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For Slipstream, the weeks following the downfall of the Hounds of Humanity seemed to move at a breakneck speed. First, the Iron Knight himself had practically showed up on her doorstep in Pacific Point with an offer to join the newly minted superhero team that had been formed following the battle in Lost Haven. 

The Guardians.

Though she was new to the whole superhero thing, and she had reservations about her readiness to join such an exclusive club, she reluctantly accepted. She had no way to know what joining this team of elite heroes would mean for her future, but she agreed to join because she thought that maybe being around the likes of Arthur and the others, she might learn a thing or two, and eventually truly earn her place on the squad. 

However, even the excitement her inclusion in this new team wasn’t enough to chase the memories of the horrors that she had seen while battling the Hounds of Humanity. The images of those executed in the killing rooms in the lower levels of the Hounds base just outside of Pacific Point were burnt into her memory. She could still smell the sickly copper smell of the blood that had pooled on the floor, and the faces of the terrified victims locked in cages awaiting their own executions was something that she would never be able to forget, no matter how hard she tried. 

So like she had done before when things got to be too much, she ran. Up and down the California coast she went, stopping little crimes here and there, helping people when she could. She immersed herself in being a hero, trying to keep herself so occupied that the memories of what she saw maybe haunted her a little less. 

But she was still new to this life. She was still raw. Which was probably why the Iron Knight had reached out to her about going to Upstate New York where she could get some training. Arthur had pitched it as “summer camp for supers,” where she would be able to learn combat skills as well as more about her powers, and what they can really do. 

Of course, she agreed. 

Though she couldn’t really spend too much time away from her life in Pacific Point, as she had events to plan and she had been booked to photograph several events in the PacPoint and Los Angeles areas, she did what people in her line of work do...she found a compromise. She would take advantage of her supersonic speed, and go to the farm first thing in the morning, and return home at night. It was almost like commuting to work each day...from three thousand miles away. 

When Slipstream first arrived to the farm, which sat on about ten acres in Upstate New York and was located just off of a little traveled side road, she didn’t know what to expect. The farm itself was full of green fields and had a single story stone house which sat on the property, which was also dotted with various fruit trees. As she made her way to the house, she noticed that there was a wintershed attached to the house, and a greenhouse not far from that. As she made her way toward the house, she saw that there were well tended vegetable gardens around the side of the house, and just as she was thinking about how she wished that there was a place for a vegetable garden at her apartment in Pacific Point, something else made its presence known. 

Making its way around the side of the house was a young goat, no larger than a medium sized dog. When Slipstream made eye contact with the animal, she smiled and waved at the young animal.

“Hi there.” She said suppressing a laugh. 

However, the young goat just cocked its head as it stared at her, and then let out a shriek. 

“BBBBAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” The goat bellowed as it lowered its head and charged her. Taken completely by surprise by the goats sudden advancement, she just stood there, thinking that it would back off. However, the goat did not, in fact, it picked up speed as it raced toward her. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Slipstream said to herself as she sidestepped the rampaging juvenile goat. Undeterred, the goat turned on her, and charged again, only to have Slipstream once again avoid its rush. “Hey, cut that out!” Slipstream said with a laugh as she again avoided the goat’s charge for a third time.

Leanna heard one of her kids agitate, and a girl’s voice, and came around the corner, a chicken under one arm that she had been carrying back to the coop after having escaped. She stood stock still when she saw the clear metahuman outfit. One sharp whistle and a call of “George, stop that,” and the little goat took off around her and back towards the pens. She gave him a boot as he passed. Her violet eyes gave the costume a once over, and she brushed black hair behind an ear with her free hand. 

[color=c71585]“Can I help you with something, Miss…?”[/color] The silent answer for a name hung on the end of a sentence, but Leanna sounded anything but polite. She set the chicken down, eyes never leaving the stranger.

“Slipstream.” She replied awkwardly. “Um...I think this is the right place, Iron Knight sent me for training….god, I’m not sure this is the right place, he said you’d be expecting me. I’m so sorry.” She trailed off as she was about ready to leave the ornery woman before she wore out her welcome. 

