of work anymore, Gangnam.  Now go away, if the cops even see me talking to you, they could pull my probation, and I’ll lose my conditional expungement.”

Gangnam lowered his voice.

“I got a big race coming up, I’ll give that ten grand, two hours work.  No one needs to know.”

Amber sighed, that kind of money would really help but she decided to keep on the straight and narrow.

“Look, I wish I could help but I have another six months before I can consider anything like that.  Now go away.”

Amber hit her head on the head rest of the car when she heard a familiar voice.  An agent from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, her name was Victoria Valentine.  She’d been a pest poking into Amber’s life wherever she could.  Amber’s refusal to sell the Kent farm and her successful defeat of the Eminent Domain claim on the property had made her some powerful enemies.  It had stopped another massive subdivision from being built.  Victoria sounded like she was the cat that had finally caught her mouse.

“Well, well, well, I believe that is a violation of your probation isn’t it, Amber.”

Amber glared at the agent.

“I’m employed here, and he’s a customer.  No Judge would revoke it.  I’m sure you’re going to try though.  Do you do any actual investigation work, or are you to busy getting your leash tugged by Armstrong?”

Gangnam stood up and dusted his hands off.

“Just asking her how long it was going to be until she could work on my car, agent.”

Victoria smirked.

“Long way to bring your car from Metropolis, Hu.”

He gave his own trademark smirk.

“Oil light came on my way through town.  What can you do?”

Victoria smiled at Amber as she walked away.  Amber glared after her.

“Thanks Gangnam, I appreciate you screwing up my life again.  Go away.”

Amber sighed and rolled back under the car.  She’d have to defend herself, there was no money to hire a lawyer.  She’d have to go memorize all the case law around probation violation now.  The rest of the day went without any real incident.  Amber was washing the grease and dirt off her hands before heading to pick up her sisters.

“If you worked for me full time I could book three times the oil changes, not to mention tire changes.  Why aren’t you?”

Amber smiled.

“Because the benefits I get at Value Fresh mean my sisters get the help they need.  You can’t pay me enough to pay for that and the bills.  I appreciate the hours you do give me.”

He smirked and pulled his wallet out and peeled off two hundred dollars and handed the money to Amber.

“If you come back tomorrow, I’ll keep you busy, two hundred again.”

Amber nodded.

“Thanks, Mr. Gott, I really appreciate it.”

She waved and headed out to her old pickup.  The diesel engine complained as it started.  Amber sighed she’d need to change the glow plugs soon.  Something she’d never quite realized was just how much work it took to run a farm, keep a house in order and just be an adult.  Martha got into the back seat and pulled on her seat belt.  She wrinkled her nose.

“You smell like oil.”

Amber nodded.

“Yes, had to work at Jimmy’s today.”

Martha frowned.

“You need to wash your hair, it stinks.”

Amber gave a slight roll of her eyes as she pulled away from the curb and headed to pick up Sarah.  Martha was picky.  Certain smells bothered her, one was diesel fumes, another was auto shop smells, there were more of course.  Sarah was waiting for them and climbed into the front seat and pulled on her seat belt.  She looked at Amber.

“Put your seat belt on.”

Amber shook her head and pulled the seat belt on before driving towards the farm.  Sarah glared at Amber.

“Anything could happen.  What would Martha do if you got hurt in an accident?”

Amber tried not to laugh at how absurd that was.  Not that her sisters knew her secret.  She had pondered telling them when their mother had died but she’d kept it to herself.  No need to even bring it up.

Chapter Text

               Amber pulled her black and silver superman t-shirt on.  It was the only thing she had clean.  Laundry had fallen behind because she’d been forced to spend her Saturday reading up on the laws surrounding probation and possible defenses in Kansas.  She pulled on a pink hoodie she’d bought at the thrift store and walked out to the porch.  She held her hand out from under the veranda letting the last rays the sun strike her palm.  She adjusted her glasses and looked back as the door swung open. 

She wasn’t sure why Sarah had chosen the costume she had for the Highschool Halloween dance, but she had decided to help her sister out.  Sarah looked good in the old thing.  The teenager was tugging on her bra under the strange black material.

“Where did you find this?  It looks just like his, except cooler.”

Amber smiled.

“Just something I had hanging around.”

Sarah looked up at Amber.

“Do you think, do you think Supergirl is still out there, sis?”

Amber shrugged.

“Who knows, maybe she is, no one has seen any of them in years.  Maybe they retired.  Maybe they died doing God knows what, or maybe the Earth just doesn’t need them anymore.  Maybe she has more important things to do.”

Sarah laughed.

“More important than being Supergirl?”

Amber leaned on the old white railing.

“Maybe she had kids.  Nothing is more important to me then you and Martha, I am assuming aliens are the same with kids.”

She threw the truck keys at Sarah who caught them gingerly.

“Go on, you got your learners Friday.  You can drive.”

Sarah looked at the keys like they might bite her.

“But… I… no, it’s getting dark and… and…”

Amber shook her head.

“Are you going to keep coming up with excuses or are you going to just do it, sis?  You’re not mom.  You haven’t been drinking, you won’t be checking your phone, and we’ll take the backroad to town.”

Sarah looked down at the keys.  Amber wrapped her arm around Sarah’s shoulder and pulled her in for a hug.

“I trust you.  Martha trusts you.  You have to start some time.”

               Sarah clutched the keys tightly.  Martha came out of the house, she was wearing one of Sarah’s black lace dresses that the pair had used safety pins to size down.  She had her hair dyed black and in two braided pigtails.  She had dark eyeliner and had borrowed some of Sarah’s concealer.  Amber smiled.  Her baby sister had chosen to be her favorite fictional character for Halloween, Wednesday Addams.  Amber knew why her baby sister seemed so fascinated by Wednesday, many autistic people said that the character had comforted them in some fashion.

               They piled into the truck and Sarah drove into town.  As Amber had predicted there were no accidents, and they didn’t run into another soul.  They parked on the street near the high school.  Amber looked at her Fitnow wristband, the only thing she ever wore that looked expensive in the least.

               “Okay, we meet back here at ten pm on the dot.”

               Sarah waved and walked towards the school.  A year before she wouldn’t have been caught dead at a dance.  Now that she was walking without assistance, she begged Amber to buy her a ticket.  Amber looked down at Martha.

               “Alright, let’s go trick or treating, I expect you to get me a lot of candy, my sweet tooth is depending on you here.”

               Martha’s voice was its typical monotone.

               “You never eat the candy you bring home.  Why would Halloween candy be any different?”

               Amber nudged Martha forward.

               “Just go be an eleven year old and trick or treat.”

               The pair walked up to the first residential street and Martha walked up to the door behind several other children.  The woman who answered smiled at her and complimented her costume.  Martha just held up her bag of fake piranha and said in her usual monotone voice.

               “Trick or treat.”

               The woman giggled.

               “You did that so perfectly!  Here take some extra.”

               Martha said thank you in the same monotone voice, the sisters moved onto the next house and so they went for a large part of the evening.  Martha had two bags of treats by the time they finished and looked up at Amber.

               “I trust this is sufficient?”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes, it should keep us going at least until thanksgiving. Shall we go to the Talon?”

               Martha nodded.  Amber helped her sister stash the candy haul in the rear seat of the pickup and motioned towards the indicated coffee shop.  They had an hour before they needed to meet Sarah to head home.  Martha ordered her usual hot chocolate and a cinnamon bun.  Amber usually didn’t buy anything for herself, so she didn’t order anything.  Martha looked up at her.

               “You should get coffee.  It is a late and you worked the early shift today.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “It’s okay, I don’t need anything.”

               The young man working behind the counter slid to mugs across the counter and the cinnamon bun he called out Amber’s name.  Amber looked at the mugs.

               “I only ordered a hot chocolate.”

               He smiled bashfully and shrugged.  He was definitely her age, likely working here on weekends when he was home from college.  He would be considered cute, if not outright attractive to most girls her age.

               “Oh, my mistake, might as well take it, I’ll just have to dump it.”

               Amber took the flat-white and offered the hot chocolate to Martha.  She heard the young man speaking whose name tag declared his name to be Connor speaking to his coworker, a local girl Amber knew well enough, Rose.  They were speaking quietly but with Amber’s hearing that meant little.  She felt bad for snooping but small towns being small towns, usually the only real entertainment was the local gossip.  Connor was asking.

