The Original

“Very few people ever tried to emulate Batman in real life, with so-called ‘sidekicks’ being young teens. Empire Girl was an exception, being sixteen when she started working with her father.”

“In most cases, heroes formed teams of friends and allies. The few cases of true Sidekicks were almost always also employees of the lead hero in question, such as a bodyguard, driver, or in one notable occasion a nurse. Even then, the relationship either slowly became a team up of friends or eventually fell apart when the professional relationship outside of hero work fell apart. Oddly, it was more often the former than the later.

“Strange how fighting lunatics bent on blowing up the Statue of Liberty or some other bone headed plot can lead people into lifelong friendships.”

The woman smiled “It was not in the larger account outlays, but your family vacation house in Gibraltar is not only intact but recently updated. It was remodeled by your brother, who then used it as an investment property, and when it came to your ownership we continued this. The last update was in 2019 and it is now operating as an Airbnb along with a few other properties he purchased in the area. It’s not currently inhabited, and we have put a hold on rentals in case you decide you wish to visit it.”

Solaris nodded. “Go ahead and resume renting. It may take me a while to tour those properties. Now regarding physical property I had several storage units under long term rental. Please tell me those were secured, I had my scrapbooks and baseball memorabilia in them.”

"It was made certain that those units were either maintained, or the items were moved to new facilities if needed. To my knowledge all your storage units should still contain what you anticipate, baring of course unknown events, damage, or theft. Sadly we don’t really have complete information on what should be where. We also know you have multiple vehicles in storage as well."

“Thank the lord. I should go through those before I head to England. I should take the scrapbooks to the manor. But where to go with my baseball things? I don’t have a US home right now. I know it’s silly to spend money keeping all that stuff, but I loved going to the games and meeting the players.”

"Wait, you have world war and after world war era memorabilia?" Michelle said, leaning forward. "I mean, Yankees stuff?”

"I'll find someone to do an assessment so we can arrange the proper insurance. We didn't know what was in the lockers." William said his fingers racing over his keyboard.

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at the reactions “Mostly Yankees, they were my team but over the course of the war, and often after, I did my best to see a home game for each of the teams, when they weren’t playing the Yankees. I was such a fool for the game I also hit the Negro league games. Lords they could hit a ball. The Guardians teased me for my very American taste in sports. You really think we need to have my collection assessed?

"Do you have a Mickey Mantel?” Michelle asked, her eyes wide.

“Yes several, and I had several boxes of cards I purchased that I put in storage till I could go through them. That was the year I was trapped; I was still filling my sets for 52. I want to say I have at least a 43, that was when I first got into the game, and that cheeky bugger pinched my bum.”

"Ignoring the providence, a fifty-two Mantel card recently, in mint and signed condition mind you, for over fifty million dollars."

Solaris’s jaw dropped, the time tossed heroine looking out of sorts as she turned to her assistant. ”Penny… we may be in New York a little longer than planned”

"Passports take weeks anyway. If it helps, most of the cards aren't going to be like that... but for the legends of the game, yeah, memorabilia from that early can get big."

Solaris nodded. Thinking of the bats, balls, cards, programs and hats in the storage unit. “That makes me feel a bit better, for a moment I was worried my weird little hobby was a secret Fort Knox!”

“Not quite Fort Knox but valued heavily by a certain subset of the population. You might consider letting museums display some of the pieces, depending on what you have. Or the stadiums, which have small museums themselves."

“I’m more than happy to let others enjoy the collection. If you want to have some of their curators come look at it, we apparently will need them to assess it.”

"Actually, a question for you, Ms. Summers." The American woman asked. "Are you planning to move entirely to the United Kingdom, or to have a more transitory lifestyle as you had before your disappearance?"

“Probably I’ll stay mobile, with a semi-permanent home somewhere here in the USA and the Manor in England. I want to see how the world has changed and see if I can find people I used to know, and figure out how I fit in this new era.”

The older gentleman spoke. "You might consider finding something here in New York, then. It can take several months to get a passport, even if you pay for expedited delivery. It would also be a good place to go through your memorabilia."

