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Chapter Text

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~ I was making my own name ~

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Welcome to Blue Valley.

Where everyone is not as they seem.

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Staring: Shelby Whitmore as Gimmix

Play by- Meg Donnelly

Courtney Whitmore as Stargirl

Played by- Brec Bassinger

Pat Dugan as S.T.R.I.P.E (SY)

Played by- Luke Wilson

Yolanda Montez as Wildcat

Played by- Yvette Monreal

Rick Tyler as Hourman

Played by- Cameron Gellman

Beth Chapel as Doctor Mid-Nite

Played by-Anjelika Washington

Mike Dugan

Played by- Trae Romano

Barbra Whitmore

Played by- Amy Smart

Playlist Code-

Every song on this playlist goes with each chapter, even these little inbetween info chapters! 

Made to listen in order not on shuffle but you do you.

Season one starts with Midnight Rain and ends with Vigilante Shit

Chapter Text

Shelby sighs as she puts away the last of her things into boxes. She had a few trophies left that she put off to wrap up, now just felt like a drag. It didn't feel like a day to move, but when does it ever?

A car honking breaks her thought making her look outside to see Pat and Mike driving in. "Pats here!" she calls out to her sister as she walks out of her room holding a few boxes.

All she hears is a groan from her younger sister and a laugh from her friend. Shelby is quick to head outside to get her stuff in the moving van that her mom is helping to keep organized. 

"Let me help ya there." Pat says as he jogs to her side taking the two boxes she had blocking her view.

"Thank you." she breaths out shaking her arms at the freedom.

"No problem. Got anymore?" he questions as he places the boxes with the others.

Shelby sighs, "I got one more but Courtney has more that she refuses to ask for help with." she informs him making him chuckle.

"Excited for the move?" he questions hoping her answer will differ from his son who was sulking by their car.

"Yeah. New start, new town. Not the end of the world. I'd say I'm pretty excited." she replies with a shrug and a smile.

Pat gives her a smile at the answer, "Thats the spirit. See Mike, someone's excited." he says looking over at the younger teen who just gives his dad a sarcastic smile before sipping his milkshake.

Shelby makes her way back inside passing by Courtney who was heading to the van. She grabs her bag and last box and looks around her room one last time. "Goodbye Cali. Thanks for the memories." she whispers before closing her door.

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"Well, we made it. Nebraska, folks. Elevation, 2,200 feet above sea level. Birthplace of Nick Nolte, Fred Astaire, the great warrior Crazy Horse. And Wade Boggs." Pat rambles as the finally arrive to Blue Valley, Nebraska.

"Yeah, who's that?" Mike questions as they enter a neighborhood.

"Third baseman, great player. Also the birthplace of Gerald Ford." he answers, rather cheerfully.

"Who did he play for?" Mike questions making Shelby laugh.

Pat sighs, "The United States of America, Mike."

Pulling up to a house, the movers had already arrived, pulling out most of their boxes and such from the van and placing them in the lawn as they parked.

Shelby looks at the house in awe as they all get out of the car. "This is ours! It's a mansion!" Mike says in excitment.

"You're telling me. This is so cool!" Shelby adds wrapping an arm over her sister shoulders.

"What do you think?" their mom asks quietly looking at her youngest daughter.

Courtney just looks at both her mom and sister and lets out a sigh. She still wasn't thrilled with any of this. The marriage. The wedding. The move. None of it.

A thud and rattle gains their attention as the movers drop a crate on the van ramp. "Hey, sorry, that's just... That's real delicate, yeah." Pat tells them and they nod. "Thank you." he says before sighing. "You know what? I got it. It's fine. Yeah." he adds, walking over to them, letting them go over to move whatever was left. "Let me just fasten these. I appreciate it. Thank you. I appreciate that." Pat mutters as he checks over the unmarked crate with a look of anxiety.

"All good?" Shelby questions making him jump a bit and turn to face the family who was looking at him curiously.

Pat gives them a nervous smile, "Yeah. Hey, how about we get something to eat?" he suggests.

"That sounds perfect." Shelby replies making her mom smile.

"Oh, yeah. Lets go." Her mom, Barbara adds leading the way to walk to the town as it wasn't to far.

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The town of Blue Valley is easy to walk through; small and probably the safest place ever. Seemingly impossible to get lost in. For it being a bit out there, it is a very lively place. People walking and driving all around. Shelby found it charming.

People would say hello to the new family as they walked by, either it be from the car or just walking past. Nearly everyone said hi. "This is a bit weird right?" Shelby whispers to her sister, hoping to get her to talk and not be so upset with them all.

"Yeah, a bit." Courtney whispers back.

"But it's like I always say, Pat, 'Gotta take the good with the weird.' Yeah." The two hear Mike say as the continue their stroll.

Pat chuckles, "It's, uh, 'Dad' not 'Pat,' okay?" he corrects his son.

"Yeah, but Courtney and Shelby call you Pat." he argues.

Courtney rolls her eyes, "Don't drag me into this conversation." she mutters.

The group stops as the two adults look at the building in excitement. "Richie's!" Barbra says with happiness before turning to her two daughters. "This is where Pat and I met." she explains.

"That's awesome mom." Shelby replies.

"Yeah, we know." Courtney cuts in with a sigh, killing the excitment for a second.

"Two years ago, when I came back to sell my mom's house." Barbara explains regardless, leaning onto Pat as they reminise.

"Yeah, Dad told me, like, 100 times." Mike adds, "You both ordered the corndogs, right?"

"Banana split!" They both say with a smile.

"Pat, why were you in Nebraska anyway?" Courtney questions.

"I was.. I was looking for something." Pat replies.

"Okay, you two are cute but I'm starving." Shelby cuts in looking at the adults who chuckle.

"Lets check it out." Pat says with a nod, leading the rest into the diner.

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Unpacking is as boring an experience as packing was for Shelby. The lack of personality within her room when she woke up was annoying to the eldest Whitmore daughter. But if was her frist day as a Junior at Blue Valley High, she couldn't afford to dwell on it to much.

"You know, I moved around a lot when I was your age." Pat says, cutting the silence of the car ride seeing as both girls were on their phones texting old friends back in Cali.

As much as Shelby showed excitement for her moms sake, she is going to miss everyone. "Mhm." Courntey replies from her seat in the front. Shelby offered her shot-gun to make her happy before school, but she is ever the silent sister still.

"My dad was a mechanic in the army. Worked on tanks. Actually, I got to ride in a few." Pat continues as he drove.

"That's cool." Shelby pipes up, as her sister just nods along.

Pat gives her a smile, "Yeah. Yeah, it was really cool. But, every year or two, he'd get reassigned, and we'd have to pack up and leave. And back then, if I wanted to keep in touch with my friends, I had to write letters. Never got any back. So, growing up, I guess my dad was probably my best friend. I thought, if I did what he did, you know, I'd get to spend more time with him. Didn't really work out that way, though. Anyhow, I made some good friends later in life. I know how hard it is to lose them."