               “Who’s that?  I’ve don’t think I have seen her around before.”

               Rose gave him a weird look and shook her head.

               “You have, she works at the Value Fresh and at Xctasy as a bartender.”

               He did a doubletake.

               “No way, I would have noticed someone that hot.  Is she seeing anyone?”

               Rose shrugged.

               “Don’t think so.  Her mother died last year; She’s been taking care of her little sisters ever since, also taking care of their farm and working two, three jobs.  She picks up a few shifts here sometimes when we’re in the busy season.  Leave the poor girl be.”

               He leaned on the counter and made googly eyes at Amber who didn’t look towards him after her single glance.

               “A man can dream.  I can’t believe she’s just hanging around here.”

               Rose hit him with her towel.

               “Hey, what was that for?”

               Rose shook her head.

               “Because you’re being a creeper.”

               “Hey, I was just wondering.  She seems, sad… alone.”

               Rose rolled her eyes.

               “Her mom died last year just after she woke up from a coma.  She had some fancy fiancée and he’s nowhere to be found.  Just ditched her when she got sick.  She went into a coma with a mom, a dad, a brother, two sisters, a full ride scholarship to METU for sports and academics, had money, a wealthy fiancée and woke up in debt, with most of her family gone and no prospects, you tell me how you’d be feeling.  I am glad you gave her a freebie though.  Girl has been through the worst you can imagine; She sacrifices everything for her little sisters.  She deserves a break now and then.  I hear she barely eats; My brother is friends with her sister she was saying she’s worried about her sister because she barely eats and sleeps.  Works fourteen-fifteen hours some days not including whatever that farm of theirs takes.  Just leave her be, she’s got enough.”

               Connor wiped up the glass display for their deserts.

               “I’m going to ask her out.”

               Rose glared at him.

               “Did you not hear word I said?  Leave her be.”

               Connor turned around and leaned on the display with his arms crossed.

               “You seem to know her, what’s the best way to ask?”

               Rose rubbed her temples.

               “Dude you’re hopeless.  I don’t know her, know her, we say hi, we went to middle school together that’s it then she went off to some fancy school.  I hear she does auto repair at her farm under the table.  My friend Becky got her to fix her car up and she couldn’t afford a new one and the mechanics said her engine was shot.  She dropped it off, and the next morning it ran like it was like it was brand new.  Like she’d rebuilt the engine from scratch.  Charged her two hundred plus parts.  Need any work done?”

               Connor grinned.

               “She can work me anytime.”

               Rose groaned.

               “You’re disgusting.”

               Connor tapped the glass counter.

               “You know, I have racing brakes and a turbocharger for my Skyline.  The shop in Metropolis that specializes in mods like that is like a two month wait, wants five thousand just to look at it!  Does she do that sort of thing?”

               Rose shook her head.

               “Yeah, rumor has it she got arrested for street racing summer before her coma.”

               Connor blinked a few times.

               “No way, she races too.  Shit, how is she still single?”

               “Just keep it in your pants and take care of that customer, idiot.”

               Amber shook her head and took another drink of her flat white.  Whatever else Connor had going for him, he made good coffee she mused.  Martha had been oblivious to the whole conversation about her sister.  She was currently pulling the cinnamon bun apart in equal lengths before starting to eat it.  Amber wished that one of her many talents was reading minds because she imagined Martha’s was a maze.  What she did know was her sister was smart, smarter than even Amber was, and Amber was a certified genius according to her last IQ test.  Though the tester played that off as her photographic memory making her seem smarter than she was.  She scored perfect on her SAT.  She imagined Martha would too.

               “What are you thinking Martha?”

               Martha looked up at Amber.

               “I am trying to figure out how you get so much done in one day.”

               Amber smiled.

               “I’m just very efficient.”

               Martha shook her head.

               “No, I have narrowed it down to you never sleeping, a theory that would require me to stay up all night to the detriment of my health or place a camera to monitor you.  However, you are very perceptive and would likely notice any surveillance.  My other theory is that because you do not eat as much as is required you have more time to complete other tasks.  Also, that mother’s murder is still unsolved.”

               Amber blinked a few times; Her sister had said the last sentence with no emotion whatsoever.

               “They caught him.  He left his wallet.  He was shot when he pulled a gun on them.”

               Martha shook her head.

               “No.  He was the instrument.  It was like they destroyed the gun but let the wielder get away.  It makes no logical sense.  Why pull a gun on police?  Legally speaking the worst that they could have charged him with careless indifference.  There was no proof he injected her.  There was little proof he had anything to do without except he did not call for emergency services.  I looked it up, likely the charges would have been dropped.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “Martha, he was a drug addict who knows what he was thinking.  Logic doesn’t come into their thinking when they are high.  Meth is a terrible drug.  You need to just let this go.  It will drive you crazy looking for meaning in a meaningless event.”

               Martha shook her head.

               “No.  Mother was a lawyer for the Federal government before she went into private practice.  She was involved in several investigations that could have uncovered a conspiracy.  Grandfather would say it is too many coincidences.”

               Amber narrowed her eyes.

               “Well, I don’t see him here investigating her death, do you?  Maybe take that as a hint.”

               Martha took a sip of her hot chocolate.

               “I have upset you.  I am sorry.  You asked me what I was thinking about.”

               Amber sighed.

               “Well, you should not be thinking about that sort of thing, you should be thinking about what you want for Christmas, or what video game you’re going to play or what boy is cute at school, not the already solved murder of our mother.  You’re a kid.”

               Martha nodded.

               “As you say, Amber.”

               Amber didn’t believe for a second her sister had stopped thinking about it.  Martha had a one track mind and would dig until she hit a wall then smash the wall.  She was afraid she’d run into something like this where it was an unsolvable problem.  She shook her head and decided to fight the fight later.  Sarah entered the store and smiled.  Amber looked her up and down.

               “Did you have fun at the dance, Goth Supergirl?”

               Sarah nodded.  Amber reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet and handed Sarah a ten dollar bill.

               “Get whatever you want, sis.”

               Sarah wandered off and came back with a hot chocolate and a brownie.  She offered Amber back the change.

               “You keep it.”

               Sarah looked down at her costume.

               “Where?”

               Amber laughed.  That was a problem with such costumes…  she knew from experience.

               “Fine, I’ll leave it on the counter at home for you.”

               Amber took the change and slipped it into her hoodie pocket.  Sarah blushed slightly when a couple of boys from the High School walked in.  Then she looked at the counter then at Amber and whispered.

               “Hey Amber, I think the boy behind the counter is into you!”

               Amber waved her hand dismissively.

               “Nah, he’s just perving on you because that costume shows everything.”

               Sarah blushed a deep crimson.  Amber giggled.

               “You’re so easy.”

               Sarah glared at Amber.

               “You’re mean.”

               Amber shrugged.

               “I’m just doing my job as your legal guardian, ensuring you need years more therapy.”

               Martha watched the banter between the two.

               “That is illogical.  Why would be a parental figure’s job to ensure their children require more therapy, should it not be the other way around?”

               Amber shook her head.  Martha always took things far too literally.

               “It was a joke, Martha.”

               Martha seemed to recognize the humor of the statement.

               “Ah, yes, I see.  Because so many children say they need therapy.  I see.”

               Sarah patted Martha’s head.  Martha gave her a dirty look.  Amber just shook her head.  She had strange sisters, and she wouldn’t trade either of them for the world.  She glanced at her watch.

               “Well, we need to get you two home, school tomorrow.  Finish up.”

               She gathered up the dishes after her sisters finished and was taking them to the drop off area when she ‘bumped’ into Connor.  He had made it a point to intercept her he offered to take the dishes.

               “Hey, I can take those, so, I hear that you do some work on cars on the side, I have a Skyline I want to put a new set of brakes on and a turbocharger.  Some LED and a vinyl wrap hear you can do that sort of thing… would you?”

               Amber sighed and glanced back at Sarah who was laughing at something Martha said, she shrugged.

               “Are you using the car in illegal street-racing?”

               He blinked at her.

               “No, no, just at the track.  God my parents would murder me.”