[color=c71585]“Oh that asshole,”[/color] Leanna rolled her eyes, put a hand on her hip, and plucked at her clothes. She was wearing overalls and a white tanktop, having planned only to be working all day.

[color=c71585]“He probably meant to call and let me know and then got busy with whatever rich people get busy with. If you’re here for the program, however, you are definitely in the right place. I’ve got a couple of forms I need you to sign, [i]especially[/i] now that you’ve seen me without my costume on at my house, but we’ll get to that in a minute. Come inside. You want tea or coffee? You eaten yet today?”[/color] Without giving the heroine a chance to respond, she turned a heel in her work boots and headed towards the closer back door, kicking a cardboard box she had been emptying out of the way of the second gate around the corner that kept the chickens in the yard.

[color=c71585]“Got both,”[/color] she called behind her as she walked. [color=c71585]“Plus eggs. No bacon, we don’t do that here, can’t stand the stuff, but we’ve got greens, potatoes, and a bit of leftover steak from last night I think.”[/color] Despite the ‘we’, it was clear that she was the only one here by the way she moved. Confident, owning every step she took on her own property, without worrying what another might think.

“Tea, thanks. Coffee makes me jittery.” Slipstream said shyly as her stomach let out a slight growl. “And yeah, I could definitely go for whatever you’ve got.” She finished as she followed the woman into the house.

The inside was, while not messy, also not tidy, as living on a farm required certain concessions to animals. Including the bear of an Irish wolfhound who barrelled up to the newcomer until her owner caught her round the chest and picked her up like she was a feather. [color=c71585]“She’s fine, Smoky, she’s fine.”[/color] The dog got set down again and this time did the shy hello sniifs instead.

The back door had led into the kitchen, floored in echoing hardwood and full of a cozy atmosphere. The smell of fresh coffee hung in the air, put Leanna stepped lightly around a counter and gestured to the little round table with four chair in the dining area as she picked a steel kettle off of her stove and set about filling it with water. Once she had it on, she opened a drawer, fished out a manilla envelope, and slapped it on the table in front of her guest.

[color=c71585]“Most of this,”[/color] she explained as she busied herself fixing a plate for the girl, [color=c71585]“is standard government NDA. you don’t go public with anyone’s identities you may discover due to accident, like earlier, on the farm. You don’t talk about this place even to other heroes without clearance from STRIKE, although now I dunno how you’d get it. Maybe someone at the FBI is handling it now?”[/color] She paused. There had been a tremor in her voice for a second. She sniffed and continued.

[color=c71585]“While here you follow my rules. Anything I say goes. If I say you’re out of line, you get back inside the lines or I kick your ass. Are you a minor?”[/color]

Slipstream listened to the woman go over the rules of the house even as the massive dog Smokey continued to press against her with her nose, making a loud sniffing sound. When Slipstream had agreed to do this, she had no idea what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t this. 

“Of course, I’d never reveal anyone’s secret identity.” She responded to the woman’s first rule. “No, not a minor.” She answered as she looked over the paperwork. 

Government?

STRIKE, or whoever is in charge now that they’ve been wiped out? 

What has she gotten herself into?

Leanna caught the slight hesitation in the girl’s voice and slammed her hand on the counter, accompanied by a string of expletives, then came around and sat down opposite Slipstream.

[color=c71585]“I am sorry, hon, he didn’t tell you a damn thing about this place did he?”[/color] She shook her head, then continued.[color=c71585] “My job here is to train heroes to be heroes. I took a bad hit a while back, but I wanted to at least help out, so I volunteered. The government, notably my former associates at STRIKE, helped me buy this farm and I went back to school for a while, but I’m mostly here to help you become better at your job. Usually I get a couple of heroes here at once, hence the ID protection issue.”[/color]

[color=c71585]“Oh jeez, I got so upset I didn’t even introduce myself. My name’s Leanna Young, but most people in the biz call me Blacklight. I used to run with Icon and Iron Knight and a few others when they were up-and-comers. I’m pretty old, as far as news goes, I guess.”[/color]She held out a hand for a shake, and offered a conciliatory smile.

