19. P O W E R : Family

CHAPTER II

Cameron glanced at Zill, then at Alexis, and then back at Zill. "Who's this?" she asked, gesturing to Alexis.

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks. How are you?" Zill replied sardonically.

Cameron narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh." Zill rolled his eyes and threw an arm around Alexis's shoulders. "Guys, this is my long-lost sister Alexis!" he announced, grinning widely. "Isn't that cool?"

Cameron stared at Zill blankly.

Gustav sighed heavily and muttered something about long-lost sisters under his breath.

Kayla, on the other hand, at least made an effort at hospitality. She walked forward with a rather tired smile and took Alexis's hand in hers. "G'day, luv!" she greeted her sister-in-law. "It's lovely to meet you. M'name's Kayla; I'm Zill's missus."

"Yes, he's told me about you." Alexis smiled back, squeezing Kayla's hand.

"Oh, really?" Kayla looked at Zill suspiciously. "Well, what'd he say?"

"Not much. But he said you have a son, and that he's quite the handful."

Kayla scoffed. "You don't know the half of it."

Alexis laughed before looking at Cameron. "You must be the Avatar," she remarked. "I saw you on the news. You're pretty famous."

"Yeah, well... fame's not worth a lot when you're in the trenches." Cameron shook Alexis's outstretched hand, allowing her organic helmet to recede and reveal her calm, professional expression. "So where'd you come from?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Zill's never mentioned any family. Besides his aunt, anyway."

"I was in Seattle with our mother Maricella," Alexis explained. "We were hiding out."

"Hiding?" Gustav repeated, stepping forward. "From what?"

"That's confidential," Alexis replied in a crisp tone.

"Oh?" Cameron put one hand on her hip. "Well, can you tell us what you're doing here, then?"

"She's gonna help me look for Auntie C," Zill piped up.

"Why?"

Zill and Alexis shared a glance. "That's... also confidential," Alexis responded warily. "Sorry, ma'am, but it's a matter of... ethnic security."

"Ethnic security?" Cameron echoed, her eyebrow rising higher. "What does that mean?"

"We just need to find Auntie C," Zill said quickly, stepping in front of Alexis. "As fast as we can, preferably."

"We've been going as fast as we can," Gustav told him, narrowing his eyes. "You know that."

"You need to go faster," Alexis stated.

"Excuse me?" Gustav snapped, affronted by Alexis's straightforward tone. "You don't get to come into our city and start telling us what we 'need' to do."

"Calm down, Gus," Cameron said, stepping in and putting her shoulder on Gustav's shoulder. "Besides, she's not wrong. We need to find Cierra to keep her from giving the cultists a power boost."

"Not to mention the fact that she was involved in a jailbreak that claimed several lives," Kayla grumbled, crossing her arms.

A flicker of sadness passed across Gustav's face as he remembered what had happened only a few days earlier.