"Pat." Courtney cuts in making him look to her.

"Yeah?" he replies.

"I'm kinda talking to someone." she tells him.

Pat just chuckles, "Right. Sorry."

"I liked your story Pat. If anyone still wrote letters, I'd totally would but alas we live in the world of text." Shelby says dramatically earning a laugh from the man.

Pulling up to the high school was a bit intimidating. Courtney gets out, leaving the door open for her sister to move the seat and get out. "Hey. Have a super great day!" Pat says with enthusiasum.

Courtney rolls her eyes and walks away from the car. Shelby closes the door and leans on the open window. "I'm sorry about her." she tells him and he waves it off with a sad smile. "Thanks for the ride Pat. Have a good day, see ya." she tells him with a small smile before turning around and heading to every teens worst nightmare. 

High School.

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The halls are bustling with students that seem more busy then the town itself could populate but Shelby did her best to avoid getting run into as the speakers blared about clubs. Catching up with Courtney and making it to the office for sheduling and club sign ups. They were met with disapointment.

"But it was on your website. Blue Valley High has a gymnastics team." Courtney argues as a secretary grabs things off her desk.

"We did." she says gesturing for the two to follow. "Last year. But the academic and athletic programs have been recalibrated by The American Dream for optimal participation by the students and the faculty." she explains as they reach a photo station.

The two blonde teens glance at each other confused as Courtney sits first. "We have no idea what any of that means." Courtney admits.

"There are plenty of other after-school activities. How about cheerleading? That's basically gymnastics." The secretary suggests as she takes the photo. "Plus, boys love cheerleaders."

Courtney and Shelby switch, "Does this town have anything gymnastics?" she asks, hoping that maybe they could at least practice.

"Nope. Sorry." was the reply she got before her photo was take as well.

The day was interesting to say the least. Seeing as Courtney was a Sophmore and Shelby was a Junior, they shared nothing but Lunch time; lucky for them. Courtney thought they would share at least an elective but seeing as this school was busy that didn't happen.

Shelby's lunch didn't go as expected as she was walking over to where her sister was, Courtney shoves a jock accidently into her. Shelby gasped as her lunch got all over her and the jock, who just walked away pissed.

"Shelby-." she says going to go to her sister when Courtney was grabbed by the principle.

"Come with me." Principle Bowins says taking the Sophmore away.

"What the hell." Shelby whispers to herself looking down at her now ruined top covered in red sauce and noodles.

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Dinner that night was tense between the sisters as Courtney just looked guilty and Shelby was annoyed while Mike seemed to have the perfect first day, rambling to Pat about video games.

"How was your day, Court? Did you join the gymnastics team?" Barbara questions, looking at her younger daughter first.

The blonde didnt get to respond as Mike cuts in. "Oh, wait, Dad, can I go over to Johnny's house? We're gonna play Fortnite for research. It's learning."

Shelby had to take a bit of her salad to keep from laughing at the request. "Sure. Just be back by 9." Pat replies with a nod.

Mike looked at him confused, "Wait, wait, 9? It's Friday." he tells him.

"Yeah Pat, at least let him stay out till 9:01." Shelby jokes.

Pat smiles, "Good thinking. 9:01 it is Mike."

Mike looks at the older teen in betrayal. "Thats mean. You're suppose to be on my side!" he complains.

Shelby smiles, "I'm an older sister. I'm suppose to mean sometimes." she teases him, making him roll his eyes before getting up and taking his plate.

"Hey, finish your dinner." Pat calls out to him.

"I'm getting desert." Mike replies going into the kitchen.

"Do you two have any plans tonight?" Barbara questions her daughters.

Both girls just shake their heads. "Hey, we could hit the old drive-in." Pat suggests.

"Stop pretending you're my dad, okay?" Courtney snaps, before getting up and taking her plate to the kitchen.

"Courtney!" her mom calls out.

"No, it's okay. I think that, you know, sometimes, I try too hard. It just doesn't..." Pat tries to make up an excuse.

"No." Barbara tells him, "You're trying just fine."

"You are Pat. Don't take what she says to heart. She's still... adjusting." Shelby tells him.

He looks at her and sighs but nods. "Maybe family drive in some other time?" he suggests to them and the two nod in agreement.

"So your first day? How was it?" her mom questions her.

Shelby sighs, "It was okay. There's no gymnastic's team at school or in town. So, Courtney's bummed. I'm... honestly releaved. I didn't have another year in me." she admits.

Barbara grabs her hand, "Why didn't you tell me before?" she asks with worry.

The teen shrugs, "I did it for Courtney. It was fun for a bit but, not for me you know?"

"You do what you want to do honey. You don't always have to worry about Court." her mom tells her in a serious tone.

Shelby smiles, "Thanks mom."

Chapter Text

"Good Morning!" Barbara greets as she joins Mike and Shelby at the table.

"Morning Mom." Shelby greets, texting some friends as she glances up to give a smile as she waits for food.

"What's up, Barbara. Nice suit." Mike says, playing a video game on his switch.

"Thank you." she replies with a smile.

"Dad's making breakfast." Mike explains before looking into the kitchen. "It should be ready any minute because I'm starving."

Pat sighs, "Yeah, coming right up, little buddy. Just be patient." he calls over.

"Hey." 

"Hi." Courtney replies softly avoiding looking at anyone, only her mom seemed to notice.

"Hey." Barbara says again, but the blonde doesn't look up. "Hey." she says again moving her daughter only to gasp at the cuts on her face. "Oh, my God! What happened?"

At the worried tone, Shelby looks up and gasps. "Court, are you okay?"

Courtney gives the two an awkward smile, "Oh... I fell down the basement stairs."

"What were you doing in the basement?" Shelby questions, crinkling her nose.

"Get them while they're hot." Pat says, entering with plates full of food. His face also having bruising on it. "Who's hungry?"

"What happened to you?" Barbara questions in shock to see his injury.

Pat's smile falls at the questions, "Oh, I... Well, I... I tripped down those basement stairs." he tells her.

Shelby raises an eyebrow at the excuse. "Whats with you two and the basement?" she asks but they just look at each other.

"You both fell down the basement stairs?" Barbara questions.

Courtney laughs, "Yeah, there's a bad step."

"Yeah, it's a couple of bad steps down there." Pat quickly adds, "I was able to fix it and what I did was... Well, it's kind of an interesting story. I re-planed it and then I got up under the..."

He was cut off, "Pancakes, wow!" Courtney says looking at the plate before looking to her mom and sister, "Wow, look at these, Mom."

"Yeah, they look great." her mom says, still a bit confused.