               Amber pushed some hair behind her ears.

               “Fine, do you know where the Kent farm is?”

               He nodded.

               “Yeah, yellow farmhouse just off the interstate?  I see it when I go to Metropolis.”

               She glanced around before saying the rest.

               “Fine, two thousand.  Half up front, half afterwards.  Drop it off at the Kent farm after six tomorrow and have a ride, I’m not a chauffeur.  You give me all the parts.  You pick it up the next night after six, or I’m charging you for storage.”

               Amber motioned for her sisters to follow her and opened the door for them.

Chapter Text

               Connor arrived at six at the Kent farm.  Amber pulled her hoodie on and crossed her arms as she looked over his Skyline.  He’d gotten the bodywork done on it.  No rust.  She looked in the trunk when he opened it, she checked the parts he’d provided and gave a nod.  He handed her an envelope.  Amber lowered her glasses and looked at the envelope. He looked her up and down.

               “Are you sure you can get all this done, the other shop said at least a week.  Are you going to count it?”

               Amber crossed her arms holding the envelope in one hand.

               “Yes and no, I trust you.  Are you having second thoughts?  You can take your money back and go if that is so.”

               The girl in the BMW that had followed him up the driveway got out of the driver’s seat.

               “How long are you going to be Connor?  Stop flirting! I have a date.”

               Connor looked a bit embarrassed.

               “Sorry, my little sister.  No, no, it’s okay, I trust you, so uh… I’ll just get going and let you get started.”

               Amber nodded.

               “Good idea, remember you pick it up tomorrow just after six or I start charging for storage.”

               She held out her hand.

               “Keys.  And I will have to test drive it on the highway to make sure the turbo kicks in, you will see extra miles on it.”

               He handed her the car keys.  Amber took them, closed the trunk and got into the right side of the car and pulled it into the large old barn.  She locked the barn up and headed back into the house.  Sarah had her arms crossed and was standing by the door when she got back inside.

               “Amber, you said you weren’t doing that stuff anymore.  You could get arrested.”

               Amber sighed and held up the envelope that held a thousand dollars cash.  She didn’t need to open it to count it.

               “I have enough money for the rest of your trip and the rest will come tomorrow so you have spending money.  You can go to Paris.”

               Sarah blinked up at Amber.

               “You… don’t have to do that sis.”

               Amber opened a wall panel and then the safe.  She slipped the envelope in the safe beside an old phone and tablet.  Neither of which had been taken out since she woke up from her ‘coma’.  She locked the safe and replaced the wall panel.

               “He’s not in the street racing scene he only races it at a track.”

               Sarah threw up her hands.

               “He’s lying!  He probably heard what you can do to cars and that you used to race and how much you won.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “No, he was telling the truth.  Besides I’ve already been violated on my probation.  I expect to be served any day now.  Don’t worry its bullshit but I thought I should warn you it’s coming.”

               Sarah shook her head.

               “We should just let the farm go they’ll stop harassing us.”

               Amber narrowed her eyes.

               “No, we’ve lost everything else, I refuse to lose this farm, it’s been in the Kent family for a hundred and fifty years.  I will not let anything else be taken from us.  This is my line.  We kept it through the great depression, two recessions and six droughts.  We’re not losing it because some people want to get rich at our expense.”

               Amber had raised her voice.  She noticed her eyes had flashed briefly in her reflection on the glass of an old China cabinet.  She pushed her anger down.

               “We are not giving up the farm.”

               Sarah looked upstairs and then back at Amber.  She was glaring at her big sister.

               “You’re going to upset her.”

               Amber sighed.

               “Sorry, we cannot let them take this farm.  It is…  not up for debate and will never be up for debate.”

               Sarah crossed her arms.

               “You are treating us like children.  Keeping secrets.”

               Amber threw up her hands but kept her voice down.

               “You are children, Sarah.  I got it handled.  Now go do your homework, I’ll check on Martha.”

               Amber made sure her sisters got to bed after getting showers and brushing their teeth before heading out to the barn and starting on the car.  All things considered, with the test drive included she expected it would be less than an hour of work.  She would have been right except she noticed Martha sneaking towards the barn.  She sighed and paused what she was doing.  She looked at the stairway that led to the Fortress of Solitude of Clark’s youth.

               “I know your there Martha.”

               Martha walked down the stairs.  She was wearing her Pikachu hoodie and her pink winter boots.  She had her arms crossed.

               “As I theorized, too perceptive to be surveilled effectively.”

               Amber sighed.

               “Go to bed, you have school in the morning.  And use the door this time.  Would be just my luck you’d break your neck climbing back down.”

               Martha had her arms crossed as she looked over the car.

               “You have only been out here for thirty minutes.  You should have just completed the disassembly; I looked up service times for this car.  But you are preparing it for the vinyl.  Impossible.”

               Amber pointed at the door.

               “Bed, now.”

               Martha walked past Amber and wrapped her hand around the handle of the person-sized barn door.  She looked back.

               “You have to feed the animals and work tomorrow; You should be in bed.  Lack of sleep is the leading cause of accidents.”

               Amber pointed at the door again.

               “Bed!”

               Martha walked out after shooting one last suspicious look in Amber’s direction.  Amber frowned and thought to herself: If one of them is going to figure out my secret it’s going to be her.  She sighed and continued cleaning the surface of the Skyline.  The car was finished, tested and ready to go by midnight.  She stretched and looked out over the Kent farmlands.  The world had taken so much from the family, starting with Jonathan, then Clark.  It was almost like they were cursed.  She was determined to break that curse at all costs.  She saw headlights on their long driveway and moved to the gate that would block entrance to the Kent farmhouse lot proper.  It was the Sheriff in his old SUV.  He grabbed his hat off the passenger seat and pulled it on before heading up to the gate.  He looked annoyed.  He had left his headlights on.  He nodded and tipped his hat to Amber.

               “Amber, I had a noise complaint from your neighbors.”

               He looked over at the sub-division in the distance.

               “Something about a street race.  You know anything about that?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “No, I took a friend’s car out for fifteen minutes on the interstate, he said it sounded weird.  Kept it under the speed limit.  It has no exhaust mods to make it louder.  I might have to take it to the track, couldn’t hear anything wrong.  We can go start it up if you’d like.”

               He nodded.

               “It would be best, if I heard it for myself.”

               Amber opened the gate and waved him on the property and closed it behind him.  She led him to the barn, and she started the car up for him and revved the engine.  He looked it over.

               “Sure, looks like a street race car to me, there Amber, but you’re right it isn’t loud.”

               Amber turned the engine off.

               “He takes it to the track on weekends.  It’s completely street legal.  A bit tacky with the lights and vinyl but it is his car.  No NOS yet even, which would be one hundred percent legal in Kansas.”

               He chuckled.

               “I just have to check, you understand.  Your probation is pretty clear and the KBI has been on our asses about you.  Any other cars I should know about?”

               He looked in the corner at a car cover that was buried under a few discarded boxes and feed bags.  Allison motioned at it dismissively.

               “That thing isn’t even running.  Just the truck and the farm equipment, which is all in storage, fluids all drained and ready for winter.  Couldn’t start them if I wanted too.”

               He nodded and walked over and lifted the corner of the cover.  A smashed headlight and twisted fender and damaged bumper were all he could see.  He let the cover drop; He recognized it right away.

               “You haven’t fixed it up yet?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “Why bother?  Needs parts and the truck does what I need it for.  My sisters have a lot of bad memories of that car.  No point dredging those up.  I would have gotten rid of it if it hadn’t been Grandma’s car before it was mine.”

               He nodded.

               “If you could fix it, I know people who’d pay six figures for a car like that.”

               Amber laughed.

               “Takes money to make money.  I don’t have any, taxes have been brutal since the town council have been trying to get our land.”

               He took his hat off and ran his fingers along the brim.

               “About that, you going to be able to make your payment in full next week?  They already have the seizure papers drawn up and at my office.”

               Amber sighed and nodded.

               “Yes.  Funny how they rezoned all my land as single lot residential with hobby farm and the new payment requirements only impact me.”

               He nodded.

