Josie stepped off the elevator alone. She stood in a foyer. She looked over her


    shoulder. Jack waved at her with a grin on his face.


    The door closed on his expression.


    She frowned as she opened the inner door. She stepped into a round room with a


    round bed on one side. Closet doors stood next to the bed. She opened them,


    frowning at the dresses and shirts hanging on hangers. A box on one side of the closet


    said dirty. A matching box on the other side said clean. She counted three different


    types of shoes and boots on the floor of the closet. She looked at the shirts with the


    back of her hand as a divider. They all had her lightning bolt on them.


    She looked at some of the dresses. They resembled Mary Marvel’s costume. She


    frowned at that.


    Red and gold were okay, but she wasn’t exactly a dress wearing woman.


    She found a giant bathroom opposite the closet. She wondered what a bath would


    look like after all this time. She sniffed the soap and thought it smelled like Irish


    Spring.


    She planned to give the sunken tub a workout when she was done with all of this.


    She walked over to the other door off her bedroom. She found an office with a desk


    and chair. A picture of Captain Marvel hung on the wall beside a picture of Robby


    Reed from his heyday. She had a picture of the night sky beside those two. She


    paused as she watched a cloud gently move at the edge of the scene.


    She wondered if Jack had made window screens to look out of the Hangar despite


    being underground. It seemed like the kind of thing he would do.


    She sat down at her desk. She noted it was the right height for her. She wondered if


    she should get a book reader too. She mentally put it down as convenient but not


    really necessary.


    She smiled at the red and gold walls. Jack had done a good job with this remodel. She


    had thought he would make everything like a hamster warren. She had


    underestimated what he could do.


    She stood. Her eyes fell on a black case on the side of her desk. She opened it, and


    smiled. Jack had transported her guitar from her former quarters.


    Or he had built one from scratch and left it for her.


    She shook her head. She had to get back to the Hole in the Wall so they could reshape


    it for the Queen. This has been a long day and she was ready to get some sleep before


    the morning arrived and she had to get ready to send June home for her fight.


    She needed to go down and get Jack moving. He and Elaine might already be using


    their new bedroom. She hated to cut into their personal time, but she didn’t want


    to waste time when they needed to get the rest of the thing done before they could


    rest.


    She went to the elevator and went down one floor. She found Her Majesty standing


    outside the foyer door. She paused.


    “I think they are arguing,” said the Queen.


    “Really?,” said Josie. “Elaine usually has Jack wrapped around her little finger. I


    wonder what they could be arguing about.”


    She knocked on the door in her best policeman style. She had used it a lot when she


    had to get the band up and moving. Nothing gets things going faster than police are


    at the door, and they want your drugs.


    The door slid open and Jack blocked her view, while looking over his shoulder.


    “What can I do for you, ladies?,” Jack said.


    “What’s going on?,” asked Josie. She squinted at him as he scratched the scar over


    his eye.


    “Elaine is miffed at one of the pictures that showed up,” said Jack. “I was trying


    to explain it isn’t my fault.”


    “Elaine?,” called Josie. “Can we see the picture?”


    “No,” said Elaine. “It is embarrassing.”


    “Then take it upstairs and burn it,” said Josie. She wondered what the picture showed.


    She decided not to indulge her curiosity. “If it is too embarrassing to look at, then


    it is too embarrassing to keep around.”


    “I think that will be good,” said Elaine. “We will never speak of this picture again.”


    “Lois and I didn’t even hear of a picture,” said Josie.


    “I agree wholeheartedly, Elaine,” said the Queen.


    Jack was silent.


    Josie kicked him in the shin out of annoyance. It was a light kick. He jumped and


    rubbed his shin with a hand.


    “Josie’s right,” said Jack. He made a face at her. “Burning it is the right thing to do.”


    “All right,” said Elaine. “Help me fold it up, Jack. I don’t want the girls seeing this.”


    Josie guessed the picture would not be approved by the Comics Code Authority from


    that comment. She felt her eyebrows go up.


    Jack stepped back in the room, and let the door close.


    “What do you think is in the picture?,” said Lois.


    “I have no idea, and I have a feeling that I don’t need to know,” said Josie. “It would


    probably be better for me to have never had the conversation we just had, so I am


    going to do my best to forget it.”


    Josie had several guesses, and she decided to put them out of her mind. If Elaine


    wanted her to know, she would tell her.


    “Let us dispose of this,” said Elaine as she came out of the bedroom. She had a board


    broken in two and folded under her arm. “It is a good thing that we are getting


    married, or we would be having a talk.”


    “Yes, hon,” said Jack. He looked embarrassed.


    Josie had never seen him embarrassed before. She squinted at him. What kind of


    picture had his magic made for them.


    They took the elevator up to the hangar part of the Hangar, and then the steps to the


    open sky. The moon lit the grass and trees around the open hole. Elaine marched to


    a spot away from the training dummies that June had put up. She put the board on the


    ground.


