Page 61 of Supernova

“Oh, um, yeah.” Max held up the cage for them to see. “He’s kind of sick right now, but… this is Turbo. He’s a velociraptor. Sort of. Adrian made him.”

“No way,” Sterling murmured. Then—“Jade! You have to see this!”

He chased after his brother. With an awkward chuckle, Max started after him. He hesitated once, turning back to Adrian, a question in his eyes.

“I’ll come visit all the time,” said Adrian. “If you need anything, just get a message to Ruby and she’ll let me know.”

Max nodded. “Are you going to tell them where I am?”

Bythem, Adrian knew, he meant Captain Chromium and the Dread Warden.

“Not immediately,” he admitted. “I figure I’ll clue them in once that quarantine is officially dismantled.”

With a faint smile, Max followed the boys. As he disappeared through a doorway, Adrian heard one of them ask, “Is it true they call you the Bandit? That’s such an awesome alias. If I were a Renegade, my name would be the Silver Snake, and I would have a forked tongue and venomous fangs. And my brother…”

Adrian exhaled, comforted by the boys’ easy prattle. Max hadn’thad many friends, and none his own age. It was normal that he was shy, but something told Adrian the three of them would hit it off just fine.

“Should I be worried about the wrath of the Council for this?”

He winced and faced Mrs. Tucker. “Probably not as much as I should be.”

She squeezed his arm. “It will be fine. Ruby told us all about the quarantine, and the testing to make that… serum thing they’ve been working on.”

“That’s supposed to be top secret.”

She shrugged. “We don’t do secrets in our family. My point is, he’s just a kid. He doesn’t deserve to have all that on his shoulders.”

“My feelings exactly.”

“I’m sure the Captain and the Dread Warden care about him, just like they care about you. They’ll come to understand. And in the meantime, I promise we’ll take good care of him.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Tucker.”

She leaned in and gave him a hug, which Adrian wasn’t expecting. “Go on,” she said. “Go do hero stuff. And tell that daughter of mine that I expect daily phone calls. Just because she’s not living under this roof doesn’t mean she’s not my responsibility, superpowers or otherwise.”

He grinned. “I’ll be sure to pass on the message.”

Adrian hadn’t walked three blocks from the apartments when he received a communication over his wristband. His palms became clammy with dread before he even looked down to see who it was from, and he was right.

Bracing himself, he accepted the call.

“Where is he?” barked Captain Chromium. “Adrian, what have you done?”

“So… you got the note?” said Adrian, trying to keep his tone light. Not wanting his dads to panic and think that Max had been kidnapped out of the hospital by some covert gang of villains, they had left a note for the hospital staff to find, explaining that Max was with his brother and that the Renegades shouldn’t worry about him.

“Yes, we got the note! What’s going on? Where is Max?”

“He’s somewhere safe,” said Adrian. He paused on the sidewalk, leaning up against a light post. “Trust me.”

“Trustyou? What does that even—”

Hugh was cut off, followed by some shuffling on the other side, and then Simon’s voice cut in. “Adrian, we do trust you. And we trust Max. But this is serious. We need to know where he is. You of all people should understand how dangerous it is for him to be alone out in the world.”

“He’s not alone,” said Adrian. “No other prodigies will be at risk, and he’s comfortable and secure, maybe even happy, which is more than we could ever say about putting him back in that quarantine.”

A brief silence followed. Hugh returned, his panic now under better control. “How did you even manage to get him out of the hospital? Did you find the Vitality Charm?”

“No, Dad. But I—” Adrian hesitated and for a moment considered telling them the truth, rather than the story he’d been concocting all day. But no, the time wasn’t right. “I borrowed one of the hazmat suits from HQ and put Max into it. The barrier protected me from his powers long enough to get him to where we needed to go.”

---