Although Thea was eager to learn Wing Chun, there was no time for that today. Even if she was now running her own department, showing up ridiculously late would still look bad.
"Master Shiva… Can I call you 'sister' instead? Calling you 'master' makes you sound old."
The fight between them yesterday had brought them closer. Now that they weren't trading blows, Thea finally noticed how graceful the woman's figure was—powerful yet elegant, nothing like the bulky muscles of men. It was the kind of beauty Thea secretly admired.
Shiva saw right through the girl's attempt to get friendly but didn't mind. "Suit yourself. It's just a title."
"Sis, do you think I can ever get abs like yours?" Thea asked, her fingertip lightly brushing over the woman's smooth, firm stomach. "They're so pretty!"
A strange flicker crossed Lady Shiva's expression; for an instant, even she felt a touch of heat in her chest. But she quickly suppressed it. "Keep training, little girl. You'll get there."
She slipped on her coat and the two of them walked out of the valley side by side, agreeing to meet again tomorrow.
⸻
The previous month, Thea had turned sixteen and finally gotten her driver's license. She hadn't decided what car to buy yet, so for now she just borrowed a Ford from the company fleet.
As she drove down the winding road back toward the repurposed factory that now served as her software division, she couldn't help noticing how noisy everything was—traffic, horns, people shouting. No wonder Lady Shiva hides in the mountains all the time, she thought. This city's chaos completely drowns out perception. Maybe I should invent a decibel-filter headset someday.
The Ford rolled through the factory gates, and from a distance she saw a red blur waving excitedly.
"Hey, Thea! Over here!"
"What's up, Felicity?"
"Good news! The facial-recognition software is finally done!"
Thea blinked. Felicity had been grumbling for days. Writing cutting-edge software was thrilling; downgrading it into a 'simplified public-use version' was mind-numbing. Now that she'd finished, she looked positively radiant.
"That's good news for you," Thea yawned, "not for me. I'm exhausted and starving. Grab me a Big Belly Burger, will you? We'll talk after I've had a nap."
Between coordinating with the police, contacting the press, and setting up the presentation, Thea had run herself ragged. She waved Felicity off, locked the office door, collapsed onto the sofa, and was out cold within seconds.
⸻
When she woke, sunlight was streaming through the blinds. She stretched lazily, feeling the rare bliss of doing absolutely nothing while everyone else in the world scrambled around. After a quick rinse and a few bites of the cold burger—no soda; perfect abs didn't tolerate sugar—she dragged Felicity along and drove straight to the police station.
Why go at lunchtime? Simple: catch them when they were hungry. A free meal and a little small talk worked wonders for building relationships—one of those lessons she'd carried over from her previous life.
Sure enough, Detective Lance was waiting on his lunchbox when they arrived. Before he could open it, Thea cheerfully swept the entire department out for a proper meal—on Queen Consolidated's tab, of course. She wasn't worried about whether the afternoon patrols would suffer; diplomacy required sacrifices.
Over lunch, she pitched her idea for a Special Police Support Fund: active officers could receive a monthly stipend based on years of service. Everyone praised fallen heroes, she said, but living officers were the ones who really needed help.
It struck a chord. The American police force had its flaws—corruption, discrimination—but with guns everywhere, theirs was one of the world's most dangerous jobs. Many went to work smiling in the morning and came home in a body bag at night. Those who stayed on the force were often driven by sheer conviction, especially in a world crawling with aliens and metahumans.
Lance, twenty years on the job, had seen idealistic rookies turn into the very criminals they once hunted. He lacked the authority to change much, but Thea's initiative touched him deeply. Whatever her motives, she was actually doing something good.
By the end of the meeting, they were on excellent terms. Maybe not ready to swear brotherhood, but let's just say if Thea ever got pulled over for speeding in Star City, no officer would dare hand her a ticket.
⸻
Back at the station, Felicity joined forces with the tech division to install the facial-recognition program. Within ten minutes, the cross-matching algorithm identified two long-wanted fugitives. Despite plastic surgery and disguises, their bone structure and body movements gave them away.
Their arrest caused a sensation throughout the precinct. Normally, tracking a fugitive like that would take weeks. Even the elusive lieutenant—rarely seen except on paperwork—popped out of his office to heap praise on Queen Consolidated. This, he declared, was the very model of police–civilian cooperation. A formal signing ceremony would be held; the police would notify their superiors, and the company could handle the media.
⸻
Leaving the station, Thea turned to Felicity. "You know anyone in the press?"
Felicity scratched her head. "Not personally. I've hacked their systems plenty—changed speech scripts, blacked out a few live streams—but I've never actually met them."
When she realized Thea intended to meet journalists in person, Felicity blanched. "You go ahead! I'll… stay invisible." Then she bolted before Thea could argue.
Abandoned by her so-called comrade, Thea sighed. Asking her mother or Malcolm for help would be easy, but it felt like overkill. Using their influence for a PR event was like swatting a fly with a rocket launcher.
Flipping through her contacts, she realized how few people she actually knew. After some hesitation, she called Tommy.
She wasn't sure whether Malcolm had told him the truth about her parentage. Were they still just friends—or half-siblings? Either way, she didn't want to cause him trouble.
Usually Tommy answered instantly, but this time an hour passed before he appeared—wearing sunglasses and leaning on a cane, looking for all the world like Daredevil without the mask.