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Megan had spoken with Paul on the phone a few days ago about getting together to chat.  He made a point of letting her know he was in town, and they made arrangements to have coffee after school.

Megan made her way into the coffee shop that she had arranged to meet Paul at, looking around for him once inside.

Paul could blend into a crowd pretty well, and it was a few moments before Megan actually spotted him reading at a corner table.

Megan makes her way to where Paul was sitting, coming to a halt as she greeted him.  “Good afternoon Mr. Patillio.  Thank you for making some time to meet with me.”  She said before sitting down across from him.

“Have you talked with Ms. Bauer recently?  I have heard from the girl, it sounds like things will be working out for her.  Thank you for helping arrange that.”

"I was happy to help, and please don't call me Mr. Pattillio.  Paul is fine."  He waves the waitress over, "So, you wanted to talk.  What's on your mind?"

“Okay, Paul.”  Megan replied with a smile.  Giving the waitress her order, she waited until she was gone as she focused back on Paul.  “Yeah, I guess I felt I should thank you in person when you were next in town, particularly as you helped out and did not bring that up to my parents.  Which by the way, you don’t have to worry about anymore.  I told mom Saturday night and my dad Sunday.”

She stopped a moment and looked over at him, thinking about her phone call with him on Saturday and then back to their meeting at the dinner.  “On the phone, you said something made sense.  Where you able to tell there was something….‘different’ about me when we met?”  She thought about how Greg had figured out who she was, and now apparently Paul.   How many others might figure her out because of things she might not be able to control in relation to her powers.

"That's great."


"Ah, no."  he seems a little confused, "You told your mom on Saturday, what was her reaction?"

Megan stopped a moment and then realized she was not making the best sense.  “I mean, when I told you that I was calling you because you knew Jack and you seemed surprised that I knew Jack, then you laughed and something just made sense.  I did not really tell my parents about helping that girl, more about…the reason I am one of Jack’s students.”

Paul takes a sip of coffee.  "It's a little complicated, and I'm not sure it's my place to go into it.  I'll map it for you though, and you can follow it if you like."  He takes another sip of coffee.  "You're one of Jack's students because your special.  When you called, the reason I said somthing made sense was because of your mother.  So, you might want to talk to her about that and let her clarify it for you."

Megan looked at Paul a moment, very stunned at what he was implying.  She might have been less stunned if he had confirmed that her silly belief that they had been having an affair had really been true after all.  Part of her wanted to demand to know more, but she knew he wouldn’t tell her, he had liked said more than he should have anyway. 

Looking down at her coffee, she replied, “I guess I will.  As to your earlier question about Saturday night, she had seemed really shocked when I told her, but I thought that was just because of all the craziness that had happened just before I had.”  She looked up and quickly added, “I had helped lay a trap for someone who was using his powers for personal gain, by selling pictures of girls at my school undressing.”

“Anyway,” she made herself continue, “she acted like it was all good, but something did not seem quite right when she spoke.”

"Well, I can't imagine a reason she'd be unhappy about it, but there are a lot of years between us.  We went in very different directions."

Megan sighed, he was still not giving much in the way of details, but the message seemed pretty clear.  “And here I thought that this was all because of my accident at Lawson Labs, you know, what my mom had been talking about getting a friend of yours to do the medical examinations for in relation to the settlement?”

"Ah, you may have gotten the wrong idea.  See, that's why you need to talk to your mom.  I'm only going to muddy the waters here.  Speaking of which, doctors that is, you wouldn't happen to know John Elliott would you?"

Megan chuckled slightly.  “Yeah, I guess I do, I really don’t want to put you in a spot.  I know what it is like.”  When he asked her about John, Megan could not help but have a sly smile.  “Yes, he just started at Oak Park last week and we have been dating.  Your not the person he called about...another common friend of ours are you?”

"No, not exactly.  The doctor we were talking about is a friend of mine.  He mentioned that John had called him, he thought you guys might know each other.  He's not really up on the number of paranormals that have cropped up out here."

Megan was quite for a moment, then asked, “is he the one that would be providing my medical examination as well?”  She could not figure out how else this doctor might know her.  “But it really seems like the convergence of improbability is constantly building upon itself.”

