Futuristic Four

Early Starts and Long Drives

Location: NSA, LA Base

Penny hoped that S.B Williams would have more decent living quarters. Her room at the NSA base was quite uncomfortable. The girl exited her room and followed the guard to the exit.
Up front there were two cars. One would take her to the school and the other was to take her family to a safe house or something. Somewhere safe where her attacker from yesterday wouldn't find them, hopefully.
They were nice enough to give her a few minutes to say goodbye.

Currently, Penny was hugging her mother, who was returning the gesture.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Elise asked.

"I'll be fine mom." Penny assured. "Think of it as boarding school and once school break comes, I'll be running through the door ready for that big ol' holiday feast." Her Tennesseean accent kicking in.

Elise smiled. Seeing Penny be positive was enough to ease her worries. Of course she still worried. How could she do her job as a mother if she couldn't keep her daughter in sight? But she trusted the NSA and she trusted them to keep her daughter out of harm's way. Otherwise they'll be dealing with a very pissed off mother.

Bolt barked when Penny came to him.

"Hey, silly doggy." She smiled as she scratched the back of his ears. She knew the look he was giving her all to well. It was the same look he gave her everyday when she had to leave the studio. "I know you don't want me to go, but I have to Bolt."

The whimper he gave her broke her heart. For so long she had wanted to be like normal kids and have fun with her pet. When that finally happened, she never would've thought it would end. She also realised she wasn't normal to begin with. What she could do, no one else could. As far as she knew anyway. But her skills were still considered unique. All she really knew about supers was that the world had mixed feelings about them. Some people saw them as gods, others saw them as threats, but being one herself, she knew that supers could be just as normal as those without powers.

"I have to go, Bolt." She said. "I promise I'll be back before you know it. You promise to take care of everyone while I'm gone." She said.

Although the canine was sad to see Penny go, something he wished he'd never have to experience again, he wanted to make her proud and he was going to take his given task seriously. He couldn't wait to see Penny come home and be greeted happily by the family he had promise to protect. In response, Bolt barked cheerfully at her.

"That's my good boy." Penny said and gave him a final scratch. The red head got up and headed to her designated ride.

Once in the car, Penny looked out the back window and watched until her family was out of sight. She wondered how long it would be until she saw them again.

"I can only imagine how hard that must've been." Schmidt said once Penny turned around in her seat.

"It's not the first time I had to say goodbye like that."

"What do you mean?"

"It was like that at the studio. They never let me take Bolt home and I had to say goodbye to him everyday."

"Harsh. Why wouldn't they let you take your dog home?"

"They believed that if Bolt thought everything was real, he'd believe it was real and so it made a more realistic experience when watching the show."

"Wow. Show business. They do just about anything to get ratings. I never thought that they'd keep a kid from their pet in order to do so." Schmidt said in disbelief. "How did they even pull it off?"

Penny went silent. "Well...they did have a little help. Not that they knew."

Schmidt raised an eyebrow. "You're saying that you changed his perspective of reality?"