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ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING
xix. HAUNTING PASTS

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  THROUGHOUT YOUR TRAINING AS an agent, it is extremely crucial to recognize the fact that one of the most important rules you are taught is to never show your true emotions. If you're facing some kind of terroristic threat, it is dire that you never show your trepidation. If you're pissed off at a team member in the midst of an important mission, you cannot show your anger for the sake of getting the job done. Everything you do, you do for the sake of the success of your mission. There is a time and a place to show your emotions, but the moments between success and failure certainly aren't it.

   There were only so many moments in Riley O'Dair's life where Riley had been so shocked that she couldn't help but show her true feelings.

   While the Academic Decathlon was no exception to this unwritten rule, Riley found that she could just barely keep it together. After all, she may have been highly intelligent, but being asked all kinds of questions one after another surely was a little stressful. Nonetheless, she overall could hardly focus, especially after what she had witnessed the evening before.

   "The Napster copyright dilemma differs from that of earlier technologies because...?"

   Pushing the button, Ned Leeds speedily said, "The internet is more difficult to regulate."

   "The Department of Transportation of a city has concluded that the mean number of accidents per day is 10. The mean number of accidents is an example of what?"

   Riley slammed her hand down on the red button in front of her. "Statistical interference."

   "Which parts of the eye are easily seen by other people?"

   "The cornea, pupil, iris, and sclera," answered Liz.

   Between wondering where on Earth Peter was after being absent from breakfast this morning and last-minute studying for the competition, Riley couldn't stop thinking about the figure that had approached her in her hotel room last night.

With the clap of a pair of hands, the lights flickered on. Standing a few feet away from Riley was a figure. It appeared as a shadow pressed against the hotel wall, but when Riley looked around, she was still alone. But how was it that there was another shadow in the room accompanying her own if she was alone?

"Who are you and what do you want?" demanded Riley, her voice just a bit louder in hopes of showing her dominancy.

Without warning, the shadow pulled itself off of the wall. It stood before the girl in the form of a normal human, reminding the girl of Peter Pan's shadow. A strange, dark aura surrounded the person. Confusion and surprise overcame the teenager.

"Lower your voice," the figure coolly demanded.

Then, he took a step forward, allowing the light from the room to illuminate his figure. Riley's eyes widened. "Oh my God."

The shadowy figure revealed itself to be a man. With skin as olive as Riley's and eyes as brown as Riley's, with ravenous hair like Riley's and very similar facial features like Riley's, it was all too easy to identify this man. It was almost like the picture Riley always carried on her person had jumped out into reality, which shocked her.

The reason as to why Riley was so baffled was because... well...

Rob O'Dair was supposed to be dead.

"What...?" trailed off Riley, eyes wide. Her breathing hitched in her throat as she stared at the man she knew to be her father. "I-I don't understand."

The man flashed a smile at the teenager. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is—"

"Rob O'Dair," interjected Riley. "I know who you are. You're... You're my father. But... you're supposed to be dead."

Rob laughed generously at the girl's confusion. "Perhaps I should explain everything... from the beginning," insisted Rob. "My name is Rob O'Dair. I've been married to Athena O'Dair for 17 years and we've been parents for 15 years. You, Riley Juniper O'Dair, are our first and only child."

Riley stared at the man with narrowed eyes. This... This wasn't actually happening, was it? She held onto every word he was saying as though it was the air she breathed.

"13 years ago when my wife and I were still scientists working for S.H.I.E.L.D—"

"There was an accident," interrupted Riley again, restless and impatient. She didn't care for the backstory, especially one that she already knew. "I know. I was there. I-I caused it."

Rob's smile faded as he slowly nodded. "Yes... Yes, I'm afraid you did," Rob confirmed. "The explosion that came from it killed your mother, and it should have killed me. But, as you can see, I am alive, as are you, mija."

"I'm not stupid. I can see that," impatiently snipped Riley. She folded her arms over her chest. "Just... How exactly are you alive? Because I've spent just about my entire life beating myself up over murdering my parents, but here you are in the flesh."

"I should have died in the explosion. As a matter of fact, I was very close to, but I didn't. Instead, something else happened." Rob held his hand up, embodying a ball of darkness in his hands.

Eyes glistening with curiosity, Riley took a step forward. She observed how the darkness swirled about in his hands obediently. "You're just like me," she whispered. "The explosion gave you powers..."

"I've been keeping tabs on you ever since your mother passed away and I went into hiding to further understand my case. You, my dear Valor, can manipulate ultraviolet rays, yes?" Rob questioned. Riley nodded. "Just like the light in your heart, you embody the sun's rays. I, however, am the mere opposite. I control darkness, forcing it to obey me and only me."

Riley had to take a second to think about it. The father and daughter shared very similar powers. Riley could control the rays that came from the sun, whereas Rob could do incomprehensible things with darkness. He could strip the light from a room, turn himself into a shadow, and even channel darkness into a ball in the palm of his hand.

