So You Wanna Be a Hero, Kid?

[Gifted]

"I get to pick?" She grinned and sat there, thoughtfully mulling over her options. "You know, I've always thought it would be cool to control the weather. Y'know, like Storm from the X-Men? I could fly on the wind and shoot lightning bolts."

[Raven]

Connor chuckled. "Well, I'll see what we can do. You'll be unconscious for the operation, though you may be sore afterwards, there shouldn't be any pain. You may be out for up to a couple hours, and afterwards you'll meet your commander. Do you have any questions before we begin?"

[Gifted]

"Not at all. I'm ready to start whenever you are." Stephanie answered.

[Raven]

"Excellent. There should be a sterile gown in the bathroom. Get changed and we'll start the anesthesia."

[Raven]

Cassie King had been raised in secrets. From the time she was six, she'd had access to an FBI black site - something that wasn't technically allowed, but with both her parents needed and unable to get anyone to watch her, it had been unavoidable. At first, she'd only been allowed in one of the rooms. She didn't get to know what mommy or daddy were doing, and she didn't get to see anything. She was a clever little girl, though, and by the end of the year, she'd been there enough, heard enough, and trusted she would be unable to tell anyone enough that she had a general idea what dad's project was: awesome. And also super heroes.

Connor was one of the few people in the world to live his childhood dream. A comic book nerd become the scientist who actually got to help create a team of super heroes, and every bit of his enthusiasm rubbed off on his daughter, but Cassie never wanted to sit in a lab. She was too much like her mother for that. Instead, like so many other children, she wanted to be the super hero. She wanted to save the world like Batman, Superman, or Captain America. Mostly Captain America. Unlike most children, she knew full well that it was actually possible.

Even as a child, Cassie knew things didn't happen without hard work, though. She worked as hard as she could on school, and always followed the rules, so that when she got old enough, she could ask Mr. Xavier to please give her a chance to help them.

Cassie was eleven - a year before the minimum age - when all that disappeared as Rick Martinez singlehandedly shut down the project that her family had devoted most of her childhood to. She was devastated, but Cassie was mature enough to know that complaining would get her nowhere. She was twelve when she finally choose something she wanted to be when she grew up that wasn't a super hero. In her eyes, it was the next best thing: if she couldn't be a hero like Captain America, she would be a hero like her mother and Xander Xavier.

Later that year, Cassandra's mother retired to be a stay at home mom. The girl was approaching the age where she wanted more freedom, not less, so this was never something Cassie liked. She loved her mother, but the job April had loved had been a large part of the reason she idolized her. Watching her become unhappy over that decision was one of the harder things Cassie had to do in her life, and in that time, Cassie decided that she was never giving up on her dreams like that.

Evidently, neither was her father. Though Connor knew before her, he never mentioned the revival of Project Super. When the girl finally heard, it was from an official man in a suit. He told her that Xander Xavier wanted her back at the black site as one of the supers, Cassie had wasted no time in accepting, and neither had her parents. It was everything she'd wanted for almost all her life. It still took a good amount of time for the other four to be chosen, but once the selections had been made, Cassie was on her way to where she had spent so many hours as a kid. She wouldn't admit it, but she was nervous. There was that small, irrational part of her that was incredibly worried that after all this time, she was going to disappoint Xander and her parents.

Cassie arrived at the base just after the others, but rather than going straight to her father for the procedure like they would, Cassie went to meet with Xander. "Sir?" She questioned, knocking lightly on the office door.

[Gifted]

