Chapter Twenty Nine

"Daddy, I don't need to go potty!" Isabelle cried to her dad. Sometimes she wished he would just listen to her. She was four years old after all, it's not like she couldn't tell when she needed to potty anymore. She pouted as her dad held her hand and guided her into the rest stop.

"I know kiddo, but we're just going to try." He opened the door to the restroom and led her to the ladies' room.

She went to the toilet and.. Her daddy was right. She smiled, Of course her daddy was right. He's daddy. She pulled up her underwear and pants, then washed her hands, making sure to sing happy birthday twice.

"It's George Clooney's birthday!" Isabelle heard her daddy call out from the entrance to the bathroom. Her daddy always knew who's birthday it was. It was George Clooney's birthday once a week, he must be really old by now! But she was a good little girl and sang happy birthday to Mister Clooney nonetheless. She even sang it in Spanish the second time around like her mommy had taught her.

When she was finished, she skipped across the bathroom to the door, which her daddy opened for her.

"See why we try?" Isabelle's daddy smiled his special smile to her.

Isabelle nodded and grabbed for her daddy's hand and let him lead her back out of the rest stop. Her eyes landed on the small playground. She really wanted to go on the slide. She looked up at her daddy with the question in her eye.

"Five minutes." Her daddy said, not even needing for her to ask. She smiled as she looked back at the park, only to see two cars that weren't there even two seconds ago. Her smile faded slightly as she walked towards the cars. There was a man with sandy blonde hair and a thin build, a girl with hair the deepest color red she'd ever seen, and then there was a boy with blue jeans and a black t-shirt, hair down to his eyes, but parted in the front like hers. They all were out of their vehicles when she had originally looked up, but she couldn't remember hearing the doors shut.

As Isabelle walked with her daddy past the group, the boy with the black shirt looked at him and gave her a warm smile. She smiled back because it was a smile she'd expect to see from her own daddy. She laughed as she ran to the slide, the strange sight had already left her mind as she climbed up the ladder. She only had five minutes after all, maybe that meant that they could stay the whole day! That's what five minutes usually meant anyways. She giggled as she let herself drop down the slide in a fit of glee.

Jason watched as the father and little girl made their way to the park area. He had seen the little girl registering the fact that the parking spaces had been empty, but luckily she was the one that saw it and not her father. Maybe that wasn't an accident? Selena did say that people saw what they wanted to, which ensured that adults who lost their sense of magic only saw through that which people like Selena could do.

He watched as the little girl's father pointed at his watch, it was time to go. She didn't seem to want to hear it as she began to cry and tug at his hand to go back. She cried that she wanted five more minutes, but it was already close to twelve in the morning. He could empathize with the father, just looking at his job made Jason tired. So he used a little wind and water magic to revitalize himself. "That's better." He smiled as he looked at Selena and Steve, who just looked strangely at him. "What?"

"What level are you now?" Steve said, as if sensing something was very different from the day prior.

Jason looked at Selena, then back to Steve. "I made it to level sixteen."

"Weren't you just level five?" Steve asked, his eyebrow raised slightly.

"That time compression, right?" Jason chuckled as he watched the man and his daughter get into their SUV. When they finally left, he smiled as he activated his wind skin and floated a few feet off the ground. "I can fly now too."

A true smile hit Steve's face as he watched Jason. "Good, that means we can take the training wheels off. He activated his own flying ability, his black suit blew in the wind as he flew towards Jason.

It was the first time he had shown interest in anything since Jason met him. He guessed after living this life, only doing things that a leveler could would make life worth living.

"Boys." Selena sighed as she jumped into the air, the hem of her tank top flowing in the wind she created. She enjoyed flying like the next person, but usually stuck to the ground when she was with her father.

"We'll be going just above the clouds." Steve smiled as he burst up towards the sky. Jason raced to keep up, enjoying the feel of the cool night air against his skin.

Jason increased his speed to keep up with Steve. Wind pushed him further up instead of pushing him down. No matter how much he flew in the dungeon, it was still hard to get used to it. He felt like he was a friend of the wind, like it was helping him instead of him controlling it.

Soon they were out of sight, just a speck within the sky, easily mistaken for a plane against the stars. Jason looked down on the world below, a sense of wonder as he saw the city lights. It felt like he was looking at the sky only in reverse. This was what it was like to be in a plane, he knew, though he'd never been in one himself. He looked back at Selena with a grin that filled his whole face. When she saw, she couldn't help but smile back.

Though they were being pursued by an organization he knew nothing about, he couldn't help but take a moment to realize that this life was amazing. Who woke up in the morning wondering if they'd be flying over Missouri today? The thought made him laugh.

"We'll fly during the night and set down when the first hint of light hits the sky." Steve called out from in front. "I don't want anyone to see us while we're up here. There's enough sightings of people flying to create those ridiculous comics. I don't want anyone to truly believe this is possible."

Jason winced as he thought of someone jumping off of a building like he did, believing that the wind would cradle them. He flinched as he imagined the impact. "Yeah, probably for the best." He could imagine the news the next day, a mass suicide with notes saying 'In case I can't fly, give the money to the kids.'

"I guess that means we aren't going to a hotel then?" Selena half joked. Her eyes gave away the disappointment she was actually feeling. She had actually been looking forward to swimming and mingling with others of her new world.

Jason had painted a pretty normal picture of a hotel. If they went to a ritzy one, they'd probably be charged a thousand dollars, but they'd have a jacuzzi tub in their room, probably marble floor, a large flatscreen television and all they could eat from room service. But that was probably the type of hotel they'd stand out in, which was what they were trying to avoid.

"If it makes you feel any better, I can let you have access to my funds to upgrade the house." It all of a sudden became uncomfortably quiet as Jason looked back and saw a beaming redhead. "That doesn't mean I should be broke tomorrow!" He waved his hands in defense. "Make sure we at least have twenty thousand left in the account please."

Selena's cheeks puffed up in a pout. She had been looking forward to just buying an entirely new house instead. Now she'd just have to deal with the new swimming pool and movie theater.

"You two are too much, you know that?" Steve laughed wholeheartedly. "You sound like a married couple already."

Jason's face flushed at that. Now that it was said out loud, it really did sound that way. He looked back at Selena, who looked down at the ground below. He saw sadness in her eyes at the thought. He would really have to take the time to get to know her more in the future. He'd been thinking that a lot lately, probably because of how much time he'd been spending with her. She lived with him he hadn't even asked if she was happy, or if there was anything he could do to help her.

They kept flying throughout the night, all the while staring down on the star lit ground.