"Well, that's why they call it the convergence of improbability.  You might say it's related to the similarity of events.  High school, teenagers with powers in abundance, so the objects drawn to that improbability are objects that also shared those traits.  Scott and I were part of something similar when we were in high school.  People all around us with powers, some of our friends started a super hero group, we helped out.  I've spent a long time studying the convergence theory."

Megan chuckled slightly.  “There are two guys that are doing something similar for the group I know that has powers.  One of them is interested in becoming a director someday, I told him I expect some hefty royalty rights if he makes a movie out of this.”

"Well, it's a good ting to have friends that you can trust with the secret.  It's a big thing, and it can wear on you if you carry it around alone."

“Yeah.”  Megan replied.  “I was, for awhile.  The night we met at that dinner I was still dealing with all that alone.  And there was a little girl out there that needed my help and some people that were framing me for crimes.  It was a lot to have to deal with and still go through all the everyday motions of school and family responsibilities.” 

"Yeah, just remember that if you ever need anyone to talk to, you have my number.  I'm not the best mentor, but I'm a good listener."

“Thanks..Paul.”  Megan said with a smile, almost calling him Mr. Patillio again.  “But don’t worry, I don’t think I will impose too much.  I have John to talk with, and my other friends, not to mention my mom and dad now as well.  But you never know.”

“So, what’s new in the world of quantum physics research and development?”  Megan asked with a grin.

Paul looked at her and smiled, "Nothing that would really interest you.  Unless you've been seeing your twin sister around lately."

“Nope, but it’s not uncommon these days for the world to seem to be sooo slow to me.”  Megan replied.  “That can have advantages, like getting homework done in less time and,” she paused a moment, recalling the other day in the library with John and the couple of minutes that had seemed more like twenty, “other things.  But it can also get to be frustrating.”

"There are certainly advantages to having gifts like that.  As well as problems."

“Yeah, but seeing as I have only been dealing with this for about two months, it is still pretty new.  Maybe as I get more used to it, it won’t be so bad.”  She paused a moment and add, “but then, I have been getting faster at things, and things have been seeming slower.  If that keeps up, it could just be a continual need to readjust.”

Looking back at Paul, she gives him a bright smile as she says, “well, I am sure you have lots of other things you need to be doing while your in town.  I wouldn’t want to keep you from those more important things.”

"Okay.  I'll be in town for a few days, so if you want to talk you know you can reach me."

Megan smiled.  “Okay, thanks.  Though it won’t have to be this soon, at some point I am sure there will need to be talk about the details of the summer internship though.”  She grinned and added, “though I am sure that is best left to the person in charge of that program.”

"They already have your number, so when they start looking you'll get a call."

Megan smiles and nods.  “Thanks.  And if you ever need anything speed read, I’ll be happy to help.”  Gathering her things, she said goodbye and started on her way home.  As she went, she dialed up John’s number.

"Hey you, what's up?"  John answers brightly.

“Hey yourself.”  Megan replied cheerfully.  “Just thought I would give you a ring as I was having coffee with the head of the Wayne Foundation and your name came up.”

"Wow, Paul is in town, that's cool."

“Yeah, he was who I called to help get Darla some legal counsel.”  Megan replied with a slight smile, the coincidences of things not really surprising her all that much anymore.  “So tell me, have you had any luck finding things you want to do together?  Just keep feeling like I am constantly pushing things at you.  I would love to do something you really want too, even if it’s just cuddling in front of the TV for a bit.”

"Ah, well."  there is a pause, "I like to read, but it's not usually a date thing.  TV on the couch sounds good, or maybe just walks.  I'm pretty easy."

Megan chuckled.  “Well, reading together on a couch would be like watching TV on the couch wouldn’t it?  But when and what you want, just let me know.  Speaking of walks, for Thursday next week, you will want a warm coat, if you even get cold that is, for there will be walking from gallery to gallery.”

"Got it, coat.  Anything else?"

“No, that should be it for now.  I’ll let you get back to studying or helping map the human genome, I am almost home anyway.  Sounds like I might have to talk to my mom about some more things.”