               “It’s not my choice, you understand.  I wish your grandmothers were still here.  None of this would have happened.  You could just sell; They’re offering twice what the land is worth.  You can easily buy a farm west of the town.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “No, this is Kent land, it is going to stay Kent land.  Morgan Edge will never get it for his real estate empire.  I wonder if those people buying those houses realize when he was building a school in Metropolis, he was burying toxic waste under its football field?”

               The sheriff shook his head.

               “You’re a good girl Amber, never given me any problems, saved more lives than I can count on my fingers.  I just don’t want to see you and your sisters get hurt.  These are not the kind of people you mess with.  Even the mafia stepped back from this fight.”

               Amber narrowed her eyes.

               “If any harm comes to either of my sisters, you can bet you’re going to see a side of me no one expects or wants to see.  Also, I caught some cars and hunters on my back forty I have their plates.  Some hikers too.  I have clearly marked the land boundary and have no trespassing signs.  They keep it up, I’m liable to take them for coyotes after my livestock and shoot them.”

               The sheriff nodded.

               “Drop the photos and plates numbers off at the office.  I’ll have a deputy run them down.  You get in touch with Randy?  He’s been tracking some hunters that have been hunting off season.  Might be worth dropping by the office.  He’s federal so that could work around your little problem with the state.”

               Amber smiled.

               “Thanks Sheriff.  One second.”

               Amber seemed to vanish when the Sheriff looked in the direction of a noise.  He heard water spray and rushed out.  Some of the dried brush in a fallow field near the road was on fire.  Amber’s quick reaction stopped it from spreading.  The sheriff wasted no time opening the gate and driving off with his flashers.  Also glanced around and then started running.  She managed to get home before the Sheriff returned.  She adjusted her hair and had a photo of the truck on her phone, with the plate ready for him.  He was shaking his head.

               “Sorry, they got away Amber.  Did you see anything?”

               Amber nodded and sent him a text with the photo.

               “Sorry, it is a bit blurry.”

               He shook his head.

               “Damn, good catch.  I’ll put out an APB and reach out to Metropolis PD. We’ll track them down.”

               Amber sighed and glanced around after the sheriff left and hit a large ice build up on the fence with her fist breaking it up.  She shook her head and went back inside when she got back outside she sat on the porch with a blanket over her lap that concealed her great grandfather’s old long rifle.  If they tried again the Molotov cocktail would blow up in their faces long before they could throw it.  She sat there for an hour and shook her head when the idiots came back.  She raised her rifle and aimed it.  Then thought the better of it and picked up a stone and threw it.  It sounded like a gunshot going off and blew out their rear exhaust and both rear tires.  Amber picked up the phone and dialed the Sheriff’s number direct.  He picked up.

               “Did something else happen Amber?”

               Amber smiled as she spoke.

               “No, not yet but wouldn’t you believe it the idiots came back and both of their rear tires blew out just by my property.  There are three of them, might want to bring back up, they’re armed.”

               She walked out to the boundary of her land with the barrel of the long rifle leaning on her shoulder.  Their bad luck was they were on a side road that was also her property.  She had half a mind to shoot them right there and then they all had side arms.  She lowered her rifle when one reached into under his brown leather jacket, she made a tsking sound then spoke in a tone that would have made her retired-sheriff grandmother proud.

               “You draw on me, on my property, you might get shot.  Handguns on the road nice and slow boys.  Burning a fallow field, I can accept that but coming back with guns when my sisters are home, that isn’t going to fly around here.”

               They were dressed like country yahoos but they were too clean cut for that.  She dropped the rifle and pulled her grandmother’s old Glock out of her pocket, not that it was necessary, but it avoided her having to show her true self to them.  She reached in and pulled out the driver’s phone.  She pointed her gun in their general vicinity and made a motion with her other hand.

               “Phones.  Don’t make me ask twice. Kansas is a stand your ground state.”

               She slid the phones into her pockets and made a motion with the gun.

               “Out of the truck, and on your belly’s face down, hands behind your heads.  We’re going to wait for my good friend the Sheriff to arrive.  I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to have a word with you and don’t worry, I’ve had my phone recording the whole time, so they’ll know just whose guns they are and I have all your faces on this nifty little thing.”

               She kept her handgun pointed at them and pulled out the first phone.  It was obviously a burner, so she just dialed the last number that called it.  She recognized the voice that said, Hello, is it done? It belonged to a fixer who had attempted to buy her land several times.  She shook her head.

               “Decklan, arson, attempted murder, you’re building the RICO case for the feds.  Thanks.  No, it’s not done and trust me when I say, you are in for a world of hurt if a single blade of grass is broken on my property.  Better call your friend in the DA’s office.  I think your employees are going to need their help.”

               She hung up and slid the phone into her pocket.

               “Boy, did you guys pick the wrong job, eh?”

               The driver looked up at her from the ground.

               “How did you make that shot?  It’s a quarter of a mile, no scope.  Who the hell are you?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “Who me?  I’m just a local farm girl with a bad temper.  It’s a good thing you didn’t shoot at my house with those assault rifles in the back like you were planning, you wouldn’t like how that turned out.  Some of my friends are real hot heads.  You know someone shot up my house when I was a kid, some gangbangers, real hard core.  They found their charred corpses and cars halfway to Metropolis.  Their bones were so burnt they couldn’t even identify them with their teeth.  Messy, ugly.  Still remember the smell when we drove past.  I heard that even the rock was turned molten, hotter than the sun…  Yeah, she’s a real hot head.”

               He went pale.

               “You can’t have guns, you’re on probation.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “I’m sorry friend, you’re wrong, that was never a condition of my probation.  You see I live on a farm, and we have these pesky things called coyotes that love to go after children and livestock.  It was considered a hinderance my livelihood.  So, all these weapons are very much licensed, which is good for you because I did have unlicensed firearms, I could have just shot you, made them disappear and shrugged when they asked me what happened.  Don’t know officer, I was asleep, terrible tragedy that.”

               The Sheriff rolled up with his sirens on, along with three deputies.  Allison stepped away and let the deputies and Sheriff do their job.  She helpfully pointed out the illegal weapons in the truck bed along with the supplies for Molotov cocktails and the marijuana she’d ‘seen’ when they opened their glove compartment.  She offered up their phones.  The sheriff looked at her long rifle.

               “We’ll need to take that, just because it was fired.  Sorry, Amber.”

               Amber blinked a few times.

               “Sorry Sheriff?  I haven’t discharged any firearms tonight.”

               One of the deputies tried to clear Amber’s pistol and rifle and realized neither had a firing pin, neither was even in a state where they should be fired, she also had no bullets in them.

               “Sheriff, she couldn’t have fired these, there’s rust.”

               Amber shrugged.

               “I didn’t shoot their tires out, no idea what happened, guys, sorry.  Figured the threat of the weapons would be enough.  I keep the actual guns in the gun safe; These are just for show.  You can check me for gun powder residue.”

               The sheriff adjusted his hat and shook his head.  He motioned to one of the deputies who did the tests and shook his head.  The sheriff motioned Deputy Hatter to go with Allison.

               “Just go make sure the guns are where she said they were and haven’t been fired.  This is going to be a hell of a report.”

               Amber motioned for the deputy to follow her after checking the gun safe was secure. She opened it for him and showed her license and proof of ownership.  These guns were immaculate, probably because she rarely fired them, the range cost money and she had none.  Sarah came downstairs rubbing her eyes.  Amber motioned at her.

               “Go back upstairs and get to bed Sarah everything is fine.”

               Sarah was confused and still half asleep.

               “Why is there a deputy here looking at your guns?”

               Amber shook her head.

               “Nothing important, just someone shooting around here, they’re just making sure I haven’t fired them recently go back to bed, you have school.”

               Deputy Hatter nodded along.

               “Yep, just standard here, sorry to have bothered you, Sarah, see you around the school tomorrow.”

               Sarah sighed and walked back upstairs shaking her head the whole way.  Amber blushed.

               “Thanks, Deputy, they don’t need to know what’s going on.”

               He lowered his voice.

               “She knows more than you think about what is going on and she’s worried about you.  A lot of us deputies are.  We get called out here way too often, one of these times they’re going to succeed.  Your grandmother inspired a lot of us to join the sheriff’s office, we don’t want anything to happen to you.  The election is coming up, have you considered running for mayor, or sheriff?  A lot of the town would support you.  The farmers on the east side are worried they’re next.”