Pat takes a seat, setting down the plate. "Would you like blueberry or chocolate chip?" he asks them.

"One of each." Courtney replies.

"Chocolate chip." Shelby answers, confused still.

Mike tries to reach for his own with his hand but Pat stops him. "You got it. One of each. Chocolate Chip." Pat replies, giving his son a look, "Coming up."

Barbara and Shelby glance at each other, both clocking the weirdness from the two. "You sure your both okay?" her mom asks the two.

"Fine." Pat and Court respond at the same time. "Great." they say, again at the same time before laughing.

"Why are you guys acting so weird?" Mike questions as Pat places pancakes on each other their plates.

"What are you talking about? I'm serving breakfast here." Pat says unbothered.

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Shelby is stood at her locker sorting through her stuff before class. "Hey new girl." a voice says making her turn to see the red head jock who was pushed into her on Friday, currently walking over to her.

"Hey?" she greets confused.

He stops infront of her and sighs, "Look I'm sorry about... ruining your lunch the other day." he says a bit awkwardly.

She looks surpirsed. "No worries. It was my sisters fault." she says making him look at her confused. "I'm sorry she pushed you like that."

"That was your sister?" he questions and Shelby nods. "Well, I was being annoying so I deserved it. But we ruined your first day. So, again I'm sorry."

Shelby gives him a smile, "I appreciate it. It's all good. I'm Shelby, by the way."

He returns the smile, "Henry. Look, do you want to sit with my friends at lunch? Avoid getting your lunch dumped on you this time?" he offers.

"Sure. Thanks Henry."

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"You're the other New Girl, right?" a girl says as Shelby takes a seat across from her and Henry at the lunch table. "I'm Cindy."

"Shelby. And yeah." she says in return was a nervous smile.

Cindy gives her a calcuated smile, "You should join Cheer. I'm Captain, and would totally love to have a new member."

"Oh, I've never done Cheer before." she tells her.

"That's fine. What have you done so I know what I'm working with?" Cindy asks with a tilt of her head.

Shelby shrugs, "I did gymnastics with my sister before we moved her."

"I can work with gymnastics." Cindy says with a nod, "Can you do the splits?"

"I can do the splits in my sleep." she jokes in reply.

Cindy holds out her hand, "Welcome to the cheer team."

Shelby smiles and shakes her hand. "Whens practice?" she asks as they let go.

"Whats your third period?" Cindy asks instead of answering.

"Uh, study hall." Shelby replies confused.

"Perfect, meet us at the gym. That's open gym, so we practice then and Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. That cool?" Cindy tells her.

Shelby nods, "Totally cool."

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"I'd like to thank you all for coming to what is my favorite night of the year here at Blue Valley High. These boys and girls of yours are the future of America, including my own son, Isaac. I love you, sweetie." Principal Bowin starts off the open house. The crowd claps and some awe at the sentiment.

Shelby was daydreaming a bit, bored already at the event as she sits next to her sister on the bleachers between her and her mom. She didn't really see the point in being here but being new, she gets her mom wanting to socialize.

"I am proud to announce last year's graduating class was in the top 15% of the nation." Bowin continues and some cheer. "I'd like to thank a few of the many supporters that made that possible. Councilman Zarick, for his undying commitment to making sure our school receives the funding it needs. Doctors Henry King and Bridget Chapel of the Blue Valley Medical Center..." The name gets Shelby's attention as the crowd claps again. "...for their generous volunteer work supporting our teams."

"Go Prairie Dogs!" Some one shouts and people laugh and clap at the outburst.

"Go Dogs, and, finally, everyone employed by The American Dream, by Blue Valley Tires. The lifeline of this town. Please, stand up." Bowin gestures to the crowd. Barbara awkwardly stand along with a few others in the crowd. "Everyone give a hand to the backbone of this great community." Bowin says and the crowd claps.

Finally they are dismissed to wander around and mingle. "I'm gonna get a drink." Shelby mumbles to her mom who nods as she smiles and greets someone, probably from work.

Shelby makes it to one of the punch bowls seeing a familiar jock. "So, didn't know you were Henry Jr." she says with a smile as she grabs a cookie.

The boy rolls his eyes, "Not something I bring up." he replies with a shrug.

"So I can't give you the Jr. nickname?" she asks in a more so teasing way.

He groans, "Please don't." he tells her.

Shelby laughs, "I won't. Where's your dad anyway?" she questions seeing no adult with him.

"Who knows, he told me to get a drink and walked away." Henry replies with a shrug, sipping the drink in his hand. "Where's your family?"

"Mingling, I'd say. I'm bored and saw you over here so..." she replies with a shrug of her own.

"So, you thought bugging me would be entertaining?" he asks as the two begin to walk around.

"I wouldn't say bug, more so mutualy entertaining each other. Besides if you didn't want to talk to me you would have walked away." she points out to him.

Henry cracks a smile and shakes his head, "Fair enough. What do you think of Blue Valley?"

Shelby laughs, "It's cute. Small, but cute. People are nice so thats a fun change from California."

"I get that. Why'd you agree to join Cindy's cheer team?" he questions, stopping making the blonde stop as well, facing him.

She looks confused, "Because I wanted to try something new? I don't know. Why? Whats wrong with Cheer?"

"Nothing. It's just... Cindy is... a bit much." he tells her a bit hesitantly.

"She seemed nice enough. Plus, I can handle 'a bit much'. It's just cheer." she tells him with a smile.

Henry sighs, "Sorry, she's been my friend since... I don't know how long, and I don't want her to scare you off." he admits.

Shelby smiles, "I can handle myself. Thanks for the concern though."

"Junior." a voice says. The two look to see Henry's dad. "Time to go son."

"Uh, okay. I'll see you around Shelby." Henry says with a look of disapointment.

"Shelby? Courtney's sister?" Dr. King asks curiously.

"Yes, sir. You've met my sister?" she asks confused.

"We... ran into each other. No worries. Lets go son, you can chat with her tomorrow." Dr. King says before turning away and heading for  the door.

"Sorry, about him. Bye." Henry tells the blonde before following after his dad.

Shelby felt a light headache in her head before someone grabs her arm suddenly. "Time to go." Courtney says as she drags her sister over to where Pat and their mom was.

"Huh, woah slow down." Shelby says trying not to trip as they go.

Chapter Text

"I can't believe you convinced me to do this." Shelby says as she looks at her outfit that matches with Cindy and Jenny.

"Well it was this or Cheer uniforms. But seeing as we didn't want to do a cheer routine..." Cindy starts.

"This was the best decision. Plus, you can do flips and splits easy. We need you." Jenny finishes.

Shelby groans jokingly, "I hate that that made sense. Fine. Lets kick some butt." she says with a smile, excitment in her eyes.

"Yes girl!" Jenny exclaims placing the gold glitter hat on the blondes head.

