Upon awakening Francis knew the shield had worked. Even in her dreams she could feel the blocked emotions bouncing off of the outskirts of the barrier. What she felt wasn't just emotions, however, they were people. Full grown men and women who wanted nothing more than to commit violet crimes were shut out of the neighborhood. It wasn't just the ones on the outside trying to get in who were stopped. Those who were already inside the neighborhood and harbored cruel intentions were pushed out.

It was a sight to see as people slid through the streets as if being dragged by someone much stronger than them. The kicked and screamed but out heroes prevailed as the would be criminals were pushed to just outside the perimeter of the barrier. My heart was filled with glee as I watched our heroes protect their neighborhood.

Francis dropped Adam's hand and, with much struggle, pulled her other hand out of Sophia's steely grip. She headed to the bathroom where she splashed cold water on her face. It helped her to wake up fully. She then looked at her reflection and smiled. Today she felt truly refreshed. It was as if she fully achieved her true purpose.

A piercing scream and a bang at the door pulled Francis's attention away from the mirror. Upon opening the door she found three young children standing there, two boys and a girl.

"Pee pee!" One of the boy's yelled as he pushed past Francis into the bathroom. He was the same toddler that had thrown a ball at their shield yesterday. Billy is what Eugene had called him.

An older boy walked in with Billy and helped him to use the bathroom. This boy had to be seven at the most.

"Hungy!" The girl said. She grabbed Francis's hand and led her to the kitchen.

"Hungy!" The girl said again, pointing at the fridge.

"Kelly..." Eugene appeared from nowhere and picked up the young girl. He carried her over to a cabinet and pulled out a poptart for her. The girl smiled happily as she chomped on the poptart.

"You're up early." Eugene said as he placed his sister back on the ground. She skipped away with her breakfast in hand.

"I think the shield woke me up." Francis replied. She held her hand out for a poptart and Eugene handed her one.

"How?" Eugene asked as he took a poptart for himself.

"I had dreams about the shield all night. People couldn't get in. Whole cars of guys with guns and stuff were blocked by the shield. They tried to get in but couldn't. They banged and raged but still couldn't get in. When the dreams stopped I woke up." Francis replied.

"Weird. I didn't have any dreams." Eugene said. He devoured half of a poptart in one bite then smiled.

"Good mornin'!" Sophia said happily as she glided into the room. Francis and Eugene stared at her in shock. They had never seen her so cheery before. Adam was shuffling behind Sophia but Francis and Eugene were too busy being shocked by Sophia to notice him.

"Are you ok?" Francis asked apprehensively.

"Of course! I got some amazin' sleep last night." Sophia replied. Her smile got bigger and brighter with every word she spoke.

"This is freakin' me out." Eugene said. He offered Sophia a poptart but Sophia shook her head no.

"I don't eat breakfast. We should go outside! It's a beautiful day let's go for a jog." Sophia said, her smile holding firm.

"A jog? In this neighborhood!? OK I'm callin' foul. What the heck are you talkin' 'bout?" Eugene asked in frustrated confusion.

"Quit harshin' my vibe, U!" Sophia yelled harshly. Her usual attitude returned which caused Eugene and Francis to relax.

"Goin' for a jog sounds pretty good to me. I have lots of energy." Adam added.

"We do have powers to protect ourselves when we're outside." Francis stated.

"Race you to the dirt lot!" Eugene exclaimed as he sprinted toward his own front door. The other three followed behind gleefully.

Francis wasn't a good runner. She always only barely made it when the did the mile run at school for the annual President's Fitness Test. But today she didn't feel tired at all. She was easily able to keep up with Eugene who had much longer legs. In fact, she surpassed Eugene with ease. The four kids fell into a stride as they ran. Somehow they were able to run in a perfectly straight line. It was Sophia, Adam, Francis, and finally Eugene. Each child was exactly one foot apart from the next.

They put their left foot down and then their right, in perfect unison with each other. As they ran they smiled and giggled. No one got tired. No one stepped on anyone else's heel by accident. It was like that until they reached their destination.

The vacant lot on the corner of Gilby Ave. and Monterrey street was the closest thing their neighborhood had to a park. Long before any of our heroes were born, a bank had stood on the property. The bank burned down and it's remnants were demolished. All that was left during the time of our heroes was a plot of red dirt with occasional weeds growing through it.

The lot was empty when the kids got there. Eugene found an old baseball and tossed it toward Sophia. She caught it easily and performed a graceful spin. She then lobbed the ball toward Adam who caught it without looking. Adam pointed directly at Francis before throwing the ball her way. Francis caught it automatically. It came as a shock to her because usually her hand eye coordination was as bad as her stamina while running.

They threw the ball back and forth for a few hours. To see them at that moment would be to see pure childhood bliss. Eventually dark clouds rolled in and a light rain began to fall.

"What do we have here?" Said a teenager. He and his two friends encroached on the lot, forcing our four heroes into a corner. Francis recognized them as high-school students.

"Looks like some kiddies havin' fun." One of his friends replied. This friend had a gray bandana in his front pocket. It was the color of the Slip gang. They had been in a gridlocked battle with the Seven gang over territory in the neighborhood.

