Dyiona snored against Pip’s shoulder as she carried her younger sister to her bedroom, flopping her down onto the bed without grace. She shifted, curling in on herself as she grabbed at the blankets around her, but she didn't wake. Thank god she was a heavy sleeper.

  The rest of the siblings made their way to beds under their own power, grateful for Athena’s safe return. She wasn’t even scuffed up, though any wounds were likely fixed before Athena was allowed to return home. It wasn’t great for family morale if the Tower of Unity sent heroes home still wounded. Or good for hero morale, for that matter.

  Pip knew she should head to bed herself, with school in the morning, but instead she made her way back to the center of the house to join Athena and Mai. Mai made herself a cup of tea, and Athena a cup of coffee. Not much for hot drinks, Pip slipped over to the freezer and pulled out a tub of ice cream, filling a mug as quietly as she could. It wasn’t likely they’d stop her, but they might send her to her bedroom to eat it, and she wanted a chance to talk to her mothers before going to sleep.

  “You’re still up?” Athena asked, causing Pip to freeze as she reached for a spoon.

  “Not tired,” Pip said, hoping it was enough defense.

  “Don’t stay up too late,” Athena said before following Mai into the living room. From the kitchen, Pip could see them, sitting together on the loveseat. Mug freezing against her fingers, Pip debated following them and seeing if they’d be able to talk, but Mai began to speak before she could, low enough Pip had to strain to hear.

  She shouldn’t have, but she did.

  “The longer this goes on, the more worried I get,” she said, the top of her head resting against Athena’s muscular shoulder. “You’ve been doing this for so long…”

  Guilt wormed into her stomach as she watched, eavesdropping on her parents. She ought to walk away, or make herself known, but her feet remained rooted as she waited to hear Athena’s response.

  “I’m sorry,” Athena said, her voice low and soft. She ran a hand along the back of Mai’s head, gentle as if she was handling something fragile.

  “I don’t want you to be sorry,” Mai said, turning to Athena as her words grew firm. “I know exactly what I signed up for when I married you. But, you’ve been doing this for twenty years. When is it going to be enough?”

  The chill from Pip’s ice cream mug spread suddenly, washing across her arm and down into her chest, filling her with a sense of dread. Was Mai asking Athena to retire? She couldn’t do that. This was their family’s legacy, something they couldn’t just step away from. The world looked to their family for help.

  Athena took some time to answer. “I can always do good,” she said, choosing the words carefully. “How am I supposed to step back, when I know I can help people?”

  Mai didn’t say anything for a long time, nails tapping quietly against her teacup. “I know,” she finally said. “I’m the selfish one for asking you that.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  She rose so fast Pip had to stumble backward to stay out of sight, ducking behind the counter to watch her mother walk from the room. Still on the couch, Athena stared after her and let out a long, labored sigh.

  Heart pounding in her chest like a thief caught in the night, Pip took a cautious step into the living room. She must not have been quiet enough, because Athena glanced over her shoulder, making eye contact with Pip immediately.

  “You heard that, didn’t you?”

  Pip nodded.

  “Ah. Well.” She motioned a hand over her shoulder. “Come here.”

  “Mum wants you to retire?” Pip asked, walking around and sitting on the couch opposite Athena. She curled up against the arm, resting her mug on top of it.

  “She just gets worried,” Athena said, running her hand across her forehead. “And I have been doing this a long time. Sometimes, I am tired.”

  Pip bit down on her lip, fighting the urge to protest. It wasn’t her decision to make, but she couldn’t imagine her mom ever retiring. And nothing could force her out of the game.

  “What does that mean?” Pip murmured.

  “Oh, just that we should both go to bed,” Athena said. “Why are you still up?”

  “I wanted to talk to you,” she said quietly. She swirled the spoon inside her mug, blending melting ice cream together. “Mum made me go to the L.O.S.E.R.S club today, and I’m going to try and help them. I just… I don’t know how to train people.”

  A smile flickered across Athena’s face. “Your mother is a wise woman.”

  “Do you think you can help me teach them?”

  “Me?” Athena asked. “No. I’ve already got my own gaggle of kids to train up. Quite a task, I’d say.”

  “But I have no idea where to begin. I’ve never tried to teach anyone anything before.”

  “At some point, you have to start teaching,” Athena said. “You’ll learn more through teaching than you will through continuing to study. At least, at the moment.”

  “So you’re not going to give me any tips?” Pip asked.

  “Maybe if you bring me a specific problem,” Athena said. “But I don’t know what kind of supers you’re trying to teach, or what you want to teach them, or what they want to learn.”

  She swallowed the urge to complain with a bite of ice cream, savoring the melted chocolate before speaking. “I think I can live with that.”

  “Good,” Athena said, grinning at her. “Because you didn’t have a choice. This will be good for you, you know. Better than getting your grades up, really. This will give you far more training and perspective than continuing to push your fighting skills. You’re already plenty good at that. You need to learn the ability to understand how people work, especially for when you run your own team.”

  The words made Pip’s heart leap. Athena thought she’d run her own hero team one day.

  “Does that mean I’m ungrounded?” Pip asked, leaning forward hopefully.

  “You’ll have to ask your mother that,” Athena said, the corner’s of her grin sliding into a smirk. “I will not make that decision.”

  Pip deflated onto the couch, though she couldn’t truly be upset. The only thing she wasn’t allowed to do was fight, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t still practice her skills on her own, at least to keep them from deteriorating.

  “What do you plan on doing with your little group of supers?” Athena asked.

  “I don’t know.” Pip let out a sigh. She hadn’t interacted with the group much, but it was clear they had absolutely no idea what they were doing. Perfect, considering Pip also didn’t know what she was doing. “They kind of… suck.”

  A laugh burst out of Athena, deep and hearty and filling Pip with a sense of comfort, washing away the last of her tension from eavesdropping on her parents’ argument. “That’s more common than not.”

  “Does that make your job easier or harder?” Pip asked, taking another bite of liquidy ice cream as she waited for the answer.

  Athena shrugged. “Depends on the person. Plenty of people can do a lot more than they think when pushed. Push your people, then decide if they’re terrible or not.”

  Pip nodded, taking the advice to heart. That was the best thing she could do. Push her people. She just had to figure out how.