               Amber laughed.

               “With what qualifications? I have a high school diploma.”

               The deputy pointed at Amber’s shirt.

               “You’re still the girl without fear.  Every time this town has been in trouble you’ve been there to help.  Don’t you think we forget it either.  The sheriff is thinking of retiring.  Who knows who will get elected next.  You might want to think about that.”

               Amber shrugged.

Chapter Text

               Sarah watched Amber as her sister buzzed around the kitchen getting everything ready for their lunches and breakfast.  Martha came down the stairs and sat at the kitchen table.  Sarah finally spoke up.

               “Sarah what was really going on last night?  Martha and I both heard a gunshot.”

               Amber shrugged.

               “Wasn’t me.  You can ask the deputy. Someone shot out a couple of tires.  Deputies were just checking out who it could be.”

               Sarah leaned forward.

               “Whose tires?”

               Amber motioned towards their private road.

               “Just some folks taking a shortcut through our land.”

               Martha looked up at Amber.

               “And the burns in the field?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “They must have tossed a cigarette butt out or something, they were up to no good, the Sheriff arrested them, not sure what was going on.”

               Sarah looked at Martha who returned the look.  Sarah sighed and started eating the breakfast put in front of her.  Sarah finished and looked up at Amber.

               “I don’t feel safe going on this trip.  There has been a lot of strange things going on, leaving you and Martha alone here and I know we’re broke twenty-five hundred dollars is too much.”

               Amber put her hands on her hips.

               “This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  You’re going to go to Paris and you’re going to see everything I haven’t been able to.  Got me?”

               Sarah sighed.

               “I saw the notice about the taxes.”

               Amber threw the spatula she was holding in the sink in frustration.  Martha put her hands over her ears and curled up over the table.

               “I have it handled.  I have told you both not to worry about the money.  End of discussion.”

               Amber sighed when she looked at Martha.  She could see how her mother would lose patience with her sisters, but she would never hurt them, not like her mother had.

               “Look Sarah, I’ll tell you if you need to worry about something, I’m the adult here, I can handle it, okay?”

               Sarah pouted.

               “I can get a part time job, help out.”

               Amber leaned on the counter.

               “You will do no such thing and if I ever allow it, you’ll be keeping all of the money you earn.  Now stop it, we’re upsetting Martha.”

               Sarah stood up suddenly.

               “What if I want a car?  You going to buy me one of those?”

               Amber closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

               “If you need a car, I’ll build one from scratch if I have to.  Now stop it and go get ready for school.”

               She walked around the counter and kneeled down beside Martha’s chair and touched her sister’s forearm gently.  Martha looked down at her.  Amber smiled.

               “I’m sorry Martha, we argue, we’re sisters.  It happens.  It is just part of life.  I’m not our mom, I’ll never hurt either of you.  Not like she did.  I might get upset but that’s just natural too.”

               Martha nodded and once she was sure it was safe she walked off to get ready.  Amber ran her hands through her hair.  Considering all she could do and who she was, she felt so powerless.  It was like she’d been told.  Her emotional connections and humanity would always be her worst enemies.  That and retail customers.  She stood up and gathered up the dishes and loaded the dishwasher.  It took her a few seconds.  She’d finished long before her sisters were ready for school.

               She dropped them off and headed to the Value Fresh.  It was a good day, Dick wasn’t working.  In fact, it was Tammy, the actual store manager.  She was in her fifties and no nonsense but at least she wasn’t grabby with Amber.  She walked right up to Amber, she had a tablet in her hands.

               “Amber, you no called, no showed Thursday and Friday, what’s up?  We can’t have that.  You’re on notice.”

               Amber sighed.  Dick had not changed the schedule.

               “Di… Richard told me we were slow and sent me home told me not to come back until today.”

               Tammy frowned.

               “He didn’t mention that, and he didn’t put it on the schedule, we were very busy that day and since we couldn’t find a replacement for your shift things were slow.”

               Amber shrugged.

               “I don’t know what to say, Delilah was here.”

               Delilah nodded.

               “Yep, heard him tell her that.  After she turned him down for a date after he groped her ‘fixing’ her name tag.”

               Amber shot Delilah with a warning glance.  Tammy frowned.

               “Is this true Amber?”

               Amber shook her head.

               “No, it’s not like that.  He had an extra ticket for some party thing, it wasn’t a date, and he didn’t touch me at all just my name tag.”

               Tammy’s frown deepened.

               “Well, I’ll talk to him about updating the schedule properly, so we don’t have this confusion in the future, sorry Amber, carry on.”

               Delilah frowned in Amber’s direction.

               “The prick deserves whatever he gets, why are you defending him?”

               Amber leaned over to Delilah’s station.

               “You’re going to get us both fired, just keep it to yourself, I need this job.”

               Delilah kept frowning.

               “He has sexually assaulted you multiple times and he keeps screwing with your shifts because you won’t date him.  When are you going to stand up for yourself.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “The moment I don’t need this job you’ll see him get his but as it is I need it so let it go, please.”

               Delilah nodded but didn’t look happy.  Amber turned around to see a stick of gum on her belt.  She looked up and when she saw her customer she narrowed her eyes and scowled.  He leaned on his cane.  Amber scanned the gum.

               “Two dollars.”

               He reached into his pocket and opened his wallet and pulled out a twenty.  Allison snatched it from his hand and counted out his change.   He handed her back the ten and five dollar bills.

               “Could I get ones, please.”

Amber snatched the money back and counted out fifteen one dollar bills and offered them.

               “Here you are, sir.”

               Tammy rushed over and was aghast at Amber’s attitude.

               “I am so sorry sir…”

               She paused when she realized who it was.

               “Mr. Wayne, I am so sorry this is not the standard of service we try to maintain.  I’ll have her fired immediately.”

               Bruce glanced at Amber with his piercing brown eyes.

               “No need.  My granddaughter and I have had a rough patch.”

               Tammy blinked a few times.

               “I’m not your granddaughter, Bruce, you kind of made that clear last year!”

               Amber should have contained her anger but she was furious at him.  Bruce looked at Tammy.

               “Could she take her break?  She and I need to discuss her attitude in private.”

               Tammy put her hand on her chest.

               “Of course, of course whatever you need, Mr. Wayne.  Use my office, its right this way.”

               Amber rolled her eyes and followed the pair into Tammy’s office.  Tammy pulled the chair out for Bruce who sat down and leaned his cane on the desk, then gently pulled his hat off and laid it on the desk.  Amber crossed her arms.   Bruce nodded to Tammy who looked flustered and closed the door behind him.  Amber leaned on the desk spreading her fingers out.  Bruce pointed to one of the chairs.

               “Have a seat.”

               Amber glared at him.

               “No.  Go away, I told you at the funeral you had already done enough.  We don’t need you or your money.  Why is she even treating you like that?”

               Bruce shrugged.

               “I bought Value Fresh’s parent company just after you got hired.  You wouldn’t take my money, made sure you got the good benefits package.”

               Amber stood up and clenched her fists.

               “I cannot believe you!  You cannot help yourself, can you?  You can’t just sweep in after you abandoned us!  Abandoned mom to her fate.”

               Bruce didn’t meet Amber’s gaze.

               “I take responsibility for that, and the accident.  I thought… I thought keeping my distance and not enabling her would… she’d hit rock bottom and get help.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “And how did that work out for us, huh?  My brother is dead, and my sister is barely walking, and Martha I have no idea what is wrong with her.”

               Bruce pointed at Amber’s face.

               “Amber, calm down.”

               Amber growled.

               “Since when has telling a woman to calm down ever worked out the way a man wanted it too?”
               She noticed her eyes were glowing she looked away from him and tapped her wrist to increase the magnetic field’s containment.

               “Why are you here Bruce?”

               He lifted up his cane and leaned on it with both hands.

               “They’re all missing Amber.  I tried calling you but… they need you.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “I’m not him, never was, never will be.  I’m doing what you should have done, taking care of my family.”

               He sighed.

               “Diana helped you when you needed it.  It’s time to repay the favor.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “No.  No.  Whatever happened if she couldn’t handle it, I stand no chance.  I am no hero.”

               He frowned.

