Second Chances: Stargirl

Chapter 11

Instead of leaving the house for her first day of the new school year, Cindy Burman found herself in the tunnel network that ran beneath the town, into her father, Dragon King's, lair.

"Shouldn't you be at school right now?" her father asked her without turning away from what he was working on.

"I would be if I actually cared about it. Seriously, why do you force me to spend time with those idiots? They're so dull and boring. I want a seat at the table." Cindy said.

"Then don't start complaining. You want a seat at the table, then you earn it by following orders and completing the task that was assigned to you." Dr. Ito said.

"Henry doesn't show any signs of powers. Believe me, if he did I would've told you since I'm sure that would be my ticket out of this cesspool." Cindy said.

"We cannot rule anything out. Continue to play your part or things will become very unpleasant for you." Dr. Ito said.

"Can I at least know what you're working on now?" Cindy asked, since it looked like her father was working on some kind of tracking program.

"None of your concern. Now get to school and do not come back down here again until you have an actual report to give." Dr. Ito said and Cindy took that as her cue before walking out.

"Well?" Dr. Ito asked as he turned to see Dr. King walk out of the shadows.

"She's telling the truth. So far she hasn't observed any sign of my son displaying my abilities." Dr. King said.

"Still, I'm uncertain how much longer we can rely on her. She's already growing impatient." Ito said.

"Well, there are ways to ensure her compliance." Dr. King said.

"That's a last resort. While I have no qualms about it, I feel like the side effects of you entering her head could draw attention." Ito said.

"Understood. But we must be prepared for the possibility that she will betray us. Especially when she finds out what we all think of her." Dr. King said.

"She just needs to keep thinking there's a spot on the ISA waiting for her once she completes her mission until Project New America is complete. After that, you can do whatever you want with her head." Dr. Ito said.

"Fair enough. But, how is your current task going?" Dr. King asked.

"Clariss is being particularly difficult to track down, not that it's surprising considering the man can move faster than sound, but he's not making it easy to find him. Though if the reports I'm getting from Central City are correct, he may show himself soon." Ito said.

"What's going on in Central City?" Henry asked.

"A new speedster has been spotted, one that is apparently following in the footsteps of our old foe the Flash. Even took his name. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Clariss decides to challenge him and when he does, we need to be ready to bring him back into the fold." Ito said and Henry nodded.

"Sounds like him." Henry said.

"Go talk to Jordan, see if he can arrange a trip to Central City to keep an eye on things there, so that when Clariss shows up, he's in position to bring him in." Ito said.

"I'll run the idea by him, but remember, he's the one who calls the shots, not the other way around." Henry said.

"Of course." Dr. Ito said as Henry left him to his work.

At the same time this was happening, Pat Dugan was currently setting up the backroom of his machine shop, the Pit Stop, which was where he was doing some maintenance on his robot, which Courtney had affectionately dubbed STRIPE and Pat had to admit, he did like the sound of that.

However, he was distracted from his work when he heard the bell up front signaling that someone was at the front door and when he went up there, he was surprised to find Wendy Tyler, the wife of his deceased friend Rex Tyler, entering the shop.

"Wendy, what a surprise?" Pat said, since he knew that Wendy was friends with Barb, they hadn't interacted much since he and Mike had moved to Blue Valley.

"Hey Pat, sorry to drop by unannounced, but I was hoping that you could hold onto these for me." Wendy said as she handed Pat a box and he was surprised to find that it contained Rex's hourglass and suit.

"Why are you giving me this?" Pat asked.

"Because Barb told me that Courtney knows the truth and I've decided that when Rick gets home from school today, he's going to be your next recruit, but I want you to hold on to his father's stuff, just because I don't think he's ready for the hourglass yet." Wendy said.

"Really?" Pat asked, though didn't necessarily disagree.

"He has a father's temper and until he learns to control it, I don't think it's a good idea for him to have access to superstrength, even if it does last for only an hour." Wendy said.

"Maybe you could give Rick some of Rex's old journals. It might help him connect more to his father." Pat said.

"Not a bad idea." Wendy said.

"Maybe I could also help Rick fix up Rex's car?" Pat asked, since unlike the rest of the JSA, Rex had died in a car crash a few years after the attack, though Pat was pretty sure that the ISA had something to do with Rex's death, but Rex had left Rick his car and Rick had been focused on repairing the car ever since.

"I'd appreciate it." Wendy said, knowing how much that car meant to Rick.

"Great. Why don't you and Rick come by for dinner tonight and we can explain everything then. Especially since we have another houseguest." Pat said.

"Who?" Wendy asked.

"Jefferson's daughter Jen. She has the same powers as him, though maybe a bit more advanced. She's starting school with the rest of the kids today and I'm sure that Courtney and Yolanda will make sure that she fits into the rest of their group, though that shouldn't be a problem since Beth is friendly to everyone and Rick will go along with the rest of them. I think that he and Jen will get along pretty well." Pat said.

"Maybe she'll help Rick finally work up the guts to ask Beth out." Wendy said and Pat chuckled.

"Barb and I have heard all of Courtney's complaints about that topic." Pat said as they continued talking.