"But... I can't do... that," she said, nodding toward the ball of darkness in his hands. All she could do was create forcefields and turn invisible.

"But you could," quickly retorted Rob, waving away his ball of darkness. Noticing Riley's confusion, Rob added, "Your so-called Avengers cannot show you what a true father could. I can teach you. I can show you how to reach your fullest potential. Join me, mija."

"Uh-huh, yeah, right. What's the catch?" she demanded.

Rob hummed. "I see that intuition does not escape you. Just like your mother."

"No," fired back Riley, maintaining her composure, "I'm just not an idiot."

Rob sighed. "I'll admit, I didn't just come all the way here to finally reunite with my daughter. I came to ask for your help. You see, a colleague and I have been working together to make the world a better place to live in. You've seen what plagues our world. We only want to help."

Proceeding to walk around the hotel room, he continued, "There's something we lost. It's an... explosive Chitauri energy core that requires radiation to transform it into its explosive state. We have been experimenting with it. If given to the wrong person, terrible, terrible things could happen."

Rob added, "I overheard you earlier speaking to a friend. You said you would do anything to help the people in your... village, as you put it. I know you, Riley. You would do anything for your family. I do hope I'm still considered a part of that family. So what do you say? Will you help me, mija?"

He had a point. He was her father, after all, and she was more than desperate to get to know him after discovering that he was still alive. She looked up at the man for a long moment of silence and consideration at the man's words.

"What do I have to do?"

   Once Rob had confronted Riley, the girl had been stuck in a compete state of shock. She had merely laid in her room for hours upon hours, trying to figure out how any of it made sense. It made sense, right? This was reality, wasn't it? It was like all the built up tension that came from the short interaction had come pouring out of her as soon as Rob left in the form of a shadow.

   Riley had been so shocked that she had tried to call Tony—twice. Both times, he answered, but Riley couldn't bring herself to verbalize what had happened. Instead, she just rambled on and on about things that didn't matter, and nonetheless, Tony listened.

   She knew that he knew something was up, but she couldn't bring herself to say, "Hey, remember my dad that I allegedly murdered 13 years ago? Yeah, he's alive now and wants me to ditch the Avengers!" It just felt too insane to think about. She was just thankful that she had Tony to ramble to. It seemed that he was the man she could always turn to when in doubt or distress.

   Winning the Academic Decathlon managed to alleviate some of the tension weighing down on her shoulders; however, it really didn't do much. Her mind was cluttered, thoughts about Peter and Rob tangling together.

   "You guys, I am so proud of you," gushed Liz as she led the team toward the Washington Monument.

   "I told you guys we didn't need Peter," Flash pointed out.

   Attempting to act normally, Riley chimed in with, "Flash, you were too busy pissing yourself to answer a single question."

  As the others laughed, Riley joined Michelle's side. She was silent as she started up at the Washington Monument. Mr. Harrington asked, "Taking it all in, Michelle?" 

   "Oh, uh, yeah," Michelle answered, pulling her attention toward her teacher. "I just don't want to celebrate something that was built by slaves."

   Mr. Harrington's eyes widened. "I'm sure the Washington Monument wasn't built by—" He glanced over at a security guard whose hand motions convinced him otherwise. "—I see. Well, enjoy your book. Are you coming, Riley?"

   Riley was quick to reply since she had already made up her mind, "No, I have to agree with Michelle." She smiled at her teacher genuinely. "But enjoy the view up there for me!"

   Mr. Harrington nodded and walked off to join the others after explicitly telling them to wait until they returned. Michelle lowered her book. "You didn't have to stay back, you know. I wouldn't hate you for wanting to go up there," she pointed out.

   Riley shook her head. "I'd rather hang out with you than be stuck in a tiny, compact elevator with Flash." She flashed Michelle a smile. "So what are you reading this time?"

   Without hesitation, Michelle began to tell her all about her book, a story about a murder mystery. Riley enjoyed moments like these — the ones where Michelle spoke more than a few sentences at a time. Michelle was timid and calm most of the time, but seeing her genuinely excited and passionate about something warmed Riley's heart.

   Riley's phone vibrating in her pocket caused heer to jump slightly, having been so invested in what Michelle had been talking about. "One sec," she said, taking a step back to answer the phone. "Hello—?"

  "RILEY!" Peter screamed into her ear.

   "Jesus, is that you, Peter?" asked Riley. "I thought you'd be back before the Decathlon! Where have you been?"

  "RILEY, RILEY, NOW IS NOT THE TIME, OKAY? I'LL EXPLAIN LATER!" he continued to shout, causing her to wince. "WHERE'S NED? ARE YOU WITH HIM?"

  "Is that Riley?" a robotic voice faintly asked after Peter stopped speaking.

   "What? No. He's in the Washington Monument with everyone else," Riley answered. "Who is that?"