The school was bustling with movement, people were in costumes or practicing for the talent show later today. It was a strange notion to Shelby that she only had a week to practice the dance routine but, it came to her quickly.

Shelby is honestly very excited. She's quickly been included in a friend group of all mixed ages of jocks and cheer. It's exciting to be seen as 'popular'. She bit the inside of her cheek seeing her sister sat at what Cindy referred to as the 'loser' table the other day, but Courtney refused Cindy's friendship so, that's just how the weird high school hierarchy works.

"Hey." Henry greets her quietly.

She jumps, "Oh my god, hey!" she says pulling him into a hug, that surprises him. "I'm so sorry to hear about your dad." she tells him.

He hugs her back tightly, "Yeah." he barely mutters out.

"I hope he gets better soon." she tells him before letting go.

Henry just looks down and nods. "So, Cindy rope you into the talent show?" 

"Yeah. She says I'm a natural. Now I just gotta hope I don't fall on my face." Shelby jokes with a small laugh despite the anxiety in her stomach.

"I bet you'll be great." he tells her making her smile.

"Are you going to come watch?" she asks him curiously, she wouldn't deny seeing him there would be a motivator.

He shakes his head, "I think I'm just going to go visit my dad then head home."

"Yeah, I understand. I hope things work out." she tells him and he gives her a small smile.

"Yeah me too. Anyways, break a leg. See you tomorrow." Henry tells her before walking away.

Shelby sighs, closing her locker before jumping seeing her sister on the other side, "Geez Court." she mutters placing a hand on her heart.

"Can we talk for a sec?" she asks her older sister.

"Now you wanna talk? Not after the first week where you dumped lunch food on me? Or any other time after that? Now?" she questions, crossing her arms.

Courtney looks at her with guilt, "I'm sorry. I know I'm a horrible sister. But this is important. It's about dad."

"What about dad? You aren't planning on running away are you?" she asks placing her arms on her shoulders, "You can't run away." she scolds.

"I'm not going to run away. No, Shelby just listen for a sec." the younger blonde says making her sister drop her arms.

"I'm listening." she tells her.

Courtney sighs, "Okay, do you think that, maybe our dad didn't show up because he was a superhero saving lives?"

This made Shelby scoff, "Oh come on Court, I don't have time for this."

The older teen begins to make her way towards the front enterance to get to the bus for the talent show trip, "Listen. I think our dad is Starman." she whispers to her sister.

Shelby didn't stop walking at that, "Our dad was a no body who didn't have the nerve to say goodbye. He's no hero." she replies.

"But Shelby-"

"No, Courtney." Shelby stops at the steps and turns to her sister, "Our dad didn't care about us. He's gone living whatever life he wanted and it doesn't involve us. I'm sorry that you were a daddy's girl. But I never was, so I don't care. I'm sorry he left you. But he's been dead to me for years." she says before turning and making her way to the bus.

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Shelby sat on the bus ride back from the competition with a smile on her face. Her and the girls won First much to her surprise. So many kids had different acts she was surprise that their simple dance placed top 3, let alone won!

Her excitement dies down when the bus begins to swerve and the tires screech. People start screaming as the bus was on a bridge and broke the railing that kept them from going over the water. Shelby was sat in the back of the bus that is now dangling over the water as the bus slowly began to go backwards in a sway. That's when she finally screamed along with everyone else.

Her body tenses as the bus jerks and one of the boys slide across the floor and stops in the back next to where she was sat. "Joey are you okay?" she asks him seeing as he was just as frazzeled as her.

He nods and doesn't move as the bus shakes more. The screams continue around them as the bus moves and fully tips back. Shelby grabs Joey to pull him into her seat but they both freeze seeing a robot stopping their fall.

They stare in surprise until a bright light blinds them for a moment making them look away as the bus shakes some more. The light fade away and they were no longer falling, they were back on the bridge.

"Is everyone okay?" A teacher calls out.

Shelby was quick to open the emergecy door and help Joey get down first before following after. "Watch your step." she tells the person coming off next as she helps until a teacher takes over for her.

She shakily takes a seat on the edge of the curb as mainy others do the same. She could have died. She sighs thanking whatever hallucination of a robot she saw that she's alive. Her hat flies off her head but she couldn't be bothered to get up after it. She looks over and sees Joey fidgeting with his cards when one slips away with the wind. He quickly gets up to grab it.

When out of no where a truck comes into view. Shelby screams as the truck hits Joey.

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Shelby sits in her room in shock. "Are you okay Sweetie?" her mom asks but she doesn't respond. "I'm sorry this happened, I'm sorry you had to see..." she didn't know what to say. A kid died right infront of her. It could have been her.

Barbara sits next ot her on the bed, "Shelby, baby... Say something, please..."

"He was such a nice boy," Shelby whispers, "he didn't deserve that."

"I know... I know." her mom whispers, pulling her into a hug.

Rushing footsteps could be heard and Pat was the first to enter her room. "Are you okay?" he asks out of breath. Shelby couldn't hold it anymore and she bursts into tears. Pat looks at her with sadness and sits next to her on the other side; both parents hold her in a hug as she cries.

Courtney was next to enter but freezes at the doorway hearing her sisters sobs. She doesn't know what to do to help her. She knew the truth of what caused the bus to fall and Joey's early death but couldn't explain without her sister not believing or just the unsafe reprecussions of Shelby just knowning the truth. She doesn't know how to help her sister without possibly hurting her even more with the truth. She isn't safe.

Chapter Text

Courtney walks over to a podium that had more dust then the rest. It had a utility belt, a grappling hook and mask but nothing else, like it was missing objects. "What about this?" she asks.

Pat sighs, "That would belong to the girl of 1000 Gimmicks." the blonde teen gives him a look and he nods, "I know, it's a mouth full. But she wasn't an official member of the JSA. She helped out Starman when he was still the Star Spangled Kid, but as they got older she wanted to live her life."

"So what did she do?" she asks confused.

"She was resourceful. Whatever she had around she would use it as a weapon, or use it to make traps and help that way. She always had random things in her belt we never knew what to expect." Pat explains as he looks at the mask with fond memories.

"So she was like a surprise attack on the ISA?" she questions.

Pat shakes his head, "She never fought the ISA, she got out before them. She was a surprise attack to everyone else though."

Courtney stares at the mask thoughtfully. "Huh."

"Yeah she was the optimistic but sensible one of our little group. She would try and tone down Starman's excitment with reality but still was so upbeat about everything." Pat says with a small laugh.

"Kinda sounds like Shelby." Courtney mutters to herself.

The blonde teen stood in her room looking through all of the stolen JSA members items. She grabs the mask from the other night and thought about her sister's crying. "We need to save people like Joey next time." she whispers before setting down the mask.