"Ok.  If things go bad you can always come hide over at my place.  Talk to you later."

“Hmm, that sounds tempting to do no matter how it goes.”  Megan said, her smile evident in her voice.  “Talk to you later.”  Hanging up, she was soon home, making her way inside to see if her mom was home or now, looking around for any sigh of whether her brother was as well.

"He's with a girl.  The story he gave me was studying."  Megan's mom says, "But I have the feeling it's not math he's studying."

Megan nodded in understanding, figuring her mom was very likely right, particularly given what Brendan had told her Saturday night.  “Probably not.”  Was her reply as she made her way to where her mom was, setting down her bag.  “I asked John to come along for First Thursday next week.”  She announced and then casually continued by stating, “and just had coffee with Paul.”

"That's nice."  she replies.  When Megan mentions Paul her mother looks at her, "Paul Patillio?"

“Yep.”  Megan replies, then realizing she should be playing games with her mom and further explains.  “I had called him on Saturday as me and the others at school I told dad about needed some help on something.”  She thought a moment and figured she might as well tell her mom all about what had happened Saturday.

“We had tracked down the person responsible for the arsons in town over the last few weeks.  Turns out she was a girl who had….been sexually assaulted by a group of boys at some rave.  She had all this guilt and anger as well as developing superpowers, and one of us was able to help her with some of that.  She wanted to turn herself in, and through a contact we were able to get assurance that the DA was likely to give her a lenient deal, given the circumstances.  But I thought she needed to have some really good legal counsel, just in case.  So I called Paul to help find her a good firm that would take her case pro bono.”

"That was a really good thing honey.  This super hero thing seems to agree with you."

“Yeah, it does, though I didn’t really need my powers that time, just my cellphone.”  Megan replied.  “But Paul said something during that call and said it wasn’t really his place to explain it.  That ‘something’ made sense to him in regard to the night we met him at the dinner and that it had to do with you and when you knew him before.  What is there that you aren’t telling me mom?”

"Well honey, there's probably lots I'm not telling you."  she says with a smile.  "But you talked to Paul, and he told you to talk to me huh?"

Megan made a slight face at the thought of all the possibly sordid details of some things in her mom's past, things like her first night with dad and other similar things.  "Yeah, Paul seemed to hint it had something to do with what I am doing now, but never made it very clear, and admitted he really couldn't."

"Well, that's Paul.  Keeper of secrets."  Megan's mom sets about getting them some tea.  "When I was in high school, I decided I wanted to do something to make the world a better place.  I joined some environmentalist groups and I did work at homeless shelters and all that, but it just didn't seem like enough.  By the time I got to my junior year, I was still looking for something that would be meaningful.  I had read about some teens who were super heroes on the West coast.  That made me realize that was the thing I could do, be a super hero.  To say that I was not a instant success, would be an understatement.  I didn't have any powers, but I was smart and determined.  So I had a costume, of a sort, and some rudimentary tools.  I did okay, but not as well as I wanted.  So, I started training.  Gymnastics, karate, forensics, the whole nine yards.  By the time I went to college I wasn't half bad.  In college I met Paul, who is an inventor, it's just his nature.  I asked him to make me some cool gadgets, and he immediately realized who I was and what I was doing.  He'd helped those kids in Washington state, so he sort of knew the ins and outs.  He helped me a lot.  Eventually I changed schools, and met your father.  I gave all that up though, to do something really important.  Raise a family.  So, when Paul said somthing made sense, he must have meant that you were a hero, just like your mother had been.  Only you actually have super powers."

Megan was quite for a moment, rather stunned (despite her early brushing off the fact John seemed to know Paul as well).  Finally she just smile at her mom.  “That’s amazing, you…your like far braver than I am, doing all that without powers, I was so terrified the first time I went out.”

She stopped a moment and then asked, “but, if things were going well with the stuff Paul gave you, why did you switch schools?  I mean I’m glad you did, otherwise you wouldn’t have met dad after all.”  That made her stop again and have a worried look.  “Does he know?  I mean, I don’t want to accidentally say something with him around that I shouldn’t.”