  "The voice thingy Mr. Stark put in my suit! Karen, stop asking me questions, please!" Peter yelled. "Riley, when you see Ned, tell him the glowy thing is a bomb!"

   "Wait, what!?"

  "K, bye!"

   Peter hung up on Riley, leaving her in a state of utter bafflement. What the hell just happened?

   Why did Peter and Ned have a bomb? Countless questions were racing through her head, but all of them vanished as the Washington Monument suddenly began to violently shake. A deep purple light seeped through the cracks as the monument began to fall apart. An explosion. 

   Her stomach dropped. She and Michelle exchanged worried glances as they stared up at the Washington Monument. Riley was about to say something, but Spider-Man running in front of her stopped her from doing so.

   "My friends are up there!" Michelle shouted, pointing at the Monument while standing up.

   "What!?" Spider-Man's squeaky voice exclaimed in question as he turned to see Michelle and Riley. Then, he cleared his throat and spoke in a much deeper voice, saying, "Uh, don't worry, ma'am. Everything's gonna be okay."

   As Peter ran off to the Monument, Riley immediately stammered, "Uh, I'm gonna... go call the police!" She started to run off, leaving Michelle. "I'll be right back!"

   "What? Riley!" Michelle exclaimed, but she was already gone.

   Running behind a nearby gift shop, Riley threw her backpack and Decathlon lab coat onto the ground. She pressed the buttons on her silver cuffs and quickly suited up. Valor was running onto the scene.

   "Holy shit!" Riley yelled as the Monument continued to tremble. Chunks of the monument fell, plummeting directly toward watching civilians.

   Somersaulting forward, Riley stood in front of the pedestrians and held her hands upward. A forcefield formed before them, protecting them. One after another, forcefields appeared to capture the falling pieces of granite.

   "Thank you, Valor!" a civilian called.

   "Is that Valor? What is she doing in Washington?" wondered another.

   "Are the Avengers here?"

  "Holy shit, is someone recording this!?" 

   Ignoring their shouts, Riley couldn't help but tremble at the explosion. "JO, connect me to Spider-Man now please!" she demanded. "Peter? Peter, can you hear me?"

  "Oh my God, oh my God," Peter whispered into the earpiece. "It's really high up here and I'm freaking out. Riley, please tell me you're coming."

   Her eyes widened as she noticed the red-and-blue-suited figure at the top of the monument. "How the hell did you get up there so fast!? Never mind, I'm on my way."

   With that, Riley created a flat forcefield and jumped onto it. She created more in front of her that gradually led to the top of the Washington Monument, similar to the structure of a staircase.

   The Washington Monument continued to shake vigorously. Another miniature explosion came from inside, causing Riley to wince. There was something about explosions that always got her.

   In response to a quiet squeak that left Riley's mouth at another small explosion, Peter shouted, "Riley, are you okay!?"

   She ignored him, noticing helicopters moving toward the tip of the Monument, which just so happened to be where Spider-Man was.

   "JO, how fast can you hack into those helicopters?" Riley requested.

  "Done," stated JOCASTA after three seconds. "I assume you want me to dismantle their weaponry?"

   "Yes, hurry!"

   While Peter jumped into a small opening in the Washington Monument, she focused on keeping the destruction of the monument to a minimum. She continued to catch pieces of falling rubble with forcefields as she made her way to the window Peter smashed into. Then, she jumped into the Monument through the same opening.

   She landed with a grunt, landing rather gracefully despite her stress. By the time Valor had entered the building, the majority of the people on the elevator had exited before it could fall straight down.

   "What, are you guys insane? Move back!" Valor shouted in a demanding manner. She used her hands to generate another forcefield to push everyone back from the wide-open elevator. Then, she marched forward where Liz Allan was attempting to exit safely.

   "Holy shit! It's Valor!" Flash yelled, holding onto the Academic Decathlon trophy tightly.

  The broken elevator suddenly sunk downward, where Liz had been trying to get out. Luckily, Spider-Man, who had been hanging upside down where the elevator should've been, caught her before she could face her doom. With tear-streaked cheeks, Liz was pulled to her safety.

   Valor was taken aback when Liz tightly hugged the first person she came in contact with, which just so happened to be her.

   "Uh, everything's okay, ma'am," Valor said. "It's alright."

   "Is everyone okay?" Peter asked the crowd, unnaturally deepening his voice.

   Liz nodded while leaning against Valor, who was quite noticeably shorter than her. There was silence as Peter stared at Liz. Well, it wasn't very obvious that Peter was staring at her due to his mask covering his face, but Riley had a realistic imagination.

   With a gasp, Peter's webbing came undone and he fell down the elevator shaft. Liz jumped in fear at this, but Valor managed to pull her back.

   "Ladies, gentlemen," said Riley, beginning to calm down. "While I go retrieve my... partner, please safely exit the Washington Monument... and probably call your loved ones."

   Then, Valor turned around and jumped down the elevator shaft to catch Spider-Man with a forcefield.