    “Stand back,” said Jack. He turned into the Human Torch and set the boards on fire.


    He let the persona go as the picture went up. He watched as the flames reached for


    the sky.


    “That is good,” said Elaine. She took a deep breath. “It was a touch too much, Jack.”


    “I’m sorry,” said Jack. “You looked beautiful in it.”


    Elaine started to say something, but looked at Josie and Lois standing off to one side.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.She leaned over and whispered in his ear. He smiled.


    “I can’t wait,” said Jack.


    “You still have to work to do, lover boy,” said Josie. “Put out this fire, and let’s go


    about our business. Also why the Mary Marvel dresses?”


    “I have no idea,” said Jack. He called on the Human Torch again. He reached into


    the flame and pulled it into his body. He let the persona go when the fire amidst the


    ashes of a picture were out.


    Josie covered the remains with her Geomancer. Then she ushered them back down


    in the Hangar with her hands. She could feel the new bath calling her to be used.


    “Let’s get the rest of this done,” said Josie. “I’m looking forward to trying out the


    new tub.”


    “So are we,” said Jack. “Not your tub, ours.”


    “Let’s do this,” said Josie. “Did you put the windows in all the rooms downstairs?”


    “Maybe,” said Jack. “The magic did all the heavy lifting.”


    “All right,” said Josie. She made sure the top of the Hangar was closed down. “We


    don’t have a lock for this to keep people out.”


    “The fear ring should keep people away, but maybe it won’t work on everybody,”


    said Jack. “I’ll put a lock in as soon as we’re done with the Hole in the Wall.”


    “We’ll let the girls know about it so they know to lock after themselves if they go


    out,” said Josie.


    “Do you think the city wall can take an extensive change?,” asked Elaine. “I


    remembered thinking no way were there rooms when Jack first showed me the


    apartments.”


    “The magic will buttress things,” said Jack. “You’re right about the place. How


    did the Montrose install their own dungeon there inside an outer wall like that?”


    “They could have openly smuggled women and girls out of the city since the Duke


    and others were in on the trade,” said Josie. “I wonder why they would bother with


    a way station like that. I didn’t ask Snidely about it. I was too angry to worry about


    questions.”


    “It always bothered me that Guin was extorting them for money,” said Jack. “Why


    didn’t the Duke crush him?”


    “Maybe we missed something,” said Josie. “We know Guin didn’t have any other


    dealings with them. Maybe he’s a bigger wheel than we thought.”


    “Or maybe some of the Montrose were doing things that allowed them to be extorted


    by local criminal syndicates so they wouldn’t face problems,” said Jack. “I have no


    problem believing that Guin would have arranged for an accident to happen, and his


    most direct competition was the guy I took out.”


    “You could ask Guin since he is helping you,” said Elaine.


    “It can go on the back burner,” said Josie. “As long as Guin is helping us and not


    hurting too many people, we can let some of his thing slide. I think he knows where


    the line is. And we can’t pull him up, just like we can’t pull up the Exchange. I mean


    we can decimate his whole organization, but do we keep doing that to everybody who


    steps in his shoes?”


    “I have a feeling that he isn’t going to like the King being focused on Hawk Ridge


    for the next few months while we negotiate this princess romance,” said


    Jack. Josie made an irritated noise as Jack grinned at her annoyance.


    “I think our talk with Ropel has exposed more than what we thought was going on,”


    said Lois. “And the meeting with the Duke indicated that the Royal Auditors have


    been suborned.”


    “So more than one duchy has been diverting money from the treasury?,” asked Jack.


    “I think that is what Rickard believes,” said Lois. “I have a feeling that we are going


    to see a huge bubble of corruption that will need to be lanced by the end of this.”


    “The Society will give us quests if it gets too out of control,” said Jack.


    “But not for ordinary corruption,” said Josie. “It has to be something major like a war,


    or a disaster. I think we are changing things with our methodology and quests we


    would have picked up are things we are already doing.”


    “So we might be right about stalling the Shemmarians?,” asked Jack.


    “I like it as an explanation even if it’s wrong,” said Josie.


    They stepped through the gate and back at the Hole in the Wall. Josie took a moment


    to breathe in the air. This was where they had started things. She hated that she had


    been chained to a wall, but she didn’t regret the killing spree she had started her


    campaign with.


    “Let’s change this for Lois,” said Josie. “Then we have to get ready for tomorrow.”


    “Compared to the Hangar, this should be a snap,” said Jack.


    Josie checked her watch. She nodded at it being at full power.


    “Let’s get this show on the road,” said Josie.


    Jack took on his persona, becoming human formulae. She pulled on Zatanna. She had


    gotten so much better with her magic since she had started. Adding the birds to help


    her aim had improved her targeting.


    They sent out their magic to shape things the way they wanted. The office came


    downstairs with the model and archives being copied for use at the Hangar. The stairs


    were moved to the other end of the office before the space was sealed up from the


    rest of the apartment. The space upstairs became two rooms with full beds and


    cabinets. The living room became a small dining room and kitchen. The bathroom


    remained in place next to that.