--------------

Shelby makes her way downstairs in a small rush as she thinks she's going to be late but sighs seeing everyone eating breakfast still. "Well, you're welcome to bring a friend but the chicken's already defrosting." she hears Pat say making Mike sigh. "You can't win'em all, buddy."

"Court, why don't you invite a friend to dinner too?" Barbara suggests as Shelby steals a poptart from Mike making him give her a look but she just smiles before taking a bite.

"Courtney doesn't have any friends." Mike jokes.

"She has friends." Shelby defends, even if it was porbably a lie.

"I have tons of friends. Thank you very much." Courtney adds giving Mike a glare.

"What about you Shelby? Bring a friend for dinner?" their mom suggests with a hopeful look.

Shelby gives her mom an apolegetic look, "I sort of promised my friend I'd have dinner with him at the hospital. His dad's still there and I just don't want him to be alone all the time."

Barbara raises an eyebrow, "A boyfriend?" she questions.

"A friend who is a boy, mom." she corrects as her face flushes.

"Hmm. Okay, but text Pat and I when you get there and if you need a ride or not after." she tells her.

Shelby smiles, "You're the best." she says giving her mom a kiss on the cheek.

----------------------

"What's going on with you and Henry?" Cindy says out of the blue making Shelby jump in surprise.

"Nothing? Why?" she replies confused at the sudden hostility.

Cindy sighs in a huff, "Listen, I've been trying to get him to date me for months and now your here and he just, I don't know, gravitates to you. It's weird, so I wanna know if somethings going on you didn't share with us." she crosses her arms.

Shelby blinks at the sudden outburst. "Well, he never brought anything up with me. Maybe he just wants a new friend? I don't know, I'm just getting to know all of you." she replies honestly. "Besides he seems to still act the same around everyone to me." she adds with a shrug.

"Fine. Don't tell me. But when he rejects you. Don't say I didn't warn you." Cindy says before flipping her hair and walking away.

"Warn me about what?" Shelby mumbles to herself. "Crazy."

--------------------

"I hope you're in the mood for burgers." Shelby says softly as she enters the hospital room with a bag of take out.

Henry sits up, "I thought you said you had family dinner?" he questions.

"They let me pass tonight to hang with you." she asys taking a seat next to him. "Burger?"

"You are the best." he says with a sigh, accepting the burger as she places the fries on the small table between them before grabbing her own burger.

"Has their been any updates?" she asks as they eat their dinner.

"Nothing yet." he replies with a sigh. "Feels like I'm never going to get any answers."

She looks at him sadly, "Don't stress, the doctors know what their doing. Besides your dads a doctor, he knows he has to fight." she reasures him.

Henry moves to sit on the chair that was next to his fathers bed, "What if he doesn't though? He's all I have left... I-" his voice cracks as covers his face in his hands.

Shelby quickly goes to his side, "Henry, hey." she whispers rubbing his back in a form of comfort. "You shouldn't think like that. He's going to get out of this. You're dad will be okay. Besides you're not alone, you have me." she tells him honestly.

"Do you think he can hear me?" he asks her quietly.

"I like to think he can." she answers softly.

He looks up and sniffs staring at his father. "I miss you, dad." he says.

Unbeknownst to them, Yolanda dressed as Wildcat was behind them, glaring daggers at Henry with her claws out ready to strike. But was hesitant due to his words and the other girl in the room.

A noise behind them makes them turn but they see no one. "I should take you home." Henry says with another sniffle before standing.

"Only if you wanna leave, I can walk." Shelby replies.

He shakes his head, "No, no... I wanna leave. Come on." he says leading the way, and she follows.

Courtney, dressed as Stargirl floats up to the window on her staff and Yolanda drops down from the cieling. Both looking at one another in surprise. "Was that your sister?"

"Yeah... What was she... Oh my god, she told our mom she was going to be with a friend at the hospital for dinner. I didn't think she ment Henry." Courtney says in disbelief.

"Court, he's not a good person to trust. She shouldn't be friends with him. Like at all." Yolanda tells her.

"I'll... I'll try and talk to her about it."

Chapter Text

Shelby stares at her sister with wide eyes before bursting out laughing. "I'm sorry. That's just a fantastic story. I mean, Starman? Stargirl? Brainwave! Thats a killer story." she says with a shake of her head.

Courtney groans, "It's the truth! And I want you to join the team!" she tells her.

"Team? You roped someone into your cosplay sessions? Are you sure you're not just trying to trick me into a group halloween thing again?" she asks with some confusion but her amuse smile staying on her face as she looks over her sisters 'Stargirl' suit.

"Shelby." Courtney grabs her sisters shoulders and looks into her eyes, "I'm serious. Blue Valley is not what it seems. I need you to help me. Villains are here, and they threated to kill mom. To kill you. You are the smartest person I know. Please, join the team."

"Okay, I'll bite." she responses crossing her arms, "Who would I be? I don't exactly have super powers."

Courtney smiles before rushing to her closet and pulling out some things from a big bag. "You will be our new Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks!" she says with enthusiasm before showing her the belt, mask and grappling gun.

Shelby raises an eyebrow, "Is that it?"

Her sister deflate a little, "Yeah... The costume wasn't there, but Pat said that she left before the JSA was offical so she probably took the suit with her."

The older Whitmore blinks in surprise, "I'm sorry, did you say Pat? Is Pat in on this? Court you need to explain everything before you recuite someone to be a hero." she scolds.

Courtney cringes, "I knew I forgot something." she sighs, "Pat is helping me, sort of. He has a robot and can fly."

Shelby's eyes widen, "He was the robot that saved us on the bus!"

Her sister shushes her, "Yes, but remember Mom and Mike don't know so keep it down."

"Right... Wait, why aren't we telling them?" the older sister questions.

"To keep them safe." she replies.

"But you're telling me." she points out.

Courtney nods, "Yes, to keep you safe."

"You lost me." Shelby sighs, "Okay, whatever. Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks is to much. If I'm joining this rag tag team of chaos, I'm changing the name."

"Fair, the names a bit much." the younger blonde nods.

"What about... Gimmix, but with an x and not c k? Simple, to the point." Shelby says putting the eye mask up to her face.

Court smiles, "I like it. I'll see if we can get you a suit. Until then, these are yours." she says sliding the other two things to her.

"I still doubt this is real but for the sake of you using serious eyes, I'm believing you." Shelby reminds her.

"You'll believe me soon."

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 

After the whole superhero talk, Shelby felt in over her head to even think about Halloween. Yet, she's already being roped into her first 'mission', walking with Courtney, Yolanda, and now for some reason Beth Chapel. None dressed up in a costume. But Shelby tries with the bare minimum of a sweater with a pumpkin face.

"When you called and said you'd found a new recruit I wasn't exactly expecting Beth Chapel. Or your sister for that matter." Yolanda points out to Courtney as Beth walks ahead of the group.

