Shimmer *The Seattle Superheroes*

Chapter Twenty Seven: What Happens in Nashville

Chapter Twenty Seven: What Happens in Nashville

Seattle; July 13, 2010; 2:53 p.m.

They say time flies when you're having fun. The inverse of this also tends to be true: when you're not having fun, time seems to pause to have its wings checked.

Shimmer was certainly not having fun, and time couldn't have been moving more slowly. She had left Seattle on a Sunday morning, and it was now Tuesday afternoon. It had been almost three days since she had seen Nash, and she felt each minute acutely. Luckily, she had plenty to fill her time with, as crime was in no shortage when you could cross the continent in a blink of the eye. Also, Theodore had been keeping her updated on the goings on in Seattle and continued to assist her when needed. The spare moments between crime fighting were filled with endless reading on the Cult members they had identified, as well as Theodore's lessons on electricity.

Slowly, she was making her way through the major cities in the United States, barging into police stations and demanding information on the kidnappings. She had encountered surprisingly little resistance—at least, after she began throwing around the ISDA's name. Police officers had never taken kindly to Shimmer, but so long as they did as she asked, she wasn't going to complain.

She found herself sitting in an abandoned park sometime after the lunch rush. Not even an hour previous, she had thrown open the door of the Miami Sherriff's office and marched in, face blank. Her efforts were rewarded with a single flash drive and a few jumbled statements from one of the officers. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Miami, Chicago, and Austin all mirrored the events in Seattle. The people who the Cult had taken fit into the same three categories—potential supers, scientists, and enemies of SEEL—and Shimmer was certain she would be able to use their information the same way she had in Seattle to find the local SEEL operatives. Then, she just had to assemble that information into a web and she would have a picture of what the Cult looked like all across the USA.

With every fiber of her being, Shimmer was glad that she still had Theodore. She had no idea how she would have read through all of the information she had gathered on her own. And, if she was honest with herself, it was nice not to be completely alone again. She hadn't realized how dependent she had grown on Nash's company or how difficult it would be to leave. Even her brief phone calls with Theodore were better than nothing. Theodore, of course, had agreed to keep their conversations a secret from the rest of the team, believing that his continued involvement with her would bring trouble.

In addition to keeping Shimmer up to date on the case, Theodore was relaying the status of the team. He played it off as small talk, but he knew that it mattered to Shimmer to know what was happening. Cane had, apparently, taken Shimmer's place on the team as the main investigator. Without her there to chase after leads, Cane and June were working double time, but they seemed to be managing. After his argument with Cane, Nash had spent the rest of the day sitting in the corner of Cups and Couches, waiting for Shimmer to come in. When he returned unsuccessful, he reverted to the aloof state he had been in when he first joined the team. Theodore had hardly seen him.

And so Shimmer found herself, alone in a Miami park, reading police reports. Every few moments, her eyes flicked to her messenger bag where her phone was stashed. Despite herself, she longed to call Theodore, just to have someone to talk to. She longed to call Nash even more, but that was entirely out of the question. Cane had made it clear that she wasn't welcome in Seattle, and the rest of the team hadn't objected. All logic told her to stay away, even if she had to be alone again to do so.

At long last, a faint ringing came from her bag.

The phone was in her hand in a second. "Theodore," she said in greeting.