Thud thud thud. Screeek. Thud thud thud thud. The sound was soothing to him at this point, the constant thud of the ball as it hit the gym floor, the sound of sneakers squeaking as teenagers dashed this way and that across the court. Basketball was the one constant in his life, the only behavior he'd allowed to carry over from childhood into the mature man of sixteen he was today. It was something he could never let go of. Jason hoped to be playing basketball his whole life, to always be surrounded by other players as they fought their way around the court.
But he wasn't focused on them at the moment. At the moment, his whole world was him, his check and the ball, bouncing in his hand. He'd ceased moving for a moment, standing still except for the dribbling ball to take stock of his and everyone elses positions. His free arm up as a guard, Jason darted his eyes around expertly and he and the boy checking him moved in the same instant.
The boy checking him made a lunge around for the ball and Jason pivoted to move past the boy. They had exactly wrong timing and Jason felt his shoulder collide with the other boy as he moved past him. But he didn't think it was a foul, and you didn't stop play until it was called even if it was, so Jason cleared range of the boy and eyed a teammate dashing across the court, his check hot on his heels but being momentarily open. With expert skill Jason stopped, grabbed the ball and passed it to his teammate, who caught it and curved around the court to go in for a lay-up. Jason moved to dash back into the play in case he needed to get the rebound, but something was wrong.
The boy checking him hadn't moved. His check should be back on his feet by now, Jason should see him out of the corner of his eye. He hardly wanted to lose his advantage, but regardless, Jason chose to glance back at where the boy had landed after colliding with him.
The boy was still lying on the gym floor. It was apparent now that that simple hit had been much worse than it had first appeared, and Jason was starting to put together why as he came out of the zone for a moment and noticed his shoulder had begun to sting. He'd thought they'd locked shoulders for a moment and simply shoved past, but the boy was too small to have hit his shoulder against Jasons - instead it looked like Jason had smacked him in the head with a good portion of his body weight. He heard his teammates cheer and knew they must have scored a basket, but Jason wasn't focused on the game anymore. He raised his voice. "I think this kid's hurt!"
That got the attention of both coaches, who had been watching the play until Jason had said something. By the time the kids team had crowded around, wanting to see if their friend was okay, Jason had approached the injured boy. "Hey, you alright? You need some help?" He held out a hand to help the kid to his feet.
The boy groaned. He appeared to be bleeding from the mouth, and though he took Jasons outstretched hand he yelped in pain when Jason tried to help pull him up, unable to put weight on one side. Jason offered him a shoulder instead, and helped walk the kid to his own teams bench. When the injured boy was sitting down, another boy from that team came up to him. "Hey, thanks. Can you tell me where your nurse's office is? He needs to be checked out."
"Yeah, sure, it's down the hall to your left, then up the stairs and- I'll just show you. Hey Coach, can you sub me out?"
"Me too," The other player said, and Jason went to take the guy to the nurse's office so they could get someone to look at the injured player.
By the time they got back the game was in its last few seconds. Jason didn't bother joining in, he just waited for the clock to time out before going to get his water bottle and meet with his mother, who was standing by the bleachers waiting for him.

"I was hoping to see you play today." She said, sounding disappointed.
"Sorry, kid got hurt." Jason told her. "Had to get him some help." His mother smiled at him, proud of her son's kind heart. Jason felt a little guilty.
"There are some people here to see you." His mother told him.
"Really? Who?"
"It's a surprise."
Jason followed his mother outside and she led him, not to her car, but to a sleek black vehicle with two men in suits standing outside it. Jason picked up on what was happening immediately. "Are you FBI?"
"We are." One of the agets smiled at him. "Youve been accepted as a candidate for Project Super. I presume you're still interested?"
"Absolutely!" Jason grinned. "I just need to get home and pack some clothes-"
"Your mother took care of that for you. We've got your things in the car."
"You stay safe, alright hon? And make sure to call." His mother hugged him. "Don't be a stranger, now."
"I'll call all the time, mum. I promise." He hugged her, but he was too excited to draw out their last goodbye as she probably wanted. He let go of her after only a moment and got in the car. "I've got to call someone I work with at the Soup Kitchen to tell her I won't be back. Is that okay in here?"
"Yes, it should be fine." The agent said, starting the car.
Jason made his phone call as they drove to the airport.

[Raven]

Awhina's hair was pulled back and she was painting when she heard the knock on the door. "Door!" She shouted to any of her roommates who would listen.
"Door, Awhina!" Hadrian shouted back.
"Shove off! I'm working!"
"Since when does making a mess count as working?"
"Oi! Shut up, you two!" Helena hollered from near the door. She answered it. "Awhina, it's the suit people again."
Awhina quickly tidied up and ran out to meet the man. Hadrian was now hovering, so she shoved him away. Taw slunk down the hall at the commotion.
"Awhina Te Rangi?" She nodded. "You've been accepted into the program. He eyed the set of ears that was pretending not to listen, and the two that weren't even bothering to pretend. "We will fill you in in the car, your... Brother? Is welcome to come as far as the plane."
"I can handle myself," Awhina dismissed. "Let me grab my stuff." She hurried back to her room and threw her things together, changing into something not covered in paint, then came back out. "Alright." She embraced get brother.
"Be careful," Taw told her.
She nodded. "Love you. Bye!" She walked out the door and to the car.
"Your brother doesn't want to know what you'll be doing?"
"It's my decision, not his," Awhina responded. "I'm not a baby. Besides, isn't it classified?" She climbed in. "Tell me about the program."
The drive was spent doing just that, and then they got on a helicopter, and Awhina spent the ride looking out of the aircraft.

