Continuously Caffeinated

It’s not like I can help find Hannah myself; Liam must have cast a protection spell on her at some point. Mom wasn’t able to scry her and I wasn’t even able to try. Magical exhaustion is like sleep debt. The more I overdo it, the longer I have to go without to recuperate properly.

Carlie doesn’t know that part but my mother does and she’s taken up pretending to read some spicy fantasy novel one of the other nurses had in their locker partly to keep an eye on me. Considering I was horribly injured and went after Appraisal anyway, I can’t even argue with her. I only know Mom’s pretending because her eyes aren’t moving and she’s turning the pages much slower than her actual reading speed.

I’m not calling her out on it only because she’s ‘reading’ together with Mia who is in turn clearly pretending to read Powerlines, Helicopters, and You: A Guide to Your Municipal Flight License to spite us. I swear there’s a magazine shoved in there. This only happened because Mia insisted that if she couldn’t be outside searching for Hannah with Soaring, she had to be here.

I didn’t let Carlie fight her on that. Mia trusts maybe three people with her safety: Soaring is out with the search party, Elena is catching up on her own sleep debt, and Liam isn’t capable of protecting anyone right now. I volunteered and it was still a hard sell considering I am also technically hospitalized. I told her that between my being the new Major Arcana and Mom being the first Sorciere, she wouldn’t have to worry.

“Major? I found her,” Patrick reports in my ear.

“Where?” I ask, drawing my companions’ attention from their not-reading.

“The same beach where you fought Acquisition. I’m worried; she’s barely acknowledging that I’m here. I don’t think she’s slept since she left.”

“We’ll have support there soon,” Soaring promises from elsewhere in the city. “Can you keep her there until then?”

“I could just bring her back now,” Patrick volunteers.

“No!” I insist. Mia’s feathers rustle at my volume and I mouth ‘Sorry!’ to her.

“No?” Patrick asks.

“We can’t force a connection that isn’t technically there,” I explain “but there’s hope if she’s at that beach. Give her your earpiece.”

“Okay.”

I hear the slight fumbling to get it out of his ear.

“My sister wants to talk to you,” he says, sounding faraway. “Is that okay?”

I don’t hear a response but there’s more fumbling and then, “Hello?”

“Hello Hannah,” I greet. Mia immediately looks up from her book, holding it open but clearly ignoring it. She’s oddly motivated to make sure Liam gets his mom back.

“Hello,” she returns, completely monotone. “Sorry I left so suddenly but it’s not like I had a reason to…it’s not like I was in danger from Appraisal anymore.”

“I’m sorry we lost you in the chaos, Hannah,” I counter. “We should have been there to support you.”

“Why?” she asks, voice breaking. “I was just in the way.”

“You can’t be in the way when protecting you was the point. Besides, you were instrumental in all of this.”

“You’re just saying that so I’ll come back and why would I do that?” she demands. It’s not a dismissal; I can hear that she wants the genuine reason.

“When the Paladin died, I was so distracted by the title of supervillain, by the possibility of what Liam might do if I didn’t find and stop him, by the grief of losing my friend,” I have to pause at that, but I shove it away “that I couldn’t see the actual person underneath it all who needed my help. If you didn’t insist on his name, on his humanity, I wouldn’t have looked twice at the spells he gave me and I wouldn’t have trusted him enough to use one of them. I didn’t expect him to make the sacrifice he did, Hannah, but I believe it’s not too late to fix it.”

“I do,” she quietly replies. “It’s just so surreal. He’s my son but all this—even just calling him that—feels like I’m talking about my old college roommate. I’m sorry that all this is happening to him but it's not exactly my responsibility. Isn’t that horrible? Why doesn’t it feel horrible?”

“If you really believed that, then why are you on the beach where he lost his name?” I ask.

“Is that where I am?” she asks, suddenly sounding more awake than before.

“It is. I think you’re still fighting for him deep down.”

“Can I talk to him?” she asks, with more urgency.

“He hasn’t woken up yet, but I know seeing you when he does will help him,” I encourage.

“What if it doesn’t?” Genuine worry.

“I don’t know,” I admit, “but you haven’t given up yet so I won’t either. I will do whatever I can to help you.”

“Okay,” she relents.

“Okay. Warpspeed will wait with you until we can pick you up.”

“That’s probably for the best. I think his knee is bothering him.”

Oh really. “Tell him to sit down, please.”

“The Major says sit down,” Hannah relays.

I hear an over dramatic “I’m fine!” in the background.

I look over at the eleven year old who has given up on pretending she’s not interested and watching me as intently as any bird of prey. “Mia, can you wake up Elena? She needs to be here for this next part.”

“Okay!” Mia is very quick to abandon her book as she runs from the room, Mom in tow. There’s definitely a magazine in there.

o-o-o

I didn’t want to confess to Hannah over the phone that we thought Elena might already have Liam’s missing middle name based on a talk we had yesterday after we’d all slept off the battle. It seemed like it would be cruel to get Hannah’s hopes up if we’re wrong. Both Elena and Mom agreed with me. Mia fell asleep waiting for them to get back and Carlie put her foot down on waking up the exhausted child for this. She can be mad at us later.