               “Amber, you’re the last living Kryptonian.  They were investi-”

               She held up her finger.

               “No, stop right there, I don’t want to know.  Ark told me all about you and how you lot didn’t help Clark.  He loved you like a brother, and no one had his back, not a single one of the Justice League.  Go back to Gotham.”

               He sighed.

               “Then at least convince Kara… Ark to help them.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “No, even if I could, I wouldn’t, and she wouldn’t.  She despises all of you.  She’s got my ship and she’s off trying to rescue the real Kara with my blessing.  You wasted your time.  Go away.  And lastly, I’m not a Kryptonian.  I’m a human.  I can’t imagine you’d like to meet a real one, trust me I spent a lifetime with them while I was recovering.”

               Bruce shook his head.

               “Amber, this is a mistake.  Kara… Ark warned me that Doomsday would be back.  You’ll need help with him the Justice League can help.”

               Amber laughed.

               “Where were you last time?”

               Bruce frowned and his brow furrowed.

               “You’re in trouble with the law again, they’re about to serve you with a notice of probation violation.  I can make it go away; You just need to help Diana, Jonn and Terry.”

               Amber laughed and shook her head.

               “There it is, you’ll help but there are always strings.  No Bruce, I knew it was coming already, and I know how I’m going to fight it.  Now get out of Smallville before Sarah sees you.”

               Bruce frowned and stood up with some effort.

               “I’m sure Sarah would be happy to see me.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “No, Bruce, she wouldn’t be, I think her words, I hope he dies so I can spit on his grave pretty much covered her sentiment towards you.”

               He sighed and shook his head.

               “Clark and Edna would be very disappointed in you.”

               Amber shrugged.

               “I’m doing the best I can with the hand I’ve been dealt.  Leave before I throw you out of Kansas.”

               Bruce gave her one last disappointed look and left the office.  Amber walked back to her station and opened it back up.  Delilah was staring at her.

               “Wait, your grandfather owns the company, and you’re worried they’re going to fire you?”

               Amber turned to her.

               “He is nothing to me, and if you tell a soul what you overheard, I swear to God you’ll see why people shouldn’t fuck with me.  Got it?”

               Amber angrily wiped down her belt.  Tammy approached her tentatively.

               “Amber, I had no idea you were related to the Waynes, maybe we should look at giving you another position, something more fitting your… uh skill level?”

               Amber plastered a smile on her face.

               “No need Tammy.  My grandfather and his family and my I are estranged for good reason.  I assure you, he doesn’t care if we live or die, so there is no need to try and treat me special, he and I never talk, he just wanted to let me know a family friend had gone missing and ask if I had heard from her.  Apparently, phones weren’t invented when he was born.”

               Tammy readjusted before she spoke again.

               “Well, your attitude toward him was lacking.  Do not treat a customer like that ever again.”

               Amber nodded.

               “Sorry, won’t happen again.”

               Tammy nodded and moved on.  It took most of the day before Delilah spoke to Amber again.

               “Hey, is your sister going on that Paris trip?  Twenty-five hundred dollars plus spending money?  Who has that kind of cash laying around?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “She’s going.  Took a lot of belt tightening.  I couldn’t let her miss this opportunity.”

               Delilah shook her head.

               “How about that, I expected you to boycott it in protest at the school being taken over by rich kids.”

               Amber shrugged.

               “I went to school with rich kids, some were great, some were assholes, some were just plain mean, hey, it’s better opportunities for my sisters and your kids.”

               Delilah leaned forward.

               “How the hell did you afford it?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “Four jobs, some side gigs when I can…  The farm, but its barely profitable.”

               Delilah shook her head.

               “Jesus how do you find time to sleep, or do anything for yourself?”

               “That’s easy, I don’t.”

               Delilah laughed.

               “Tell me about it feels like I barely get any sleep.”

               Amber nodded.

               “Feels like that every single day of my life.”

               Amber picked up her sisters after her shift ended and drove home.  She wasn’t surprised to see the Sheriff’s SUV sitting on her drive.  She pulled in and sent the girls inside and closed the inside door.  He walked up the steps and looked pretty upset.

               “Sorry, here to serve notice of your probation violation hearing.”

               Amber nodded and took the offered envelope and signed what the Sheriff needed her too.

               “Don’t worry about it, just another shot across my bow.  You’re just doing your job.  I’ll make sure to show up for court.”

               He tipped his hat and left.  Amber walked inside; Sarah was watching her every move.

               “What was that about Amber?”

               Amber smiled and waved her hand dismissively.

               “Just asking me about last night.  So, hot dogs for supper?  Let’s start a fire it is getting chilly.”

               Amber pulled out the summons and used it as the tinder to start the fire.  She put the hot dogs in the oven and started setting the table.  Their evening meal was a quiet one.  Sarah and Martha were both very skeptical of Amber.  Everyone stood up and went to the window when they heard a car driving up the lane.  Sarah and Martha seemed disappointed when it was just the BMW from the night before.  Amber pulled her hoodie on and went out to greet them at the gate.  Connor waved at his sister who drove away.

               “It’s done, come on, I’ll show you in the barn.”

               Connor followed Amber into the barn, he looked around and smiled when he saw her work area.  Edna had a hydraulic lift among other things installed before she passed.

               “Sweet.  You have a whole autobody and mechanic shop here.”

               She sighed and turned on the work lights.  Connor whistled.

               “It looks amazing.”

               Amber motioned to the car.

               “Lights are all working.  They’re synchronized via the stereo; They’ll do different patterns and pulses depending on the song or you can just have them on.  Vinyl is lined up perfectly.  Turbocharger works at highway speeds.  You’ll need to test it at the track past fifty-five.  Brakes are also working.  Good stopping power tested them at fifty-five too.  You’re going to need new tires though.  The engine has too much power for these now.  I recommend Continental ECF’s can’t go wrong, good for track or just driving.  Probably shouldn’t drive it if it snows.”

               He leaned over the engine.

               “It’s sparkling.  Did you detail it too?”

               Amber nodded.

               “It was filthy, cam is going to need to be replaced soon.  Seal on the pistons is not great either.”

               He looked at her in confusion.

               “How the hell could you know that without pulling the whole engine apart?”

               She shrugged.

               “Could hear it and computer told me compression was off, you’re leaving a lot of performance on the table without the cam and piston replacements.  It’ll go but not as fast as it could.”

               She had her hands in her hoodie pockets.  He shook his head and just looked like he was in shock.

               “You did this overnight? Fuck.  How much is it for the cam and pistons?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “If you’re doing that you might as well rebuild the engine.  Another fifteen hundred with standard parts, three with high performance.  Two if you want to land in the middle, you’d have to leave it here overnight again.  That is a thousand labor from me and well parts.”

               He started the car and revved the engine he closed his eyes.

               “It even sounds better.  You really are the car whisperer.  Can you get me the good parts for a discount? I hear you know people.”

               Amber shook her head.

               “No, sorry, but I can tell you who to talk to in Metropolis to get them on the cheap.  Save seven hundred or so.  Might not like the source though.”

               He looked at her.

               “Why?”

               She shrugged.

               “Best people to get parts from are the Triad.  They ship them in direct from Taiwan so they can offer… discounts.  But if you shop with them, then you’re on their radar.  Clean cut kid like you, probably should stick with the legitimate shops.”

               He blinked in disbelief at her.

               “You deal with the Triad?”

               She shrugged.

               “I used to, but I can’t anymore, would violate my probation.  That’s why I had to ask where you raced it, on the track, that’s fine, illegal underground street races, probation violation.  See where I’m going with this?”

               He nodded.

               “Why are you on probation?”

               She shrugged.

               “Got caught racing.  Someone got hurt.  They wanted me to rat out some folks, I refused… here we are.  If you consider the work done, I’d like my payment now.”

               He got out of his car and offered the thousand cash to her.

               “More then.  It is amazing.”

               She took the money she looked at him expectantly. He seemed stumped as to where to go with their conversation.  She sighed.

               “Now is the part you ask me out because that is what this was all about in the first place, but really, just asking is a lot cheaper than spending two thousand dollars on your car, by the way, my sisters thank you for your generosity.”

               He blushed.

               “Did Rose tell you?”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes, it’s a small town.  We talked.  So go ahead.”

