The truth was, Kiran was upset with herself. As Will spoke, it began to dawn on her how stupid it had been to try and call Paladin like that. Of course Paladin wouldn't just reveal herself to anyone. There were bad guys out that that her identity had to be kept safe from! A flush of red crossed her face as it became clear she had made an error. Not that she was going to admit that in front of Will, of course. Frustration mingled with self-loathing inside her. She was such garbage sometimes.

But in front of Will all she did was study him after he finished speaking and then snort, “Hmph,” before turning away. She looked at the chart of bus routes and schedules before turning back to Will.

“Right, well since you'll be taking care of me for a bit we better go and pick up a few things. Where were you going? Anywhere they'll miss you?” She pulled out his phone, checking his calendar and emails and texts for any sign of where he was headed. After a while a bus pulled up and Kiran, Will's body in tow, got into the bus.

She held him firmly- or almost firmly- in her power for the entire trip. Keeping someone held in her power was rather like keeping something held in her fist: it wasn't difficult, exactly, but it did require a conscious effort to maintain it. She had the perception of a shape that she held in a mental hand, moving his body by changing the shape with mental pressure. In the mode of perception, his power was another shape on top of the normal human shape, one she could move with the same pressure but that produced results she didn't understand. It scared her, somewhat. She wanted to experiment but had no guide for what using her power on that extra shape might cause.

It was also harder to hold on to than his physical self, as if it was made of goo that slipped through her fingers. Many times throughout the bus ride she realized her control on his power had slipped and given Will free use of it for the past several minutes before she clamped it down firmly again. After the third time of this she gave Will a murderous glance. She didn't like the extra complication that his power provided. But he knows Paladin! A contemplative look came into her eyes. She imagined meeting Paladin, imagined fighting at Paladin's side. Imagined Paladin leading her, teaching her, being there for her. Loving her. The anticipation of the idea almost made her tremble.

(And just for a moment, some part of her wondered if Paladin would think it was so wonderful that Kiran had taken control of her friend like this- but she shut that line of thought down quickly. Paladin wasn't like that. Wasn't like the others. Paladin would understand...)

They arrived at a shopping center, where Kiran took them to the hardware store (buying, with Will's credit card, screws, rope, padlocks, hammer, nails, electric drill, chain) and then to the grocery store (buying, again with Will's credit card, frozen pizzas, frozen cinnamon rolls, pop-tarts, cookies, and assorted other junk food). Her mind through all this was mostly focused on fear. Fear of discovery, feeling the need to make Will move just so so that he looked natural, every second wondering if someone would see something odd in the way the teenage girl led the grown man around the store. She wished that looked more alike. She wasn't sure they could pass as father and daughter under any kind of close examination. She had a vast, nebulous fear of being caught, after which they would- well, she didn't know, except that it would be bad. Every so often she would realize she had let Will's power slip and would grab it again after a burst of anger, then spend the next few minutes berating herself for being so careless. Who knew what he would do if she didn't keep him on a leash?

But in the end nobody seemed to notice anything odd about them. They finished shopping and ended up on the sidewalk, where Kiran used Will's phone to summon an uber. As they stood waiting, she stared up at the sky, her thoughts turning again to Paladin. In her imagination, Paladin ran across rooftops with another figure beside her, a figure whose uniform echoed the blue of Paladin's but set it on a background of black. A new hero, she of the deadly touch, one who called herself... Silencer. Bits of pieces of Silencer's adventures floated before her mind, mostly taken from movies (though she didn't realize it). The part where Silencer and Paladin meet. The part where Paladin gives Silencer Important Life Advice. The part where Silencer saves the city. The part where Paladin praises Silencer. Always coming back to that. The part where Paladin praises Silencer. It loomed large in her mind, a centerpiece, a desperate wish. Praised by Paladin. She was hungry for that. Ravenous for it. She would do anything, anything-

She realized she had let Will's power slip again. Angrily she tamped it back down.

Their uber arrived and took them to the address Kiran had found on Will's driver's license. Inside the apartment, Kiran left Will pinned by the door while she performed a quick inspection before coming back. She locked the door and stood in front of Will with her arms crossed, smiling almost sweetly.

“You're lucky,” she said, pointing to her door. “You have the kind that needs a key to unlock inside and out.” She jangled the keys she had taken in front of him. “Which means I don't need to hold you all the time. You're stuck in here as long as I have these.” She jangled the keys again.

“Now go make me dinner,” she said, dropping on to the couch, and releasing all of her control at once.

Will Chase