Waiting for a Miracle - Chapter 12

I looked in the mirror, smiling at my reflection. I was getting ready to take Leona to the movies, and she had asked me to dress casual so that she wouldn’t feel silly wearing a cap to cover her ears.

So I had once again chosen the simple yet always effective combination of jeans and a grey sweatshirt, tossing on a baseball cap that matched hers.

We had to put on collars to leave my lab, as reporters were hanging around outside. Vicky had told the press that I’d saved her, and Leona had caught forty-six jets on her own, avoiding a much larger tragedy. Because of her, only twenty-nine jetliners actually crashed, mine not included.

Neither one of us felt like heroes, but we also had no intention of correcting the press. After all, it’s not wise to confess to the deaths of over nine thousand people the day after it happens.

Killing so many innocent people deserves more than a minute of silence, and fittingly neither Leona nor I said a word as we searched for an open movie theater. When we found one, we opted to see a cartoon, finding that we both wanted something simple to numb our minds on.

Halfway through the movie, I looked at Leona shifting uncomfortably around, and I realized that she was sitting on her tail. She had tucked it down the leg of her jeans, and I could tell she was not enjoying herself.

I leaned over to whisper, “Come with me.”

Getting out of my seat, I led her into the men’s bathroom. I opened a stall door and let her enter first, shutting the door behind me.

“Drop your pants,” I said.

Leona arched an eyebrow as her expression became quizzical. “Uh, okay. This is new,” she said as she slid her jeans down.

“Pervert,” I teased as I knelt down and took hold of the seat of her jeans. I tore a hole for her tail and slipped it through, pulling her jeans up slowly as I tugged her tail through the rip.

“Duggan—” Leona began to protest.

“Hush,” I said. “You wanted me to take you out to the movies so you could enjoy yourself. You aren’t having a good time, so we need to do something to fix that.”

I reached up to take off Leona’s cap. Before she could protest, I pried off her prosthetic ears and put them into her hat. “Throw those away.”

“I don’t know about this,” Leona mumbled.

“Well I do. If anyone laughs at you, I’ll beat them up for you, okay?” When Leona gave a short nod, I smiled. “Come on, let’s go get some candy.”

We got in line, and though the other people in front of us looked our way, they never once pointed, laughed, or stared at Leona. This did not help remove the nervous expression on her face.

We got to the counter, and the kid behind the register was still counting money from his last sale. “What can I get you?” He shut the cash drawer, his eyes going wide as he saw Leona.

“Hey, I know you!” he almost shouted.

“Duggan,” Leona muttered, trying to back away.

I held her hand, keeping her by my side. “Really?” I asked the kid.

“I—well I mean I know her,” the kid corrected himself in a more civil tone. “She’s Leona, and she’s all over the news for catching all those planes before they could crash.” The kid looked at me, snapping his fingers. “Come to think of it, you were the one to save Miracle Man’s girlfriend, weren’t you?”

He laughed when I nodded. “Yeah, I thought so. I have the picture from the newspaper of that. Heck I’ve even got a video of Leona catching a police helicopter. Pretty ironic, huh? The super villainess saving the good guys?”

“I suppose so.” I smiled at Leona. “We’re missing our movie, and we’d like to get some popcorn, a box of chocolate covered raisins, and a large pink lemonade.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” The kid turned to fill my order. As he filled the lemonade, he turned to grin at me. “What was Miracle Man’s girlfriend like?”

“Actually, she told me she’s his ex-girlfriend,” I said. “I guess the press missed that.”

Getting excited, the kid asked, “Really? Do you think I could bone her?”

Leona snorted.

“You’ve got a snowball’s chance in hell,” I said.

“Yeah, well not every guy can be as lucky as you.” The kid gestured at Leona as he set our drink and popcorn on the counter.

“Hmmm,” I said.

Leona looked at me as if she expected me to correct the kid. When I didn’t she smiled brightly, even blushing. After we paid for the snacks, I let her slip her hand in mine, and we walked that way back to our seats.