               He rubbed the back of his neck.

               “Well, I mean would you go out on a date with me?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “Sure, if I had time, I don’t, sorry, ask me again in ten years.”

               He laughed and shook his head.

               “Damn that was brutal.”

               She laughed.

               “Hey, Rose warned you.”

               He hit his car door with his fist.

               “If I get the parts and get you to rebuild the engine, can I ask you again?”

               Amber shrugged.

               “You can ask.”

               He shook his head and got in his car she waved as he drove away.

Chapter Text

               Amber went out to her pickup and found the tires were all flat.  She sighed and pulled out her phone she ordered an Uber for Martha.  Her sister came out shortly after she did and looked at the tires with her intense gaze.

               “They were slashed.  I believe someone is trying to send us a message.”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes.  Don’t worry, I’ll get them fixed before it’s time to pick you up at school.  Go home with Kelly’s parents after school, I’ve already let them know.”

               Martha nodded.

               “I do not understand why Kelly wishes to be friends with me.  I am intellectually superior, and we do not have interests in common.”

               Amber sighed.

               “Maybe keep the intellectually superior thing to yourself in the future?”

               Martha nodded.

               “I see, that could be considered insulting, and socially incorrect.”

               The Uber arrived.  Sarah sighed and went back inside.  She had meant to get changed out of her work clothes and into her suit and drive to Kansas City for her court appearance, apparently the venue was the only one available.  Again, it was an attempt to make her miss the court appearance.  She bundled her suit into a suit carrying bag and looked around before vanishing in a cloud of dust.  She appeared at the courthouse a couple hours earlier than she needed to, she showed her ID and went inside.  She got changed very quickly when she picked up her name being called in a courtroom and not the one she’d been assigned originally.  She wanted to punch someone, or something.  She arrived just as the judge was about to declare her absent from the trial and send out a bench warrant.  She held up her hand.

               “Sorry, sorry, your honor.  Courtroom and judge were changed from what was on the summons and no one notified me.”

               The judge looked at the state’s attorney who was handling this personally.

               “Is this true?”

               The state’s attorney a rather strict looking woman in her thirties shook her head.

               “We notified her legal counsel of record.”

               The judge looked around.

               “Where is your legal counsel, Ms. Morris?”

               Amber held up a motion.

               “Sorry, I don’t have one, I applied to represent myself, I sent the paperwork by courier to the state’s attorney’s office as required and to the original judge.  I have the motion and record of receipt right here.  Could I approach your honor?”

               The judge nodded and motioned Amber forward.  Amber handed her the documents.  The judge looked them over. After she had finished she looked at the state’s attorney over her reading glasses.

               “It says here you were notified of her motion the day after she received her summons, and judge…”

               The judge found the judge’s name.

               “Goodman’s court officer received it at the same time.  Then you requested a change of venue, to adult court from juvenile division… and the hearing was set for this court room to be overseen by Judge Rawllings.  Of course he granted it.  Okay, why wasn’t the defendant notified in a timely fashion?  Surprisingly she wrote a good motion and followed every statute to the letter.”

               The state’s attorney looked through her papers and was starting to look flustered.  She paused and looked up at the judge.

               “Where is judge Rawllings?”

               The judge looked at the attorney over her glasses again.

               “He died from a heart attack last night which is why I’m scrambling to catch up.  You better have a damn good reason for moving a juvenile case to an adult court and not notifying her of her change of venue with a proper summons.  I better see records of a solid attempt.  As far as the court records show, Judge Goodman received the motion in good order from the same courier.”

               The state’s attorney stood up straighter.

               “I can’t seem to find it your honor, it must have been a mix up at my office, I’ll have it reviewed as soon as we are out of session.  I personally apologize for any confusion and inconvenience to yourself and the defendant.”

               Amber glared at her but said nothing, the judge did not seem like a woman you pissed off and right now the state’s attorney was doing a really good job of doing just that.  The judge looked at Amber.

               “You understand you should have legal representation, Ms. Morris.  You can file a motion to have this sent back to juvenile court.”

               Amber nodded.

               “I understand my rights, your honor, I’d rather just get this over with, so I don’t miss anymore work and risk another motion to revoke my probation because I do not have gainful employment.”

               The judge raised an eyebrow.

               “I heard just a bit of resentment there you will maintain proper decorum in my court room, or I will force you to get legal representation.”

               Amber nodded.

               “I am sorry, your honor, I will remember that.”

               The judge nodded and looked to the other side of the aisle.

               “You’re submitting a motion to revoke probation and institute… a mandatory maximum sentence of six years… for an offense that was committed by a juvenile and the sentence was only six months if she violated her probation?”

               The state’s attorney nodded.

               “Yes, she’s an adult now, she willfully violated her probation by associating with a known street racer and a suspected Triad member.  The terms of her probation clearly ban her from doing either.”

               The judge nodded.

               “And your proof?”

               The state’s attorney motioned to Victoria.

               “A respected agent from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation witnessed the interaction, your honor, I have her signed affidavit, and she can testify, there are other witnesses I can call if necessary.”

               Amber raised her hand, and the judge nodded to her.

               “Yes, Ms. Morris?”

               Amber smiled.

               “I believe I can stipulate confirmation that the agent in question and witnesses present at the event did see that interaction.  Is that right?”

               The judge nodded.

               “You are freely admitting to interacting with someone you were banned from interacting with as part of your parole?”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes, your honor.”

               The judge leaned forward.

               “You understand, that admitting that means you violated your parole?”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes, your honor, if the interaction was voluntary on my part, which it was not.”

               The judge smiled and the state’s attorney glanced back at Victoria who gave a small shrug she spoke slightly out of turn.

               “She has no proof the arrangement wasn’t made ahead of time, your honor.”

               The judge pointed her pen at the state’s attorney.

               “You can be quiet now.  I’ve heard quite enough from you.”

               The judge looked towards Amber.

               “Please explain.”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes, your honor, sometimes when Value Fresh, my main source of employment is slow they will end my shift early, which they did on that day, I have an affidavit and video deposition from witnesses who saw me sent home also a corrected attendance sheet showing that as well, my assistant manager messed up and forgot to record it that day, but the manager straightened it out.  That is the reason for the change.  When this happens, I do part time work for an auto shop, Jimmy’s Garage, in Smallville-”

               The judge held up her hands.

               “Wait, wait, you’re from Smallville?”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes, your honor.”

               The judge motioned towards Amber.

               “Where did your original offense take place, Ms. Morris?”

               “Metropolis, your honor.”

               The judge pulled off her glasses and rubbed the bridge of her nose before dropping them on the pile of paperwork.

               “So, the state’s attorney dragged you almost two hundred miles away to attend a hearing here in Kansas City, a location which has nothing to do with either the alleged probation violation or original charges.”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes, your honor.  I don’t understand how courts are organized, with respect, so I just did what was asked of me to the best of my ability.”

               The judge looked at the state’s attorney.

               “We’re going to have a conversation once we sort out this hearing and I better hear some damn good explanations, because from where I’m sitting it looks like you were trying really hard to make sure she didn’t make it to her hearing.”

               The judge turned back to Amber.

               “Continue, Ms. Morris.”

               Amber nodded.

               “I was working at Jimmy’s garage doing oil changes and the like at the time of the incident in question, I have my technician’s certification here if you need to see it, and I was approached by a former associate.  I immediately asked him to leave but he kept talking to me.  As he was a customer of Mr. Gott’s he had every right to be there, and as I’m employed by Mr. Gott I was required to be there as part of my probation, which is to be gainfully employed.  My interaction with the individual was strictly in regards to work being done on his car at the shop.  I have a signed affidavit from him and a disposition completed by an attorney in good standing with the Kansas state bar, I couldn’t afford him for the actual hearing.  I am sorry your honor, if I’m not making any sense here.”

               The judge motioned for Allison to bring everything up to her.  Allison provided a copy to the judge and to the state’s attorney.  She smiled at the state’s attorney.

               “In case my voluntary disclosure got lost, like the mandatory disclosure you’re supposed to do got lost.”

               The judge held up her hand.

               “Wait, you did not receive proper disclosure from the prosecutor?”

               Amber nodded.

