His hands were burning from heat.
“Mom! Danny!”
***
Malcolm sat up, awaking from the dream. He was in an unfamiliar bed, and it took him a couple of seconds to think of the last thing he could remember.
I took a blast from that demon head on…
The door opened, and Tapestry stepped through it, dressed in a t-shirt and sweat pants. She smiled at him when she saw that he was awake, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“Good afternoon,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
“To be honest…” he said. “Like I got my ass kicked.”
“You got it burned off, actually,” said Tapestry. “I thought you were dead, at first. When I realized that you weren’t… well, I barely managed to pull you back to the car.”
“How long was I out for?”
“Just the night and the morning,” said Tapestry. “It’s a little past noon.”
Malcolm groaned and leaned his head back on the pillow. He lifted the sheets up and realized that he was naked underneath. Tapestry seemed to sense his next question.
“Your clothes were burned off,” she said. “Good thing you left your phone in the car.”
“Jeez,” muttered Malcolm. He noticed that, somewhat surprisingly, he still had his stabilizer on his wrist, though it looked like it had been in the oven on broil for a couple of hours.
“Malcolm,” said Tapestry. “I need an explanation. I know you’re not a regenerator. The test we gave you at HQ when we first picked you up would have shown it.”
There’s no point in lying to her. And… I think I can trust Tapestry.
Malcolm chewed his lower lip. He slowly sat up in the bed again, letting the sheets slide down to his lap, making eye contact with Tapestry.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you when I first discovered it. I was just paranoid about how you, or more specifically, the Champion Authority, might react.”
“Tell me.” Tapestry sat down on the bed next to him and set a warm hand on his leg through sheets.
“I can absorb, or copy, the powers of other champions,” said Malcolm. “I’m not sure how I do it. I never really mean to. It happened at the school, too. That’s how my cheek healed so quickly.”
“Power mimicry,” muttered Tapestry. She looked worried, and closed her eyes for a couple of seconds.
“What’s wrong?” asked Malcolm.
“It’s considered to be an uncontrolled power, Malcolm,” she said.
He nodded, remembering how Rose had explained it to him.
“That’s bad?” he asked.
“It means that if I told Multi and the others about it, well, I’m not sure you’d be able to stay in Vanderbrook,” said Tapestry. “They’d probably take you somewhere, for study or… confinement.”
“That doesn’t sound like much fun,” said Malcolm.
Tapestry rolled her eyes at him.
“No, Malcolm, it wouldn’t be much fun,” she said. “You need to be more careful with it. Be very aware of what you’re doing with your hands all the time. And if you do steal someone’s power, for the love of god, don’t use it openly.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to,” said Malcolm. “It just kind of happened. And regeneration is pretty nifty to have when you’re taking a fireball to the face.”
Tapestry smiled at him. She was still sitting on the bed, and the moment seemed to drag on, both of them just looking at each other. She was sitting on the bed, and he was naked under the sheets…
And then the door burst open, and Melanie charged into the room. Her eyes were red, as though she’d spent some time crying late into the night. Her gaze locked onto Malcolm, and she ran toward him, jumping onto the bed and giving him a tight hug.
“Oh Malcolm, I was so worried!” she said, rapid fire. “You saved Aubrey! And the condition you were in… I thought you were going to die! I couldn’t live with myself knowing that you died saving someone I love. I know how selfless you are, it was the same at the school! You don’t ever think of yourself, only others, and that’s what makes you so amazing!”
“Hi… Melanie,” said Malcolm.
She let up on the hug, pulling back a few inches, and put her hands on Malcolm’s shoulders. With the same speed that she usually unleashed torrents of words, she kissed him once on each cheek, and then full on the lips.
“Melanie!” snapped Tapestry.
The kiss went on for a long time. Melanie flashed a coy smile as she pulled back, caressing his cheek with one hand.
“I owe you more than just that,” she said. “Malcolm.”
“Young lady!” Tapestry stood up and literally shooed her out of the room. “That’s quite enough!”
Malcolm was laughing as she shut the door, as amused by their antics as he was pleased by the kiss. Tapestry shook her head and walked back over, sitting down in a spot even closer to him on the bed.
“My great granddaughter can be so irritating, sometimes,” said Tapestry. “She… has a crush on you, Malcolm.”
Tapestry looked as though just saying the words was enough to make her seethe. Malcolm shrugged.
“Is that a problem?” He met her eye as he asked the question, and the words brought tension into the room.
He expected Tapestry to shut him down immediately, the same way she always did every time he invited her up into his apartment. Her face was so earnest, so young, but there was a weight to the look in her eyes that was almost too much to handle. Curiously, she was also blushing a little.
“I guess that’s up to you,” she said.
Why does Tapestry have to be so confusing?
“Anyway, we need to get moving soon,” she continued. “I have some clothes you can wear. They’re my late husband’s, so they’re a little out of date, but I’ve kept them in good condition over the years.”
Malcolm nodded, her words reminding him of the real age gap between them.
“Right,” he said.
Tapestry didn’t move from where she was on the bed. She was staring at him. Malcolm shifted a little, letting the sheets fall until they’d almost slid down past his crotch. He leaned in closer to her, close enough to smell a hint of soap and perfume on her skin.
“I… should go get them,” said Tapestry.
“You should.”
Another second or two went by, and Tapestry finally rose from the bed. She disappeared out the door and returned a minute later. She placed the clothes on the ground just within the room, as though she was wary of what could happen if she came in any further.
CHAPTER 31
The clothes Tapestry had given him consisted of socks, tight fitting white briefs, a flannel shirt, and an ancient pair of Levi’s jeans. It wasn’t as bad as what he was expecting, though he did look vaguely outside of time as he examined his reflection in the mirror.
There was already food waiting for him in the kitchen. Tapestry made him take it to go, in sandwich form. Melanie said a quick goodbye to him with a hug, one that turned into a full-on embrace, and lasted long enough for Tapestry to start tapping her foot.
They left Tapestry’s house in the BMW and went straight to HQ. Malcolm’s thoughts turned back to the heat demon and how close they’d been to taking a shot at it.
We’d been close, but what could we have done? It’s a true monster, more than we could have handled.
“Let me do the talking,” said Tapestry. “Multi might be a little suspicious about the fact that I didn’t report in last night.”
“You haven’t told him anything about our encounter?” asked Malcolm.
“No.” Tapestry glanced over at him, frowning a little. “If I’d called him, he would have insisted that both of us come in immediately. And your secret would have been blown.”
Malcolm hesitated for a second before nodding, and Tapestry noticed.