The movie was great, and as we walked out still holding hands, we laughed while talking about our favorite scenes.

We were halfway across the lobby when a girl of no more than five or six ran up to Leona and hugged her leg tightly. I laughed at how cute she looked, because perched atop her curly blonde hair was a pair of fuzzy black cat ears.

I looked from the girl with the novelty beret to my sidekick, my amusement growing when I discovered she was frozen in place. Her eyes wide and her tail stiff in an exclamation point; she looked like any giant cat might when caught in the embrace of a young child.

“Becky, let go of her,” an old woman said from across the lobby as she hobbled up to us on her cane. “I’m so sorry, Miss. She is an affectionate thing, isn’t she?” The old woman grinned when Leona nodded.

“Why is she wearing ears?” Leona asked, sounding unsettled.

“I’m Leona!” the precocious Becky shouted.

Leona blushed, shaking her head at the old woman. “You shouldn’t encourage this. I’m no hero.”

“Becky, go play a video game and stop pestering the  nice lady,” the old woman chided in a gentle voice.

She watched the child sprint away and turned back to Leona. “Becky was flying here to visit me yesterday. She saw you catch her plane, and it’s all she’s been able to talk about all night long.”

The woman laughed, but her expression softened, and then she swallowed thickly. “I know you couldn’t catch all of them, but you caught my granddaughter’s plane. You’re a hero to me, and if she wants to be you for a few days, what’s the harm in a little crush?”

Leona smiled and nodded, her eyes becoming glassy. As we left the theater, she wiped her eyes, uttering a short, almost bitter sounding laugh. “I don’t deserve that.”

I stopped, taking her other hand in mine and making her look at me. “Leona, what you did was heroic, and you did it because you wanted to, not because of these people worshipping you. In a way, you do deserve to be respected.”

“No, I—” she began to protest.

“Hush Leona, and just listen. For once in this city, people aren’t laughing at you.” I paused to smile at her. “Isn’t that what you always wanted?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “This is nice. I don’t mean the recognition. I mean going out with you to do something normal.”

“It is nice,” I said.

We started walking again.

After a block, Leona smirked. “And this weekend, we’re going camping.” Her smile faded as her expression became thoughtful. “Duggan, do you suppose…” She trailed off, shaking her head.

“Go ahead,” I said after several seconds of silence.

“Do you think it’s possible for us to retire? Miracle Man isn’t coming back, and Wallace won’t play the game with us for much longer.”

I shrugged. “Maybe we can retire, but just for a little while, let’s keep playing the game. I like Wallace, and I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent with him.”

“So do I, but I feel like we’ve been straddling a fence. We’re not going to keep Wallace in the game if there’s a real risk involved, and it gets dull for us without that same element of danger. Maybe we should look at this camping trip as a glimpse of what a normal life could be like.”

Leona looked at me with a pleading expression. “To be honest, I’m getting tired of being in plots that involve killing anyone at all.”

“Then you’ll love my next plot to get Miracle Man back,” I said with a hint of sarcasm.

“You won’t do it until after the camping trip?” she said.

“Of course,” I said. “Would you prefer that I not tell you until then?”

Leona considered this for some time. Finally she shrugged. “Well, how about this? You don’t give me any specific details. Instead you can just tell me what it is.”

“A kidnapping. There’s no ransom, no hostage negotiations, and it’s just a simple snatch and grab.”

“And nobody has to die in this plan?” Leona asked hopefully.

“Not a single person. I think Wallace will like it too, but I won’t tell him about this until after our camping trip.”

I stopped at the foot of Leona’s stairs.

Leona glanced up at her apartment, turning to regard me with a hopeful expression. “Would you like to come in? I’d really rather not be alone tonight.”

“No hanky panky?” I teased.

Smiling wider, Leona said, “No more so than usual.”

I went upstairs with her, sitting down on her antique couch as she went to her room.

Leona returned in a short silk kimono robe and lay against me, already purring as she closed her arms around me. Leona settled her head on my shoulder, and the gentle rumbling of her purr put me to sleep in just a few minutes.