Getting Hannah here was part of the battle. She had to decide on her own to come back and she did. It feels like a good first step though I’m not exactly an expert. Being disowned isn’t usually reversed but it’s not like Hannah chose this. I’m not even sure we can use the term ‘disowned.’

“This is messed up,” Elena declares while we’re waiting in Liam’s room where he’s been asleep ever since my dear sister apparently fireman carried him off an elevator early yesterday morning unconscious but thankfully still alive.

“It’s not ideal,” Mom concedes “but at least we might have a solution.”

“And if we don’t?” she demands a little too loudly. Liam twitches slightly but he pushed himself as hard as I did and I don’t think he has my endurance. I don’t expect him to be awake until at least tomorrow.

“Then we wait for Liam to wake up himself and bully him into telling her,” I decide.

Elena almost snorts into her coffee. “I think I like you, Major.”

“Mina,” I offer.

“Elena,” she returns before clearing her throat “but you, uh, already knew that.” She starts picking at the sleeve of the paper cup until it starts to peel.

Mom hides her disapproval at sharing even part of my name with a yawn but she doesn’t stop me. She stood in for me as a witness to six newly arrived Sages burning my name and many others from the Master of Appraisal’s memory yesterday. I don’t think my life being in the palm of Appraisal’s hand sat well with her. He could have compelled me to walk into the Collection myself at any time and I still don’t understand why he didn’t.

I don’t think it matters now; he’s not going to be saying much to anyone now that ten Sages are done with him. I’m told all of his other legal matters are a formality at this point. There’s just too much evidence this time for there to be a debate.

I didn’t tell the Sages about Liam’s ability possibly being worse than Appraisal’s—and Mom says they never gave Appraisal the chance to speak—but every instinct says telling them would be the wrong decision. I need to talk to him first. I need to know what he wants after all this. Appraisal’s hatred for Liam when telling me about this was obvious. How much of Liam’s apprenticeship to him stuck? How much of the hero Liam wanted to be before all this is still there?

The elevator opens but I don’t think Elena hears it.

 “If bullying it out of him is an option, then why not just do that?” she continues. “We wouldn’t even have to mention that I know it and they can fix things between them. Wouldn’t that be better? It’s going to hurt that some random woman knows the magical name that makes them parent and child and she doesn’t!”

“Was it a random decision that had you trying to cross a beach to fight her knowing that she could do worse than kill you?” Hannah asks from the door and Elena jumps out of her seat. Mom saves her falling coffee cup with an idle wave and it returns to the bedside table.

“No!” Elena answers before clearing her throat again. “No, I was going to tear her head off. I didn’t care about anything else.”

“I saw the videos. It took six people to stop you and you still took a single step despite all of them,” Hannah reminds her. “And you refused to leave his side right up until Warpspeed took him away. I don’t think that makes you a ‘random woman.’ The doctor said it was you and Soaring who made sure I was told Liam’s name. I only wish you’d told me yourself but I understand you were busy.”

“I was going to,” Elena admits. “I almost made it to the door but—”

“You were busy,” Hannah repeats. “You had people to save; that’s what heroes do.”

Elena scoffs but doesn’t argue. “You raised the smartest idiot I have ever met; smart enough to invent a way to evade her and then dumb enough to willingly come back for us knowing Appraisal would not be happy to see him and—not to freak you out—he really wasn’t. I still don’t get it.”

“You were going to tear Acquisition’s head off but Liam’s not allowed to return that sentiment? I don’t know what’s happened in the last four months and I wasn’t allowed to know about this whole other side to my son”—Hannah has to force herself to say the words—"so it’s possible you understand him better than I do. I don’t know anything about the magic or the psychic stuff or anything. He’s a stranger even without all this magical name nonsense.”

That’s not a good sign but I don’t dare move.

“He threatened Appraisal over you,” Elena tells her. “He had absolutely no way of ensuring he would listen but Liam—injured, tired, magically suppressed, terrified—looked at a career supervillain who married an eldritch nightmare on purpose and threatened him in front of all his lieutenants so that he’d leave you alone. Liam and I might have an understanding but it’s you he’s scared to lose. He won’t even use his powers to see what will happen between you because the last time he did something similar, he found out his dad didn’t love him.”

Hannah blinks, looking at Liam who is lying a bit too still on the bed. “That explains a lot. Maybe that’s why he wanted to change his name so badly. When I went back to my maiden name, he begged to change his name to mine. I was unexpectedly happy,” she says that with such reverence, I hold my breath. Liam is also holding his breath where he thinks no one can see. I underestimated him again.

“I want it back,” Hannah decides. “Whatever we have to do, whatever we have to try.”

“Then we’ll give you a moment alone,” I tell her and stand up. “Let this be the last time you have to risk speaking it aloud. Other people learning it could risk him being hurt. Names can be used to curse.”

“And then that’s it? Will I forget it once it’s back where it belongs?” Elena asks.

Hannah takes her hand. “I hope you keep it.”

“But I’m jus—”

“Family,” Hannah decides. “Anyone who would try to fist fight a supervillain for Liam is family. We can decide what that looks like when it’s whole again.”

Mom and I quietly step out of the room. I see Liam watching them through a half-open eye ignoring us completely until the door closes.