"For the record, I wasn't either." Shelby tells the new Wildcat as she walks behind the group.

Yolanda sighs, "I kinda get why you roped your sister in but, why did you chose her to be the new captain midnight?"

"Dr. Mid-Nite." Courtney corrects. "I didn't choose her. She just found the goggles and got them working. And she hasn't stopped talking ever since."

"Oh, it's well known that talking is Beth Chapel's super-power." Yolanda fills in.

"It's true." Beth cuts in. "Okay. So you wanna find Rick... Chuck tracked his phone... from his house to a liquor store on Highway to Cindy Burman's house. There are 116 people at this location. 99.1% are minors. One Adult. Number of underage drinking infractions: eighty." she rambles to them as they all stare at the house in halloween decor.

"Okay, narc. I'm going home. This is a bad idea." Yolanda tells the team.

"Don't go, Yolanda. This is a huge deal. Rick is like me. Like us." Courtney starts grabbing her sisters arm, who just looks at her confused. "His dad was a member of the JSA. He's a legacy! This is beyond exciting!"

"Also for the record,  I don't think we're legacy but she won't listen to me." Shelby buts in making her sister lightly slap her arm.

Yolanda looks at her friend but doesn't walk away, "Okay. Well, I'm not going in there." she says staring at the house.

"It's fine, I'm the only one of us that was invited. I'll go in and find Rick and hopefully he doesn't think we're crazy." Shelby tells them.

"I'll go too. We're better in numbers." Courtney tells her sister who just shrugs and begins to cross the street.

"I'll help." Beth says only making Courtney stop, the other Blonde already on the other side.

"Okay, great." Courtney says with false enthusiasm and Beth points to her goggles before the two follow after the older teen.

The Party is loud and bursting with energy, also drunk teens. "Shells! I didn't think you were coming!" Jenny greets her wearing a vampire costume.

"I needed to get out of the house for a bit, figured I'd say hi." Shleby lies with a smile.

"Come on! Drinks are this way." her friend says with a laugh, thankfully not making a comment on the lack of costume.

 Jenny drops her off at a table and goes to mingle. Shelby eye rolls and begins to drift through the sea of teens. Why is everyone drunk? she thinks to herself.

"Cause it's a party." Henry says making her jump as he walks infront of her.

"I didn't say anything?" Shelby says confused.

Henry furrows his brow. "Doesn't matter. I thought party's weren't your vibe?" he asks, ignoring his headache.

"They aren't I'm just checking it out, seeing if I was lying to myself. I wasn't." she laughs, making him crack a smile. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah... yeah, it's just loud." he replies, rubbing his forehead a bit.

"No one would hate you if you left early Henry." she tells him, placing a hand on his arm.

He jerks back, getting images of random memories from her, "I... I'm gonna go get some air." he says before basically running away from her.

"Okay?" she mutters before continuing through the party trying to spot Rick. She goes out to the backyard where it is a bit less crowded and leans on a tree away from everyone.

Her peace does not last long as her sister is quick to drag her into a corner of the backyard, where everyone is already together. She's late to the explanation she assumes as Rick is staring at them with a look of 'i don't believe any of this'.

"So, you think you're all superheroes, huh? So you're Stargirl. You're..." Rick says looking at Yolanda.

"Wildcat." she answers.

"And she's..." Rick points at Beth.

"Just borrowing those for the night." Yolanda quickly answers, making Beth deflate.

Rick then looks at Shelby, "What about you?"

"I hardly believe any of this is happening." she answers before she earns a glare from her sister making her sigh, "Gimmix, if we must use code names."

"So, what can this 'magic' hourglass do?" Rick questions looking at the four as he holds up the necklace that Courtney had given him.

"It's science." Beth answers. "You're dad invented it. The hourglass gave your dad super strength. For one hour a day."

"One hour?" Rick questions. "So the other 23 hours he was what, just some dude?"

"He was a brilliant chemist!" Beth tells him. "Y'know that hourglass only worked for your dad. It was tied to his DNA."

"That's cool." Shelby comments earning a look from the others. "Just sayin." she says quietly with a shrug.

Rick stares at the hourglass, "How do you turn it on?"

"I would have to guess the same way you use any other hourglass. Turn it over." Shelby replies.

He looks at her then nods before moving to put the necklace on. He then flips it over and the sand glows before pouring down into the bottom half. The glow begins to spread throughout Ricks body making Shelby stand straighter at the sight. "So super strength, huh?"

"Woah." Shelby whispers as the girls nod to his question.

Rick then picks up a metal keg with ease and crushes that inward. He chuckles in disbelief before dropping it to the ground with a thud.

"Hey, you...You really shouldn't test out your powers in public. Our identities..." Courtney is interrupted.

"Protecting them is Superhero 101." Beth tells him. "And you need a costume. Technically we all do. Since it's Halloween-"

"I'm not wearing a stupid costume. You guys, do whatever you want. I'm doing my own thing." Rick tells them going to walk off.

Courtney steps infront of him, "Hey! You can't just take the hourglass like-"

"Yes, I can." he tells her. "It was my dad's, right? Now it's mine. Later." he says before walking away.

"That could have gone worse." Shelby says with a sigh.

"Congrats. You just made the biggest delinquent in school an unstoppable beast." Yolanda tells Courtney.

"I'm not giving up, yet. We can still get through to him." Courtney tells them.

Shelby takes a step forward. "I'm pulling out my big sister card. You are not talking to him. I will."

"You don't know everything-" Courtney tries to argue.

"No, I don't. But, seeing as I was the biggest skeptic of the group. I see why he doesn't want to join right now. He just got told his dad who is dead was a superhero... You don't think that answers a lot of questions for him while also giving him more questions unanswered. He's processing. Give him time. I'll talk to him, and maybe he changes his mind. But if not, at least we gave him some closure." Shelby tells her crossing her arms.

"What do you want us to do?" Yolanda questions.

Shelby smiles, "I think it's time you guys suit up, then meet back up with us. It'll help with the talk... Hopefully."

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 

"Rick?" Shelby says as she walks over to him. They were on a road heading to his house. He's standing there, looking at a tree with a dent in it. "I know this is a lot. And... honestly up until you flipped that hour glass I didn't believe my sister either."

He doesn't move to look at her. "I don't want to play superhero tea time with you guys."

"I understand, but my sister is stubborn and won't let this go. I'm hoping that you'd reconsider, considering this 'cause it is very real now." Shelby says with a sigh as Stargirl and Wildcat walk over to them in costume.

Rick turns around hearing the other approach, "What do you understand? My parents hit a tree and they died. What grand plan of God's was that?" he argues.

"It wasn't God's plan, Rick. It was an accident." Yolanda replies.