[Gifted]

"Come in." A familiar gruff voice answered.
Xander Xavier looked considerably different than when she'd seen him last, and not only because he was five years older. At the beginning of the project Xander had been a young and hopeful man of twenty three, with four years of special Ops work already to his name. He'd had extensive training with guns at the time, and as he'd gotten older he'd expanded to all sorts of unconventional weaponry including bows, swords and knives. By the time the formula for power had been perfected by the government Xander was too old to undergo the procedure safely, but he was recruited from the Special Ops as a team leader and trainer for being the agent with the most experience fighting the super-powered terrorists they were facing at the time. Once there, he'd grown fast friends with the scientist in charge of serum development and distribution for the project, Mr. Connor King, and every one of his supers. He worked them hard but fairly, and he was optimistic and friendly enough that it was difficult not to like him. In the beginning he'd been uncertain about allowing young Cassie is such a dangerous, top secret environment, but he was always willing to spend his time with her if he had nothing else he could be doing. When it became clear she wanted to join them one day, he helped teach her rudimentary gun safety and the very basics of hand to hand combat. They didn't get much further than that together, because around that time was when things began to go wrong.

It ha started just days after they'd managed to kill the final super-powered terrorist known to the US government and the one the kids had considered their biggest villain, Red Villein. One of the members of the team coming up to Xander in private and mentioned her suspicions that the team leader, Shelly Valiant, was hiding something. Xander had promised to look into it but it had been a mistake. Validating the girls feelings had only stoked their fears and push further what turned out to be Rick Martinez's plan. Within a matter of months friend was turning on friend, suspicion ran a wedge between everyone at base and they were barely held together primarily through Xanders effort as a mediator. As the situation deteriorated Xander had less and less time for Cassie or anyone else, constantly stressed and devoting all of his time and attention to trying to figure out what was going on and stop it from getting any worse. He became reclusive and short-tempered and much sterner in his orders than he'd ever been before and as the fights got worse he became less capable of handling them kindly as nothing he did ever seemed to work. He did finally manage to pinpoint the cause of the trouble as Rick Martinez, a man skilled with words who had sewn dissent and distrust right under everyones nose. But it was too late. The worst fight yet had broken out between Shelly, Rick and the two others left on the team (the fifth member, Danielle, had run away long before it'd gotten this bad) on the team, and it devolved into as brutal a fight as any they had ever had with their real enemies. They were all evenly matched; the fight ended with three of the four dead and Xander, who'd stepped in to try to stop the fight, being rushed to the emergency room. Rick, the only one to walk away with barely a few scratches, was arrested, and the last time Cassie had ever seen Xander was when he was rushed to the emergency room for the extensive damage the team he'd cared so much for had dealt him. After that, Xander had returned to the Special Ops, but he'd lost that optimistic cheerfulness that he team had loved him for.

When the project was restarted he was naturally pulled off his Special Ops assignments to be placed back into a leadership position. He'd fought against the restarting of the project but when push came to shove and it was clear the project would go ahead regardless he agreed to return. He knew it was better they were headed by someone who'd seen it all happen than for him to back out and the new leader to make all his mistakes. However, he had made two conditions; That he personally get to verify each and every candidate for the program, which involved a painstaking several months of hm going through two hundred different applications, and that Cassie King, the girl who'd so hoped to join and had seen all of it unfold before her young eyes, was to be made a member of the team.

The fight, or possibly some unknown Special Ops mission, had left Xander blind in one eye over which he wore an eyepatch to cover it up. He also had several scars to the face and chest, of which many were visible, and a sword which was sheathed at his belt and he definitely hadn't had before. He didn't look at all at home in the same old office which looked like it hadn't been touched in five years, but nevertheless was sitting behind the same desk looking up at her. "Cassie." He nodded in greeting as she came in. "You've grown up well."

[Raven]

"Thank you, sir," Cassie repeated the title as she entered the office. Though the man she was addressing was someone she'd been fond of as a little girl, it had been years since they had been close. Now that she would be his subordinate, she addressed him as a commander. "I wanted to speak to you before I headed down to the labs."

[Gifted]

"Fair. I probably should speak with you before you meet your teammates as well. What is it you need?"

[Raven]

"I wanted to know if you've been told what their power selections were. I want to be able to fill in any necessary gaps."

[Gifted]

Xander nodded approvingly. “Thinking strategically already; that will serve you well." He noted. “I have some idea, but you would do better to ask your father, as he will be performing the procedure on every person. " The way he said 'your father ' was saturated with dislike.

[Raven]

Cassie frowned. "Did something happen?" She asked. As far as she was aware, Xander and her father were good friends.

[Gifted]

"Your father was one of the primary proponents pushing to restart the project." Xander informed her with a scowl. “I'm sure it's no secret to you why I'm not particularly happy about that happening."

[Raven]

Cassie nodded. "But this time will be different," she said. "We know what to watch for."