"Well, brave wasn't what it seemed like at the time."  she replied, pouring them some tea.  "I changed schools because I wanted to change my curriculum.  And, you can't ever mention this to your father.  It's complicated, he knows, but it's really very complicated."

Megan looks at her mom a moment.  “I won’t.”  Then pauses and continues.  “By complicated do you mean ‘part of the deal?”

The look on her moms face was shock, but it was gone a second later.  "I'm not gonna ask where you heard that.  The answer is yes, it has to do with the deal."

Megan nodded slightly, putting her cup of tea down as she came over and hugged her mom tightly.  “You don’t have to explain any more mom, I can tell you don’t really want to.  I know I have told you before, but I will again, I have always looked up too you for the mother and wife you have been and hope one day I will do as well.  Whatever your sacrifices, I can pretty much say two of your children appreciate them, and Donnie probably does as well, it just might be a few more years before he can admit it.”

Letting go of her mom, the blonde teen picked up her tea and took a sip, then looked at the older woman.  “So, what did you call yourself?”

"I didn't actually have a cool name.  The newspaper dubbed me 'The Harpy' because I had long hair apparently.  It was a wig, but it was a really good wig."  she said the last part with a smile.

Megan made a bit of a face.  “The ‘Harpy’?  That doesn’t sound very flattering, but I am sure the wig was cool.”  She smiled then.  “That was one of the parts I thought was best about what I cobbled together for a costume.  It took me a bit to come up with a name myself, but then, I guess it was kind of a bit easier for me, given what I do.”

Stopping a moment, she looked over at her mom as she asked, “so, when you tell me all the things the PTA intelligence network learns, is that really what it is?  Or is it more just what you have been able to learn?”

"I've cultivated them ito my own private little spy network honey.  They're helping me to conquer the education system so my kids can have decent lives."  She smiles, "Ok, so I still milk people for information when I talk to them.  Some habits are hard to shake."

Megan smiled, suddenly realizing why her mom was always such a help to her father during his public outings.  “Well, everyone does that to some degree when they talk to people, even if they don’t mean to.  Some are just better than others or might have a more fixed agenda.” 

Megan zipped over to the dishwasher to put her empty tea cup inside and then back over to her mom to give her another hug.  “Thanks mom, seems I have another reason to look up to you now.”  She said.  “I’m going to head over to John’s for a little bit to study, we have a quiz in the history class we have the same teacher for.  And don’t worry, we will be studying.  Mostly.”

Megan takes her bag upstairs, dropping off some of her books and gathering a few others.  She then gives John a call.

The phone rings a few times before John answers, "Hey.  How did the talk with your mom go?"

Megan smiled at the sound of John’s voice.  “Well, it wasn’t bad, so I don’t need to hide.  But I was wondering if the offer to come over was broader?  We could get ready for the quiz in history, and there is some internet research we could do after that.”

"Sure.  Come on over."

“On my way.”  Megan replies, hanging up and grabbing her stuff.  On her way out the door, she calls out goodbye to her mom and tells her that her phone will be on.  She then starts off towards John’s house, once she is able to duck into a park, she is off at full speed, a blur as she runs to near his house, finding a place she can safely slow down once more and finishes the trip at normal speed.  Coming up to the front door, she half expects him to be waiting there already, having either seen or heard her coming.

The house is an older victorian.  It blends into the surrounding neighborhood well and has a nice yard with elegant and ancient shade trees.  John opens the door a moment after Megan comes up the walk.  "Hey, come on in."  The inside of the house is hardwoods and delicate moulded trim work.  The colors are mostly pastels and the furniture seems to fit the age of the house, except the kitchen which is fairly modern.

Johns parents, Laura and Kalvin, get introduced and seem happy to meet Megan.  afterwards John takes her down to the basement, which has been finished.  One half is utility and laundry and the other half is fitted with desks and computers as well as a couch and TV.  "So, it's a small world, you knowing Paul Patillio and all."  John says as he sits on the couch.

“Hey.”  Megan replied in greeting with a warm smile as she made her way inside, looking appreciatively at the old well kept home.  When John introduces his parents, she is friendly, making all the necessary small talk, and also glad to meet John’s parents as well.