“Maybe,” She laughed, “I’ll probably end up buying a lot of little homes here and there while I find the right place to settle.”

"And New York is a good central point to start.”

"Well for now, We just have a few things to sign, essentially reactivating your accounts." He let her read and sign. "And at this point, we can let you have your day. This packet has my own, as well as my associates, contact numbers if you have any questions or issues."

“Thank you.”

"I live on this side of the pond, William is London based. We thought that would be the optimum for your financial team." Michelle added. “I’m your day to day banking expert, he’s more investment and property.”

"Michelle is based out of Boston, actually, so is East Coast time."

“Excellent, I look forward to working with you both. Are you going to stay in New York for a bit?”

“I will be.” The woman replied. “If you would like to meet tomorrow, I might look into living spaces in the area with your approval."

“I have a shopping appointment at Bergdorfs tomorrow morning but I am free after that. Today I’m going to the phone store and getting pizza. You are welcome to join me for dinner.”

"Oh, Lombardies, I haven’t been in years. I will have to meet you there." She turned to Penny, handing her a card. "Text me, so I can save your number. Then let me know when you are heading over. I'm sure you'll have a few stops before dinner."

She shook hands and saw the bankers out, well now I have my cards and checks. “Were you able to get a car?”

"Yep.”

Not long after the bankers left, two men in Polo shirts for their dealership showed up, looking half like they expected a joke, or to get jumped, then happily accepted the check after a quick call to the bank to confirm the value. Soon they were in the parking garage looking at the new car. "Hyundai Santa Fae hybrid. I sprang for the Calligraphy trim level because I kind of felt like I should to be honest." Penny admitted.

“Wonderful! Shall we go? Solairs asked, tossing Marcus the keys. "And you are driving so we don't have to worry about parking. You come back for us when Penny calls you."

"Sure thing! Man this is sweet... Wow, wireless charging! nice..." He settled in the driver's seat, while Penny opened the rear passenger door out of habit, looking at Solaris to get in.

“Thank you.” She slid in. This is spacious! She said pleased, enjoying plush seats. “Well, the new car smell is the same.” Solaris said, then looked at the front. “My. There are a lot of lights and dials.”

"Just about everything seems to have touch screens these days." Penny admitted. "And links to your phone." She accessed the system, and started NPR, the news discussing random news items. "We're going to the Apple Store, so I'll put it on nav for you, kid."

"Thanks. I've never dared try to go there."

Solaris leaned back and looked at Penny. “So is Marcus out of school? You mentioned he missed the deadline for college?”

"He graduated, near the top of his high school class this year and turned eighteen a month ago." She explained. "We used to live in the same building before the infestation happened.”

"Yeah. By the way, Grandmother wants you to come visit. She says she'll make Pho."

Solaris remembered Penny saying her building had gotten condemned., “Do you have a job?” she asked Marcus.”

"I did, I was working at a bodega for over a year, but some asshat with a shotgun decided to rob the owner and shot him a couple of months back. I was there, he shot me too. Guess when I found out I had powers." He muttered. "The dude ran, and I managed to try and stop Mr Suvichi’s bleeding. Lucky for me Penny Dreadful back there wandered in, found my glowing ass trying to save the old man."

"He made it, but he closed up the shop and moved in with his daughter. He was pushing seventy and she'd been asking him to for years. Hell of a way to decide it was time."

“That is terrible, I’m glad to hear your boss made it. Penny, what do you think of hiring Marcus to drive while we are in the city? That way we won’t need to worry about the car.”

"Means you have someone handy to run errands and such even if I'm not around." She mused.

"So basically, I get to be your own personal Uber. I could roll with that. And she's right, I'm good at errands, and maybe you can help me with the whole hero and future thing." His tone of voice grew progressively softer, a young man admitting he wanted help from an older, wiser person.

“Of course, that is why I was making the offer, that and you are Penny’s friend. As I said hero’s work with a team and for now you are part of mine.”

"I can roll with that."

"And we'll sign you up for online college, too!" Penny said.

"You hate me, don't you?"

