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Leanna swept a hand through her coal black hair and breathed deep to avoid yet another outburst. Today had not exactly been relaxing for her, but she was sure that the kids she had been sent were at [i]least[/i] as frustrated as her, and that was saying something. She tilted her head back and stared at the bright blue, clear sky, trying to figure out a way to say what she had to say to them without screaming about how obtuse they were. As she let her head drop and a groan of misery escape her lips, she passed her gaze over the five kids in front of her.

She had to give them one thing. They were eager. Everyone of them was a volunteer for training after the Hounds debacle. The government, police and military depleted over the conflict from...[i][color=c71585]Oh my God, barely a few weeks ago it was over.[/color][/i]. Anyway, as battered as they were, they put out the call for people to fill the gap she had retired out of. A few years of service helping out law enforcement against massive threats they couldn't deal with, and they'd get pay and a generous retirement package. Blacklight had even testified in front of Congress about her own service and how much she had enjoyed her time in. As a result, and in accordance with her retirement deal, they had sent her these five.

To say they were green was generous. To say they were powerhouses would be laughable. But they loved the idea, loved the thought of helping, and had enough power the government had decided to send them to her. One speedster who could do Mach three, a kid with heat beams, a girl who basically exploded like a bomb but wasn't hurt, an invisible girl, and a boy who looked to be twelve with what she assumed was telekinesis. And she had to train them in teamwork not just with each other, but with anyone they got assigned to work with and the police they would be serving alongside. A task she was, just now, finding, impossible. Alongside that, she still had to keep her animals alive, although making them shovel horseshit had proved an excellent motivating punishment.

One hand wiped her tired face, dragging her skin for a bit. She hadn't bothered with her identity here, though they had to keep their own hidden if they exited her premises for obvious reasons. Getting used to being called “Miss Young” had hurt, though.

[color=c71585]“Okay, Jack, one more time. You've got the suspect in your hands, they've been neutralised, now [i]why[/i] can't you just run them to the stati-”[/color] Her phone rang and she turned away to answer it, trying not to hear the argument that erupted behind her immediately as if they were trying to solve a logic puzzle.

[color=c71585]”This is Leanna Young, go ahead.”[/color]
“Oh, Leanna, hi! It's Fred Averston, from Averston Feedstore?”

[color=c71585]”Oh hey Fred, what can I do for you?”[/color]

“Oh, nothin' much, Miss Young, just makin' sure you still need the full order this month? Only we've been hit hard after everythin' lately and I was hopin' that-”


[color=c71585]”Absolutely, Fred. Whatever else happens, my animals need feeding.”[/color]


“Oh, that's fantastic news, ma'am. I'll have it out there by end of week. Sorry we're runnin' late, the supply chain's a little iffy right now and I just wanted to make sure one of our best customers was taken care of.”

[color=c71585]”No problem Fred, I order extra just in case of that. And don't you worry, I'm not switching stores any time soon.”[/color]

“Well, we appreciate it kindly and fully, ma'am. We'll see you by Friday!”

[color=c71585]”I appreciate it, Fred. I'll see you then.”[/color]

The aging hero sighed as she hung up the call and fought a grin as she listened now to the argument behind her. She remembered her own time as a kid in the biz as if it was yesterday, and it seems like the same problems were just as knotty to the new kids as it had been to them. She wondered if it would be the same years from now when she was too old to do this. 
[color=c71585][i]What am I thinking? I'm too old now.[/i][/color] She might have even continued with that thought, but a bright flare off to the east in the sky caught her attention. She didn't have anything crazy like supervision, so she just watched it with curiosity as it descended through the atmosphere. The conversation behind her quieted down and she heard the invisible girl, Josephine, ask, “What's that?”

[color=c71585]”Probably just a meteorite. They happen a lot more than you think, they're just rare to see this far south.”[/color]

They sat back watching for a few minutes. Leanna's eyebrows furrowed, however, as the flare from its entry died off but she could [i]almost[/i] make out a shadow still over there. Then the flare went [i]backward.[/i] She slapped a hand on the fencepost and spun to her class. All five looked at her confused, but she shook her head at their questions. [color=c71585]”Gear up, guys. Time for a practical.”[/color] And all six of them ran into her farmhouse, them to their lockers, her to her room. It had been too short a time since she had put this on, but she knew only two people who could shove meteors back away from Earth, and [i]both[/i] of them were in Lost Haven, which means it had been bigger than she had thought if she saw it here in New York. Which meant she might actually be [i]needed[/i] again.

As they all assembled in her foyer, she glanced them over. None of them were ready for this sort of thing, and she knew leaving them anywhere without guidance might make them want to help more, which could lead to their own or civilians deaths. But she was suddenly at a loss for what to say. She gulped, then managed to steel her resolve.

[color=c71585]”I can't pretend to know what's about to happen, guys. But I do know that I'm about to leave my home and everyone I care about to go deal with it. And you can't come with.”[/color]
She held up her hand to stave off the protests already beginning.
[color=c71585]”This is bigger than any of us. Remember what I've been drilling in your heads? No glory, no satisfaction beyond a job well done? This is how that works. I'm trusting you with making sure the people around here, with no means of saving themselves should something big happen, are safe. To your young ears, that sounds lame and small, but I tell you right now that if anything happens, no person you save, no matter where, will [i]ever[/i] think your contribution is 'small' or 'worthless'. Every life is a person, and every person is worth saving.”[/color]

She didn't even need to motion them for them to join in on that last sentence, and they had their jaws set and were actually racing ahead of her on the phrase.

[color=c71585]”That said, if you think you can help nearby [i]safely[/i], do so. Jack, you and Stephanie especially might be able to spread out. Don't get isolated, stay in contact, don't be stupid. Stay alive.”[/color] She waited a few baited breaths later and then called out [color=c71585]”Break!”[/color]

All of them streaked out of her front door, geared and ready. As soon as she was high enough, Leanna kicked her speed up as high as she could, her callsign's searing namesake floating in the air behind her for almost a minute as she sped off at just over three hundred miles an hour east for Lost Haven, hoping against all hope she wasn't too late to know what they were fighting against, or that she wouldn't be helping dig more corpses out of rubble.