Following John downstairs, she looks around the finished basement and looks over at John with a wide grin as he mentions it being a small world.  “Yeah, that is starting to surprise me less and less.”  She said as she took a seat on the couch near him.  “Is he the person you were mentioning when you talked about knowing people that could upgrade my costume?”

She paused a moment, glanced back at the stairs and then looked back at John.  “Umm, neither of your parents can see through walls or hear a pin drop from three blocks away while in a rock concert can they?”

"The only ppowers my folks have is being able to put up with my powers."  he says with a smile.  "Yeah, Paul and some other people we know.  If you need a costume upgrade they can certainly be counted on to arrange that."

Megan chuckled at John’s description of his parents’ “powers.”  “Well, we should probably talk with Paul soon then, he said he would be in town for a few more days.  I am starting to figure I might as well upgrade if I can.  I’m proud of the costume I put together and all, but its not super durable or anything, particularly if I get my rematch with Spark.”

Pausing for a moment, she looked at the books on the coffee table in front of them and then back to John.  “Since we are kinda on the subject, maybe we should do a bit of the research I was talking about?”

John showed Megan the computer, which was a fiarly nice machine, and got her set up for searching.  "So, what are we looking for anyway?"

Megan began typing things in as fast as she could.  “My mom.”  She replied, as she set the search range for twenty to twenty five years ago, focusing in local Boston news and search terms, “unknown hero”, “mysterious hero”, “the Harpy”.

"Cool."  John said, looking over Megan's shoulder as she worked.

“Yeah, that is what we talked about.”  Megan said as she began looking though the old articles that her search pulled up.  There were a number of them, as her mom had been active for several years.  Once she was dubbed the “Harpy”, there appeared to be several more, including a grainy photo of her jumping from a two-story building onto a moving bus to chase some criminal. 

From the various reports of activity, it seemed she spent a lot of time in the poor and rundown parts of Boston, fighting the drug trade on the streets.  One series of stories that caught her eye was one that was just before she transferred to Princeton and met her father, where she helped the Boston police catch a serial rapist.  For some reason, that story made Megan shudder slightly and think about Darla.  She had not heard anything from Colin lately about what to do about the rapists, something she should probably bring up tomorrow.

She noted that the reports began to slow down and end about the time her mom and dad started seriously dating, and she recalled something her mom had said to her the night she had met Paul and how her and her dad liked to pretend that the things that had happened before they met didn’t really exist.  Clearly her mom’s time spent heroing was part of that. 

She glanced over at John as he looked over her shoulder, finding his presence…exciting.  “That is really how I know Paul, because my mom knew him in college, and he helped her with things.”  She said.  She paused a moment, feeling a real urge to kiss him.  Instead she said.  “Its hard to believe it was just last week that you asked me to coffee after the meet.”  Pausing again, she then added.  “John, how long have you had your superspeed?”

John leans forward and kisses Megan, softly.  Leaning back he smiles, "I've had super speed since "I was about six.  Why?"

Megan closed her eyes for a moment as John kissed her, opening them once more as soon as he leaned back.  She smiled back as she replied, “does the world sometimes seeming to be slow get any easier to deal with?”

"Yeah.  It takes a little while, but you sort of train yourself to live at two speeds.  Your subconscious brain eventually begins to filter sensory input in a way that lets you compensate.  There are some people who never do it entirely, they're usually the onoes with massive speed powers though."  He spins the chair so she's facing him, "Why, you having a little trouble?"

“Not really.  Sometimes things do seem to be really slow, but then I remember feeling like some before I had my powers.”  She chuckled slightly.  “I think I am more worried what might happen if I get faster, whether it might get worse.”  She then stopped and gave John a sly smile.  “But at least you will be around, and not seem too slow.”

The space between the two of them was only a few feet, so it took a fraction of a second for Megan to be out of her chair and sitting on one of John’s legs perpendicular to him.  Turning her shoulders towards him, she leaned in to kiss him softly, her hands on either side of his head, just behind his ears.  After a few moments, she pulled back slightly, opening her eyes to look into his.  “Should we get started on studying some for the quiz?”

"What quiz?"  John says, kissing her again.