“I’m fine with Trade School as well, mechanics never have to look hard for work.” Solaris said practically.

"Right, right... we'll talk about that later... weren't we going somewhere?" He pulled out of the garage, and into New York traffic, surprisingly calm for a driver in the city. Once again, the amount of glass and cars and people became apparent, though here and there signs of older things, parts from the past, could still be seen.

Solaris watched the city fascinated by the variety of styles. “Looks like hats and gloves have fallen out of vogue.”

"They come and go, but yeah, nothing like you saw back in the day." Penny agreed. "And you might be noticing people are a bit more casually dressed."

“Yes and scantly.” she said, watching a woman whose butt was almost hanging out of her too small shorts with a top that had less fabric than seemed wise.

"Okay, so, that's a skank, and you cannot judge the rest of humanity by them." Penny observed. "I mean, nothing wrong with showing off a bit, but good lord!"

“Indeed!” She agreed. “But in general, the clothing seems more abbreviated.”

"Yeah... you're not wrong."

“Sign of a good economy.” Marcus commented. “Hemlines rise the better it is, and drop the worst. And I learned that from a documentary, before you ask.” The car pulled up in front of an almost painfully white store. "How very austere.” Solaris said after getting out of the car. “It looks almost more like a jewelry store with all the lights.”

"That's not entirely wrong, considering Apple watches." Penny chuckled. "We'll call when we're done. We're going to be getting her set up for a while."

Marcus saluted, and said something about a hamburger before pulling out back into the madness of New York traffic. Figuring they’d be at it for a while he considered how to spend the time. Well, after he turned up the surprisingly kick ass sound system.

Spotting a deli with actual street parking in front of it he cheered and pulled into the spot, or more accurately let the truck pack itself just shaking his head and enjoying not having to do it himself. Climbing out he set the alarm and started walking into the shop.

He frowned, pausing and looking around. Something seemed off to him. Then his eyes caught the movement of a slim girl, a young woman his age moving through the crowd on the street, towards the outdoor seating for a bar and grill a half a block away. Recognizing her, he started to follow, struggling to keep his eyes on her in the crowded sidewalk.

To be fair, he knew he’d have trouble if they were the only two people around.

He got close just as her hand snaked out, reaching for an old ladies purse as the woman was showing her friend a picture on a cell phone. Before she could touch the designer leather, Marcus’s hand snatched out and caught her wrist, pulling her back and away.

“Who the fuck!”

“Hi there Z, your mom was wondering when you were going to get home. Something about not seeing you for a month or two.” Marcus snapped, pulling her further away from the table. “Do you want to get popped again?”

Smirking, she leaned forward, opening her mouth as if to answer, moments before driving her knee into his groin, causing him to gasp in pain and let her go.

“Back off, Marc.” She snapped, dashing off, grabbing a handful of cash from a waitress who had just settled a bill as she passed, almost knocking her down.

“God damn it.” He muttered, taking off after her.

Running, she was a lot easier to keep track off, though she wormed her way through the crowd easily. Unlike her eel like movements, he had to stagger, and dodge through the crowd, apologizing to people as he bumped into them, before turning to follow her down an alley.

Cursing, he looked around, trying to find her. “Zoya, come out, damn it. This is stupid!”

“What’s stupid is why everyone else in the world ignores me, but you just can’t help but notice.” The girl said, stepping from behind a dumpster where she’d been hiding. “What the hell is with you.”

“Z, I’m not sure what you think you’re doing. Stealing from people? In public? Didn’t you learn anything in Juvie?”

“Yeah, picking locks and how to kick the shit out of some bitch who stole my ramen.” She picked up a bottle and hurled it at his head, stepping back in surprise when he started to glow blue, the bottle shattering against his forcefield.

“I learned some new stuff too.” Marcus said. “Now calm down, and come on. Your mom would love to see you, and I can help you out too. This stealing and running, you don’t have to do this anymore. He’s gone.”

“Yeah, and so am I. Leave me alone, Marcus.” She stepped back, and it was as though the shadows swallowed the girl, and then she was gone.

“Well fuck. That’s new.”