    The birds made sure everything was cleaned for their guest before they vanished.


    “I think we should look the place over,” said Josie. “If the front door and window


    shutters still work, we can pull them down for protection for the Queen.”


    “We should ask Eric to send over some guards,” said Jack.


    “I got it,” said Josie. She led the way upstairs. She checked both rooms. They were


    in the front with windows facing the city. She didn’t know which way the sun would


    be rising, but if the windows were facing the right way, it would be shining into the


    rooms and lighting up the beds.


    She tapped the window with her fist. She nodded at the sound that came back. She


    thought that they could break through easily enough, but the normal weapons of the


    time would need some effort to break the glass.


    “Bulletproof,” said Jack. He nodded at her expression. “If Caroline is staying here


    on her own, I didn’t want any Joe Schmoe breaking in.”


    “What do you think, Lois?,” asked Josie.


    “I’ve slept in worse places,” said the Queen. “What about these boxes in the closest?”


    “You put your dirty clothes in the dirty box,” said Jack. “You pull your clean clothes


    out of the clean box. It’s my way of getting around doing laundry.”


    Lois’s eyes flickered to the portrait of her and Rickard holding hands, and grave


    expressions.


    “Let me put down security,” said Josie. “They won’t do anything but keep people


    out of the Hole in the Wall, but that should be enough for you to open the gate


    and come back to the Hangar if there is trouble.”


    “Do you think there will be?,” asked Lois.


    “You are under our protection and I would rather be ready for another Brant, than get


    caught off guard,” said Josie. “And if someone did break in now, they are either after


    you, or us. Either way, they will need to be dealt with in the course of things.”


    “How did you decide on exploding heads?,” asked Jack.


    “Put in a doorbell that reaches the Hangar,” said Josie. She shook her head. “The idea


    came up with a talk with Eric.”


    “And?,” said Jack.


    “I was thinking about guided missiles,” said Josie. “Doorbell? I am going to put in


    the security after that is done.”


    “All right,” said Jack. He shook his head. She thought she heard him muttering


    guided missiles under his breath as he went downstairs.


    “Make sure you put a push the button and talk sign on it,” she called after him.


    “Yes, Mom,” he called back.


    “What was the picture, Elaine?,” asked Josie.


    “I will take that secret to my grave,” said Elaine. She made a chagrined face.


    “All right,” said Josie. She put the matter aside. Maybe she could find out from Jack


    later. She checked her watch. “Let’s put down our sentries, and then we can get some


    sleep and get ready to move Caroline in and June and Mister Warner home for the


    time they need to get things done.”


    “What are you thinking?,” asked Elaine.


    “Birds,” said Josie. “Watch birds.”


    She pulled on Zatanna. She inscribed runes at the windows and at various places


    around the office. She put two more at the gate. She let her persona go as the devices


    said they were on watch and ready to go.


    Anyone breaking in would have to deal with their face exploding. It would be loud


    and messy, but as fatal as she could make it.


    “We’re going to head back to the Hangar, Lois,” said Josie. “We’ll pick you up and


    take you to the hospital tomorrow, and you can help us move Caroline, and maybe


    hang out with Case. Like I said, you can stay for June’s send off, or I can send you


    home so you and Rickard can watch things develop from afar.”


    “My presence would be a nuisance, wouldn’t it?,” said Lois. She gave Josie a stern


    look.


    “If you want your daughter to break up with Case, you have to let them work that


    out,” said Josie. “Some people can’t make things work no matter how hard they try.


    That might be the case here. On the other hand, outside pressure might be enough to


    push them together in opposition to what you want. I don’t want a quest to find


    Caroline every time she gets into trouble because she ran away from home and her


    responsibilities. I want to grow this enough that they decide what they want to do, and


    they are off my hands. After that, it will be on them to make it work.”


    “If Case becomes the king?,” said Lois.


    “Then he knows better to cross me on a bad day,” said Josie. “We’re leaving you on


    your own. The kitchen should have food in it if you get hungry again. Please stay out


    of trouble until I can get you back to the capitol.”


    “I do expect some kind of news,” said Lois.


    “I will ask Caroline to write you every night,” said Josie. “She might be able to teach


    the kids some things.”


    “All right,” said Lois. “I would appreciate that.”


    “Remember, if the security goes bad, come down to the gate and step through,” said


    Josie. “The birds will buy you enough time for that. Then Jack will take care of the


    rest.”


    “Doorbell is done,” said Jack. “Even tested it.”


    “Good,” said Josie. “Good night, Your Majesty. We will see you in the morning for


    breakfast. Then we will get started with the day.”


    A letter appeared in the Queen’s hands. She read it silently.


    “Rickard is asking for the armies to be deployed to shut the borders,” said Lois. “He


    is thinking about putting a bounty on these tattooed men.”


    “That will make the adventurers happy,” said Josie.