"Then who do I blame, huh?" Rick is quick to fire back, getting upset causing the staff in Courtney's hand to glow. Shelby's eyes go wide but she doesn't have time to be confused. "Do you know what it's like to be so filled up with anger that you feel like you're poisoning yourself? Do you?" he questions the three.

The three don't have a response to that. "I want to hit something, anything, all of the time. Every second. You think I like that? I hate feeling this way." he explains to them tears going down his face in frustration.

Courtney steps up, "Our dad was a member of the Justice Society too." she starts making Shelby look down but she bit the inside of her cheek to not correct her sister this time. "He was Starman. And even though we only met him a few times, I feel cheated. He was killed before I even got to know him. But now I get to keep his legacy alive. And you can too."

Shelby looks up and stands next to her sister, "You can be a hero just like your dad. Hourman. It's your future. It's your power. It's your choice."

"My choice?" he questions and the girls all nod.

He takes in a deep breath before turning around and running at the tree with a shout before punching it. The tree creaks before falling over. Rick turns back to look at the girls. "When have I ever had a choice? Be a hero like my dad? My dad's dead."

"You girls should go." Shelby tells the two, staring at Rick who is walking towards them.

"No." Courtney refuses, pointing her staff at him now. "I can't let you keep that hourglass. Not when you're like this." she tells him.

"Yeah? Try and take it." Rick tells her unbothered.

Shleby moves herself between him and the other two. "Rick wait!" Beth shouts as she runs down the road to them making them all pause. "It wasn't an accident."

"What?" he questions as they all look at her.

"Your parents were murdered." she tells him.

Rick points behind him. "They crashed right here. They hit this tree and-"

"No." she interrupts him. "Dr. McNider says it wasn't the tree that killed them. He says he can... show us?"

Her goggles begin to glow and then projected a hologram. It began to show them a car approaching. "They were here, But so was someone else. Or something?" the audio from the googles was like a growl and a large creature appears in the projection infront of the car. Hitting it making it swerve and go through the group and into the tree that Rick had hit.

Rick stares at the tree as the projection goes away. "Your parents... I'm betting they were killed by the same people that killed my dad." Courtney says making him turn around.

"Who?" he questions

"I don't know yet. But whoever they are, they're in Blue Valley. They're the reason, I'm putting together this new team." she tells him. "To get justice. For my dad. For yours. For all of the JSA."

"I'll do it." Rick tells her. "But I don't want justice, Courtney. I want revenge."

Chapter Text

Getting jump scared by Pat was not how Shelby thought sneaking in would go when her and Courtney entered through her sisters window. "Geez Pat." Shelby says with a sigh.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" Courtney questions. Pat give the two a look before nodding to the bed where all the other hero outfits and such were. "Where did all that come from?" Courtney tries to fake but he wasn't having it.

"This isn't a joke, Courtney. That lantern can kill you." Pat scolds her, making the older girl step away from the bed at that news.

"What's it do?" the younger blonde questions.

"Well, thankfully, nothing without its ring. What were you thinking, stealing all of this?" Pat questions her.

Shelby's eyes widen, "You stole this stuff?" she questions looking to her sister with wide eyes at this news.

"I wasn't stealing it, I was - borrowing it." Courtney tries to word.

"You stole it." Pat corrects her standing up. "And you told your sister about it." he says with disapointment.

Shelby holds her hands up, "To be fair, I didn't believe her most of the time."

Courtney sighs, "Okay, yeah, maybe I stole it, but I had to do something if you weren't going to. And telling Shelby was important for me."

"I thought we were in this together, Courtney. I really did." he says looking over at her.

"Pat we are in this together, but we need help if we're going to stop the Injustice Society. We need to form a new JSA." Courtney explains to him.

He gestures to the older Whitmore girl, "And you have obviously already started. Who she rope you into being?"

"I'm the new girl of a thousand Gimmicks. But I... changed the name to be Gimmix... with an x." Shelby explains hesitantly seeing his look.

"Gimmix?" he questions, raising his eyebrow.

"With an x..." she adds before looking at her sister as he just looks unamused.

"Um, so I started... starting." Courtney words weirdly.

Pat looks back over at the bed at the old superhero stuff. "I see Hourman's costume but no hourglass. You gave it to Rick Harris, didn't you?"

The two sister look at each other in surprise then at him, "How did you know that?" they question.

"'Cause I've got a truck in my garage with his fist prints all over it." Pat explains to them.

"So you know Rick Harris is really Rick Tyler, right?" Courtney asks him.

"I had my suspicions." Pat admits.

"What do you mean you had your suspicions? I thought Hourman was your friend. He...He gave you all that stuff in the basement." Courtney points out.

"You have more stuff in the basement?" Shelby questions making the man sigh.

"I never knew Rex had a son. If I'd have known that he..." Pat tries to explain.

"Did you know him and his wife weren't killed in a car accident? They were murdered by Solomon Grundy." Courtney tells him.

Pat crosses his arm, "How do you know that?"

"Dr. Mid-Nite told us." Shelby cuts in to back up her sister.

He looks at the two suspicously, "Dr. Mid-Nite?"

"Well, his googles did." Courtney corrects. "Beth was wearing them."

"Wait. Who's Beth?" Pat questions confused.

"The new Dr. Mid-Nite." Courtney tells him hesitaently.

"Wait, we're keeping her as Dr. Mid-Nite?" Shelby questions earning a elbow shove from her sister, "Ow, it was just a question." she grumbles.

Pat stares at the two, and sits back down in the chair he was in when they first entered. "Who else did you recruit, Courtney?"

"Yolanda Montez." Courtney admits making Pat sigh, "She's class president. Or she was..." 

"And Yolanda is now...?" Pat asks.

"...Wildcat." she replies.

Pat sighs again and stands, "Okay, this is serious. You've put these kids in real danger. Your sister," he points at Shelby, "in real danger. You need to get everything you took back." he tells the younger Whitmore.

"I can't just take the hourglass from Rick. It belonged to his dad." Courtney argues.

"I'll talk to Rick. You get Dr. Mid-Nite's goggles and Wildcat's costume and you bring them back here, do you understand that?" Pat scolds, "And you give me back whatever she gave you too." he says to Shelby.

"Pat.. I don't think-" Shelby tries to explain but he cuts her off.

"No. You don't want to end up like Joey Zarick? Do you? Becuase you were this close to it being you." he explains to her, holding his fingers up showing little distance.

Shelby's eyes water and she just rushes out of the room and into hers, locking the door. Pat sighs, knowing he is being harsh but it was the truth. He looks over at Courtney. "I know you don't respect me much, Courtney, but I thought it was more than this."

-----------------------------------

"If Pat asks for your staff back, are you giving it to him?" Shelby hears Rick questions as she walks over to the four chatting under the bleachers.

"She won't. Much like how I didn't give Pat my stuff." Shelby tells the group as she joins the group.