               “Yes ma’am, I read it was mandatory, but I thought maybe, because it was just a probation hearing…”

               The judge frowned.

               “It is, but I’ll let it slide this once.  I’m very interested to hear where the disclosure ended up, I’m sure it is with the change of venue notification…”

               The state’s attorney tugged at her collar.  Amber wasn’t glad the other judge died, but she was pretty happy about it, it seemed like she would have been screwed otherwise.  The judge reviewed the affidavits.

               “Well, it appears she has a valid defense.  I’m going to put the court into recess for the time being, I need to make some calls, it says here, you extended her probation because of… a coma?”

               The state’s attorney cleared her throat.

               “Yes, it was my opinion that due to her coma she was unable to serve her probation, so I requested it extended…”

               The judge looked through the stack of files.

               “By Judge Rawllings, I see why you were so broken up about his passing.  So, if someone falls into a coma in prison for five years, they wake up and only have a day left in their sentence, should we give them five more years?  Have you ever heard of a little thing called the constitution?”

               The judge held up her hand.

               “Obviously not, I’m guessing neither had my colleague, bless his soul.”

               She looked towards Amber.

               “Ms. Morris, I apologize on the court’s behalf, you have been treated unfairly.  I cannot end your probation prematurely, but I promise you that at the end of your last six months I will happily seal and order your records destroyed, you just send me the motion.  I would highly recommend you retain a civil rights lawyer and bring a federal case against the state of Kansas.”

               She turned towards the state’s attorney.

               “And you, I’m putting you on notice that I’m going to be asking for sanctions with the bar against you.  At the best this is malicious prosecution, at the worst, you are… not working in the best interest of our good state.  And you Agent Valentine, your name is showing up way too frequently in these files.  Find a new hobby because I’ve half a mind to take this young lady’s case on myself.”

               The judge leaned back and grabbed her gavel.

               “Well, there is no need for further review, I’ll be moving onto the next case.  Mrs. Weller, you will provide this court with a record of what happened to the disclosure, what happened with the motions discussed here and an explanation of how your office screwed this up so badly by the end of this week or I will hold you personally in contempt.  I do not abide constitutional violations of any kind, and this is particularly egregious.  Probation is reinstated you’ll have my official response within the week.”

               She hit her gavel and started looking for her next case.  Amber stood up and walked out.  She was over the whole thing by the time she got out of the doors and was on to her next crisis, how to replace four tires that cost a couple of hundred each.  She sighed then she saw the state’s attorney and Victoria chatting in the courthouse hallway.  She stormed over to them.

               “You can come at me all you want, but when you slash my tires and take food out of my sister’s mouths you crossed a line that I’m not willing to overlook.  Come at me again and I will take the kid gloves off in court.”

               She walked off.  Victoria looked troubled.

               “What is she talking about?”

               The state’s attorney shook her head.

               “I might have mentioned I was worried about our case…”

               Victoria frowned.

               “I’m not comfortable with this, legal shuffle, but witness intimidation, tampering… those are serious criminal offenses.”

               Amber looked back over her shoulder before heading out of the courthouse a few minutes later she was standing beside her pickup truck.  She ran her hands through her hair and sighed before picking up her cell phone.

               “Hello, Mr. Gott, do you have any used tires I can… pay for with work?”

               “Sure, how many you need?”

               Amber sighed and looked at the four flat tires.

               “Four, someone slit the tires on my pickup last night.”

               “What?!? Did you call the sheriff’s office?”

               “No, sir, could you get Andy to drop them off, I’ll get them on the truck and come in and do some work today if you need me…”

               Jimmy was obviously covering the microphone part of the handset then came back on.

               “Don’t worry about coming in, it is slow today, no need to pay me for the tires.  You do enough around here I can help you out.  Andy’s on the way.”

               Amber spent the rest of the morning replacing the tires and checking for other damage to the truck.  Thankfully whoever did it thought slashing four tires would be enough.  She shook her head and sighed as she finished looking over the truck.  Somehow this was starting to feel just a little personal.  She pondered making it more personal for Morgan Edge like she and Mr. J had when she was fourteen.

               She lowered the pickup and saw a new harbinger of doom.  A strange white Mercedes SUV pulling down her road.  She decided to find out what was up by observing her visitor who seemed to be oblivious to the lithe platinum blonde girl watching them.  A woman who by all descriptions was a busy-body got out of her posh SUV, and made a face as she lifted the latch to open the gate and then drove her SUV right onto the Kent farm’s inner property.  She walked up to the front door and pushed a paper over the nail that would hold the Christmas wreath in a few weeks.  She dusted her hands and looked around at the farmhouse with a wrinkled nose and drove off without closing the gate.

               Amber walked up to the door and pulled the paper off the nail and read it over while walking over to close the gate.  She raised an eyebrow.  There was a list of violations with the fines from a homeowner’s association.  It was all very strange, since she had not joined any homeowner’s association.  She glanced at the no trespassing sign on her gate and the one that said trespassers would be shot on sight.

               “Wow.”

               She had no other words.  She pondered tossing the paper into a garbage can but then decided the better of it.  She zipped over to the subdivision; It was almost scary how much the houses and yards looked alike.  She tracked down the SUV and walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.  She was wearing an old red and black plaid jacket and dirty jeans.  Her hands were still filthy from replacing her tires and she was wearing a ball cap with her hair pulled up under it.  She held up the paper when the woman answered the door holding a shih tzu.

               “Umm, who are you? Why are you on my property?”

               Amber blinked a few times.

               “I’m the owner of the farm you just trespassed on to leave this… whatever this is.”

               The woman looked Amber up and down.

               “You?  You’re a child.”

               Amber narrowed her eyes.

               “I am going to say this once, and only once, we are not part of your homeowner’s association we will never be and if you show up on my property again, uninvited you will be shot, just like the sign says.  Along with all of the other idiots from here who seem to have decided my back forty is their personal dog walking park.”

               The lady’s mouth was agape.

               “How dare you!  That forested lot is part of our land.  It was maintained so we could experience nature.”

               Amber pursed her lips.

               “Lady, it is my land, and I have placed signs very clearly denoting that. Just because someone keeps cutting my fence doesn’t make it your land!  You’ve been warned.”

               “You can’t just wall off nature like that!  And it belongs to the homeowner’s association!”

               Amber took a deep breath.

               “Yes, I can because it keeps the coyotes out and away from my livestock, when you cut the fence, they get in and I have to shoot them are you following me here?”

               “Your animals stink, your farm stinks, and your yellow house is an eyesore, and your fence is dangerous to pets and children.  All of which were addressed with those fines.”

               “Yes, yes, no its beautiful and my fence is functional and, on my property, which your children and pets should be nowhere near.  Do not come back.”

               Amber walked away before she did something she might regret she stormed back to her house and put the paper she’d received in her personal cabinet.  She opened her safe and stared at the strange phone intently.  It would be so easy and untraceable she could drop a few digital tactical nukes.  Mr. J would have cheered her on.  She shook her head.

               “No, I swore I would never use you, but oh how I want to.”

               She heard his voice in her head.

               “Do it!  They’re pushing all the little people around, but you can push back!  Morgan Edge is a dick, rip it off of him!”

               Then she heard Harly’s voice.

               “Go ahead.  They come after you, you go after them ten times harder doll.  Let’s have some tea and ruin some bad people’s lives!”

               They weren’t their real voices of course, nor delusions, just echoes of their memories.  She was reaching for the old phone that held Mr. Js digital skeleton key, the harbinger of the reckoning he’d called it.  Then her own phone rang.  She shook off her moment of weakness and slammed the safe shut then answered her phone.

               “Amber speaking.”

               Connor’s voice responded.

               “Hey, took me a bit but I got the parts and the cash, when can you do the work?”

               Amber sighed.

               “Tonight.”

               She looked at the safe, she didn’t trust herself, she needed a distraction.

               “Hey, is that date offer still open?”

               “Yes!  When?”

               She sighed and glanced at the clock, it was eleven, she had three hours before she needed to pick Sarah up from the airport.

               “I have two hours, now.”

               “I’m in Metropolis, it would take me an hour to get there.”

               She gave him the address of an arcade about ten minutes away from the airport.

               “Let’s go to the arcade it will give me an extra half an hour.”