Slipstream was taken aback by the woman’s sudden change in tone, even as she met the woman’s offer for a handshake. It was true that apparently Iron Knight hadn’t really told her anything about where he was sending her, but she somehow knew that it wasn’t because he had been setting her up, it was most likely due to absent mindedness. Then, when Slipstream had been able to process the woman’s introduction, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

“You’re Blacklight?” She asked, then continued without taking a breath. “You were in Lost Haven when we fought the Hounds...You’re a badass!” she said, her sudden excitement was evidenced by her refusal, or more accurately, her inability to stop shaking her hand. “I’m Amanda, it’s sooo good to meet you.” 

Leanna threw her head back with a throaty laugh. [color=c71585]“Oh, hon, no, I am far from a badass at this point. That was my first action in five years, and if they hadn’t-”[/color] She caught herself.

[color=c71585]“That’s the point here. You see all the famous guys, and how ‘cool’ they are on the media outlets, and you think that it’s all fun and games and looking good. And it is that. Sometimes.”[/color] She stood up, heading back to the kitchen. There was a pause, and then the slap of meat on a skillet and the sudden smell of frying steak.

[color=c71585]“But that’s not all there is. There’s the times where it’s you and the people you may have never met, in the shit. People are screaming, and dying, and there’s nothing you can do yet because you’ve [i]got[/i][ to wait for the right moment. And it tears your heart apart. Or the times where you’ve got to make the decision between the bus or the train because you’ve only got enough time to save one. Those are the times that actually stick with you. Those are the times where you find out that being a hero means not freezing, not panicking, just doing what you can for as many people as you can and living with what happens after. That’s what I’m here to do. Help you deal with what will come later, and make sure you don’t freeze when civilians need you.”[/color]

She slid back around the counter and put a plate on top on the papers in front of Amanda. It was loaded with mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, half a ribeye, and a mound of chopped carrots and mushrooms. She settled back to watch the girl, waited until she had picked up her fork and taken her first mouthful, and then grinned. [color=c71585]“Also, I shouldn’t know your name is Amanda, hon. You’re gonna have to work that one off.”[/color]

Slipstream listened to Leanna speak as she took in her first mouthfull of food. It had been hours since she’d last eaten, and due to her quickened metabolism, she was starving. Everything that the older woman said made sense to her, that there is more to being a hero than going out and doing cool things. There was the guilt that you felt because of the ones you can’t save, it was a guilt that she was more than familiar with. It was a guilt that she felt every single time she looked into the mirror. 

Then Leanna’s last words registered between bites of ribeye.

“Wait, what?”

[color=c71585]“Oh, yes. You slipped up bad and told me your real name. You’ll note that that’s not even required on those forms you’ve still got to fill out.”[/color] Leanna sat back, looking like a cat that had thoroughly trapped her prey and was now just toying with it. [color=c71585]“So, [i]Amanda[/i], what powers make you a heroine?”[/color]

“Oh…” Amanda said as Leanna called her out on her slip up. She hadn’t meant to give Leanna her real name, it just happened once the woman had introduced herself. Maybe she had been caught up by the woman’s sudden hospitality, she wasn’t sure. The only thing she was sure about was that it wouldn’t happen again.

“What powers make me a heroine?” Amanda repeated thoughtfully, then she sat silent for several moments as she thought about her answer. 

Finally she answered.

“I’m not a heroine. I’m just someone who was given this power, this speed...I’m just someone trying to make a difference.” 

The grin spread wider. [color=c71585]“Damn, girl. I was asking what powers you have. So you’re a Speedy Gonzales, then? That explains why you ate a full dinner for breakfast. Alright, young lady, in that case you can help me around the farm today, since you have disturbed my schedule anyway. Fill out your forms, and then I need all the eggs out of the coop, Gwenyth and Shelly milked, and the tomatoes out of the garden and the early peaches out of my peach tree. [i]And before you run off[/i], I need you to know that if any of my animals are hurt, or a single leaf is torn off of my plants, I will run you right up into the upper atmosphere and see how long you can hold your breath before I have to get you back, got it? Any questions about how to do those things?”[/color]

Slipstream sat at the table slack-jawed as Leanna gave her the list of chores that had to be done after she had filled out the proper forms, as well as the repercussions that she’d face if she screwed it up in the least.

“Um...yeah.” She replied as she wolfed down the last of her food. 

“All of it.”