Power(108)

Unless you were fighting an Ares, I guess.

The front door opened with a thump, and I heard heavy footfalls just inside the threshold. I paused next to the doorframe and held my breath, listening for what came next.

“Sienna!” Reed shouted, and I let out a breath.

“Are you here?” Scott called.

“Holy hell, it looks like she was here,” Reed said. “Look at that hole in the … well, ceiling and floor. That’s gonna cost a few bucks to remodel.”

I took a breath and let it out then slid out into the open door. I stared across the sunlit living room at the two of them, and saw the relief flood their faces.

“Sienna,” Scott said. “You’re safe.”

Reed elbowed him. “Start with, ‘you’re alive’ and work down next time.”

“Is she here?” Kat’s voice came from behind them, and I saw her blond head peek out from behind Scott. “Oh, good,” she said with a sigh of relief.

“Kat?” I stared at her. “I would have expected these two, but you?”

“We’re all here,” she said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. “We saw you on the news and came running.”

“The … news?” I felt a little chill.

Reed broke into a smile first, folding his arms. “The president went on and made a speech. It was … pretty effective,” he said, like he was conceding something painful.

“He talked about you being the head of the response team battling against this threat to national security,” Scott said, with a slight smile of his own. “Named you as head of the agency. Midway through, he gets interrupted with footage from local stations showing your battle over Minneapolis—”

“And they tagged you right away,” Reed broke in, grinning. “‘Sienna Nealon fights Sovereign,’ like it was a friggin’ newsreel out of a comic, complete with supervillain.”

I felt the eskrima sticks I’d forgotten I was holding fall right out of my hands. “You … you saw that?”

“Pretty much all of it, Dragon Lady,” Reed said with that same grin. I saw Scott wince a little. “Though we only heard about that part from Ariadne. We were kind of busy rushing to try and get to wherever you were to offer our limited brand of support.” His face darkened. “Then we heard you fell out of the sky …”

“That was a pretty dramatic moment, even on the radio,” Scott said. His face looked a little closer to sick. “Glad you’re all right.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine. Sovereign isn’t. We’re all good here.”

“Better than good, actually.” Reed was smiling from ear to ear. “You’re like … famous. Your fight with Sovereign got broadcast on every channel, and just after the president of the United States told everyone that you were the official U.S. Government response. You’re golden, sister of mine. Absolutely golden.”

I felt my eyes shift left and right as I weighed what he just said. “Because if he just built me up in front of the world—”

“He can’t tear you down and make you the villain now,” Scott said with a nod. “And—”

There was a sound of screeching tires outside and a horn honking before car doors started slamming. I could hear chatter, then Reed’s phone went off and he answered it. “Yeah? Got it. We’ll move.” He clicked it off and looked straight at me. “That was Ariadne. We gotta get back.”

“Back?” I felt dazed, like I’d woken from some perverse dream where the world had flipped upside down.

“Back to the Agency,” Reed said, still smiling. “The press are here, and we’re supposed to control your exposure. Or at least that’s the official order from both the Executive Branch and Senator Foreman. There’s going to be a press briefing at some point soon, and they don’t want you talking before they have a chance to control the spin.” He kind of rolled his eyes. “Or something like that. Politics, you know.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I really don’t.”

“Come on, Sienna,” Kat said, urging me across the room. “The press is here. They’re congregating. If we don’t leave now, we’re going to have a hell of a time getting away.”

“Okay,” I said, and like I was still living in that dream of an upside-down world, I threaded my way around the giant hole in my living room floor to make my way toward the door.

“You look good,” Scott said, smiling at me as I reached him.

“Thanks,” I said, and smiled back. “I feel good.”