Problem Child 22

The first exercise of power Aiko saw from Miss Head was how smoothly she kept Aiko out of trouble with her parents. She returned Aiko to her own doorstep with cool deliberacy, knocking on the door with two knuckles.

Aiko looked at the doorbell. She wondered why Miss Head chose not to use it. She was still wondering when the door opened and Mom gasped.

‘She didn’t know I was gone yet.’ Aiko made a sour lemon face in order to suppress her urge to smile. Mom would be super mad if she realized Aiko thought the situation was funny. ‘That’s not very good. It’s been over an hour for sure. Mission failure, Mom. Remedial training immediately.’

“You little shi-” Mom stopped herself. Her eyebrow was twitching. “My darling little girl, how did you get outside?”

“I went out the toilet window,” Aiko explained, twining one ankle behind the other. She didn’t intend to use that route again. It put her out on the front of the house and she hadn’t liked that. 

‘How long would it take her to notice if I was kidnapped?’ She paused. ‘Shit, she still hasn’t noticed this current ongoing kidnapping by Mr. Luthor. Wow.’ Aiko suppressed a giggle. ‘I’m in danger.’

Mom huffed out air from her nose like a bull. 

“Developmentally normal,” Miss Head said. “My son was an escape artist at this age as well. May we come in?” 

They were seated at the kitchen table less than a minute later. Aiko was ambivalent about it, given that she was so screwed anyway, but she was vaguely interested to see how Miss Head would pass this hurdle.

If she wanted access to Aiko in order to train her, she had to convince her parents to allow her that unsupervised time. Aiko kicked her feet in the air underneath her chair and politely waited to see where this was going.

“I am so sorry,” Mom said, not for the first time. She set down drinks. “But thank you for bringing her back, I cannot be grateful enough.”

“It was no trouble,” Miss Head said. Her silky demeanor had bled away into something warmer and, ironically, more genuine-seeming. “Do you know the other parents in the area yet?”

Mom blinked rapidly. “No, I thought there weren’t many kids around.”

‘Is she an infiltration-first operative?’ Aiko wondered, studying the other woman with professional curiosity. ‘She’s a better fighter than me, but honestly, I am really reduced. That doesn’t mean much at this point in my development.’

Miss Head was spinning some bullshit about her beloved son, who apparently lived with her husband but was large in her heart. Aiko rolled her eyes when no one was looking. She tuned back into the conversation when it came to the topic of how hard it must be to manage childcare without family in the area. 

Here it was, Aiko thought. She was going to offer to babysit.

“Were you aware that Mr. Luthor has a son?”

Aiko spat some tea back into her cup and gave Miss Head an incredulous look. Him?

Mom was similarly surprised. “I didn’t even know that he was in a relationship,” she admitted. “A newborn? Or-” her eyes darted to Aiko. “An age-mate to Aiko? Is that why he’s taken such interest in her development?” She sounded like she wanted that to be true.

“No, Kon is older,” Miss Head said. “But he is also gifted. He might have some helpful perspective…” She trailed off, as if she regretted overstepping. “In any case, I’m sure you’ll see him around the compound.” She gave Mom a sheepish smile and moved as if she was about to excuse herself. 

‘Why?’

“Is he- Are we talking about a teenager?” Mom asked, looking over at Aiko again with consideration. 

“He’s fifteen,” Miss Head said. “A very good boy, I think, he is off volunteering a lot.”

She was lying. She had some type of game going. Aiko squinted her eyes and tried to figure it out. What was Miss Head’s play? Why did she want this teenager around?

Mom paused. She looked at Aiko, all 50 terrible pounds of her. “Do you think he would like to earn some pocket money?”

Ugh. 

The promised babysitter materialized a day later, suspiciously windswept. Aiko and Natty inspected him on the lawn while Mom scrambled to get out the door to her overnight shift. 

“Hey, how are you?” He knelt down to get on their level and grinned to show off comically white, inhumanly perfect teeth. The twins sized him up judgmentally. “I’m Kon. Do you know where Miss Head is?” His attention wandered, as if he thought some high powered executive might be hanging around to talk to him.

“No,” Natty said. “Is that the business lady?”

“One of the most gorgeous women in the world,” Kon said, looking around so intently it was like he thought he had laser vision and could locate Talia Head through solid walls. “When she called me for a favor, you know I had to be here. Hey, uh, do you know what she likes?”

‘He doesn’t look like Lex Luthor at all. There’s no woman in the world who could cancel out his genetics to this extent, no way. This guy is not Luthor’s kid. So why is he here?’

Time to bully.

“Probably not you. You’re not very tall,” Natty observed. “Are you sure you’re old enough for this responsibility?”

It finally clicked into place. She knew what she didn’t like about the way he looked. “You look like discount brand Superman,” Aiko said, eyes narrowed. The babysitter flinched. Hmm. Weakness. She honed in on it. “Why are you here? Have you ever babysat before? What are your qualifications to keep us in line?”

“Do you know anything about chemistry?” Natty asked. “I have a project you could be useful for.”

Mom patted them both on the head on her way out of the door. “Thanks for coming, Kon, my husband will be back in an hour to take over. This really helps.” 

“No problem,” Kon sleazed, his voice dropping in pitch. His eyelids lowered as he watched her leave, gaze way too low to be looking at her head. “Your husband, huh? Is he half as good-looking as you?”

Natty gagged. “Do you think my mom is hot?” he demanded in outrage.

“Of course he does,” Aiko said scornfully. “He thinks he’s hot. Look at this stupid hair and leather jacket. He thinks he’s cool, Natty.”

The teenager wheeled on them. “I am cool,” he argued, exactly like an uncool person would do. “You can ask anyone– I am in magazines, I am- I am so cool.” His eccentric sunglasses slipped down his nose a little. 

Mom laughed as she unlocked the car and threw her kit inside. “Talia said you were an irrepressible flirt,” she said. “Try it on someone in your league, buddy.” She shut the car door on Kon’s dreams.

He looked heartbroken.

Aiko laughed at the unceremonious rejection. “You?” She pointed at Kon. “You really thought you had a shot with my mom?”

Kon’s whole face twitched. “I was thinking we might do finger painting,” he said. He opened the bag he had brought with him. “How about we never talk about your hot mom?”

“Only if I can paint on the wall,” Natty negotiated. His blue eyes were narrowed, his smirk mischievous.

“...No,” Kon tried.

“Do you have superpowers?” Aiko cut in. “Miss Head said that you are ‘gifted’, like me,” she quoted. “That’s the only reason I can think of for you being invited here.” She gestured at his whole being in disdain. “Are you Luthor’s lab baby with Superman? Are you supposed to train me without my parents knowing? They already said I can’t kill people.” Aiko raised an eyebrow in challenge. “I’ll go along with it, but just know that parameter. Also, I already have a heroic partner.”

Kon blinked. He opened his mouth and then closed it without saying anything. His comically tight leather pants squeaked as he bent down to get on a level with her. “Are you saying you have powers?” he asked. His brow furrowed. “...Wanna fight?”