"I see you kiddies are enjoyin' the lot." The head teen said as he took a few steps closer to them.

"Problem is this lot belongs to us." The third teen said. He was too tall, too lanky, and his head was too small.

"You gotta pay to use our lot." The leader said, holding a hand out to Adam who was the closest to him.

"I don't have any money." Adam said frankly.

"Hey I know this dude!" Tiny head said. He stood next to the leader and pointed sharply at Adam.

"Doesn't he pass by our hangout every day after school?" Pocket bandana asked, joining the other two in surrounding Adam.

"You gotta pay a sidewalk tax to walk in front of our hangout." The leader stated.

"He ain't never paid." Pocket bandana said.

"He always says he ain't got money. Just like now." Tiny head added.

"That ain't right." The leader said. "Maybe you ain't got money some of the time but there's no way you ain't got money all the time."

"Sounds like he owes us for usin' the sidewalk." Pocket bandana stated.

"How much does he owe us?" Tiny head asked. The leader folded his fingers down one by one, pretending to calculate a number.

"'Bout a thousand bucks I'd say." The leader held out a hand to Adam again.

"I don't have any money." Adam repeated. This didn't make the teenagers happy. A deep frown formed on the leader's face. He pushed Adam causing the younger boy to stumble backwards. Sophia caught Adam before he hit the ground.

"Wrong answer." The leader said. He threw a punch right at Adam's face. Instead of knocking Adam out, the teen's fist bounced off of Adam's face. The three teens looked at themselves in confusion while Adam and Sophia looked at each other with excitement. Sophia's powers were shared with Adam through touch. Sophia, wanting to see if the power transfer worked both ways, pushed the lead teen. He crumpled like he was made of tissue paper under her touch. This only made the teens angrier.

"Run!" Sophia yelled, pulling Adam behind her. Adam grabbed Francis's hand as they ran and Francis grabbed Eugene's. They were connected and safe. The light drizzle of rain turned into a downpour but the kids didn't notice. The rain drops slid right off of their shield. Angry teens were still chasing them down the street. Our heroes didn't care about the teens anymore. They were running through the muddy street but they might as well have been frolicking through a field of flowers. That's how it felt to them.

Eventually the teens got tired from running but our heroes didn't. When the four of them were connected they had infinite stamina. They kept running until they were back at Eugene's house.

"That was insane!" Francis thought.

"And cool." Added Sophia.

"I need to pee." Adam thought. He walked toward the bathroom. The other three took a few steps with him, not realizing they were still holding hands.

"Need help in there?" Sophia thought in a teasing tone.

"No!" Adam thought, shaking his hand free of Sophia's. Francis released his other hand out of embarrassment. Adam hurried into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him.

Francis, Sophia, and Eugene went back to Eugene's room.

"We did it!" Eugene said as he jumped on his bed.

"Did what?" Francis asked.

"Everythin'!" He jumped excitedly. "We held up the shield all night!" He jumped and jumped. "We beat those older guys!" He landed on his bed with a dynamic pose.

"Yeah I guess we did." Francis said with a meek smile.

"We gotta take it up a notch." Eugene said.

"How?" Francis asked.

"Block out more! Shield more! Last night we only blocked people who wanted to hurt  other people. We should also block people who want to hurt themselves like people who want to kill themselves or people who do drugs." Eugene replied. Sophia audibly gasped. 

There wasn't much Sophia knew or cared to know about her older sister. What she did know, however, was that drug addiction was a touchy subject. She had overheard the conversations of her parents when they discussed how drugs had entered Francis's home. So, she knew what minefield Eugene was walking into by bringing it up.

"Keepin' out people who want to hurt themselves is fine but people who use drugs are different. I won't keep them out." Francis said. Her face was calm but her voice was raised an octave.

"Why not? You said my dad was a murderer for sellin' drugs. Doesn't that mean the people who take drugs are killin' themselves?" Eugene asked. Sophia stood up quickly. She was panicking a little she wasn't ready for another blow up between Eugene and Francis and if Eugene didn't drop this subject that's exactly what was going to happen.

"I won't do it." Francis said in a low voice. It was too low for Eugene to make it out.

"What?" Eugene asked with aggravation in his voice. Sophia shuffled sideways over to him. She was trying to be discreet but was not achieving her goal. Once she reached Eugene, Sophia placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't do this." Sophia thought.

"Why not? She attacked my dad! She said dealin' drugs made him a murderer! Now she wants to defend drug users? It ain't fair!" Eugene thought.

"She won't change her mind. You won't win this fight." Sophia thought.

"I don't care! Francis ain't in charge!" Eugene said out loud. He meant to think it but he messed up. Francis stood up hastily, anger burning in her eyes.

"I won't do it! People use drug cuz they're sad or scared or hurtin'! They need home and family more than anyone else in the whole word. I won't tell them they can't come home! I won't keep my brother out!" Francis screamed. She ran out of Eugene's room an out the front door, tears streaming down her face as she did so.

She kept running until she reached her house. Her mother wasn't home yet so she went straight to her room and closed the door. Sobs erupted from her throat as she lay on her bed. She grabbed the picture of her brother from her bedside table and hugged it to her chest.

"You can always come home." She said as she continued to cry.

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