"Didn't think so." Rick says before pulling out a book from his book bag.

"What's that?" Beth questions.

"It's my dad's journal. He was a chemist, right? So can your goggles tell me what this equation is?" he asks, showing them a page with the equation. "Pat thought it might be some kind of code."

"See. He's smarter than you think." Courtney mutters earning a side glance from the boy.

Beth retrieves her goggles and puts them on scanning the page. "He doesn't know." she tells them handing the book back over before stumbling back in surprise. "Woah."

"Whats happening?" Yolanda questions. Beth just looks around at what the googles were showing her. Yolanda waves her hand infront of the girls face. "Earth to Beth? Hello?"

"Someone's trying to hack into the Empire Enterprises system." Beth tells the group with concern.

"What's Empire Enterprises?" Yolanda questions.

Shelby sighs crossing her arms, "Its some communications company. Who cares?"

"So a hacker is trying to hack into some lame phone company? So what?" Rick questions annoyed.

"So, the hacker works for the Injustice Society of America." Beth explains, peaking everyones interest.

"What?" Courtney asks with wide eyes.

"Chuck's main adversary. He's known as The Gambler. He's a master strategist. A genius when it comes to probabilities. A programming whiz. Encrypted networks are his thing. Real Dark Web stuff. He's wanted for fraud, conspiracy, and murder." she reads off the goggles.

"Okay. So this is our chance to go catch one of them." Yolanda points out.

"And then what do we do? Throw him in jail?" Shelby asks, confused on the point.

"No. Then we interrogate them. Make them tell us everything they know. Or else." Rick explains earning a nod from the Junior.

"Thats a plan." she comments.

"Or else what?" Beth questions.

"We should tell Pat." Courtney cuts in.

"So he can tell us no and try to take all our stuff? Forget it." Rick tells her.

"Agreed." Shelby adds, giving her a sister a look.

"Yeah, I'm with him. We already have five against one. We don't need six." Yolanda points out.

"Oh Six including my pal Chuck." Beth cuts in making them all stare at her confused.

Rick picks up his bag, "I'm going. Anyone else?"

"I will." Yolanda agrees.

"Me too." Beth says quickly following.

Courtney looks at her sister, silently pleading. "Sorry Court, I want to use my grapling hook." she says before following after the three.

"Wait!" Courtney says making them all pause and look at her.

"Its only a hacker, Courtney." Rick tells her.

"That hacker could have the power to melt our faces." Courtney points out.

Shelby rolls her eyes. "I really doubt it."

"Incorrect. The Gambler doesn't have any physical powers of any kind." Beth adds with a smile.

"Come on, this is probably real easy and prove to Pat we should keep our stuff." Shelby tells her sister.

"Yeah, this could be the easiest of them all." Yolanda adds.

"Okay. I'm coming. But if we are going to do this, we need to protect our identities." Courtney tells them making Rick sigh.

Beth's smile widens, "Does this mean I get a costume? I'd really like a costume."

"If she gets a costume and all I get is a mask, I'm going to be really annoyed." Shelby comments making her sister sigh.

-----------------------------

"Not gonna lie. You guys look cool. I look like I'm about to rob a place." Shelby comments as they group make their way to Empire Enterprises hackers headquarters.

"I can't believe I'm wearing this." Rick grumbles.

"You look cool. Just own it. Besides, no one knows who you are." she tells him flicking his golden hood over his head.

He rolls his eyes but makes no move to argue at they arrive at the building. "Are you sure The Gambler's in here?" Courtney questions as they look at the seemingly empty building.

"Who comes up with these names?" Rick comments crossing his arms.

"I like 'em." Beth replies. "Chuck says the signal's still active. So, yep, he's in there." she tells them.

"Wonder what he's doing." Courtney asks as her staff makes a noise of concern.

"Who cares?" Rick replies.

Courteny moves to stand infront of the group, facing them. "Okay. You guys sure about this?"

Rick flips his hour glass making it glow. "Hell yes."

"That's still so cool." Shelby comments as she watches the glow surround his body.

Yolanda steps up, "I'm sure."

"Yeah. Me too." Beth repleis nervously.

"Lets do this." Shelby nods, putting her hands above the utility belt on her waist.

Rick nods, "Let's move. It's time to start getting answers." he says taking a step forward.

Courtney stops him. "Hey. Follow my lead."

"Yeah. Whatever." Rick says going past her and to the door. The rest follow. "I got it." he says going to punch the door open.

"Stop!" Courtney says quickly, and he pauses. "You're going to set off the alarm." she tells him.

"Well, how are we supposed to get inside then?" Rick says in frustration.

"I can do it. The goggles can see the code." Beth says stepping up to the control panel and inserting the numbers. It beeps and unlocks the door for them.

"Nice." Courtney compliments.

"Thanks. After you." Beth replies gesturing to the door. Slowly they all enter.

Courtney takes the lead, her staff glowing the way for them as they walk. They twist and turn there way through halls before stopping at an open doorway. Slowly they enter seeing feet behind a desk. Peaking around the desk they see a man, his eyes open and blood around his head on the floor.

"Oh god." Shelby whispers turning away and unintentionally into Rick's chest.

He doesn't move to comfort her but doesn't move to push her away. "Is he okay?" Beth questions as the rest stare in shock.

"Aww. What do we have here?" a voice from the corridor behind them says making them all move away from the desk to face them.

At the end of the hall are 2 intimidating looking people in costume. "They do not look like hackers." Rick comments as they stare.

"So what do we do now?" Yolanda questions.

"Run and hope for the best?" Shelby offers as she stares with wide eyes at the man holding a bat and wearing a hockey mask.

"No." Courtney says turning to face the team. "Let's lead them outside, and we keep them together so we can stay together."

"I can do this myself." Rick says before running at the two.

"Hourman!" Courtney shouts after him.

The two at the other end begin to run at him as well, using each other to hit and kick Rick once they got close enough. Tigress gets past Rick and goes for the girls. Yolanda rushes forward to attack but is kicked back with a grunt.

"Oh my god." Shelby says in shock that with was really happening.

Courtney looks at her sister. "You have a black belt. Don't forget that."

"For Karate! This is not Karate!" she hisses at her sister.

"Don't forget kick boxing." Courtney reminds her.

"Oh god." Shelby whispers as Tigress and Sportsmaster run down two different hallways.

Rick groans as he gets up from the room he was thrown into and rushes back into the hallways. "I got Jason Voorhees." he says running down the one hall.

"I got tiger lady!" Yolanda calls out going down the other hall.

"I'm so gonna regret this." Shelby complains before running after Rick.

"Wait! We need to stick together!" Courtney shouts in panic but it falls on deaf ears. "Gimmix!" she shouts before going after her sister

-------------------------

Shelby makes it outside just in time to see Rick get slammed down into a car. "Hey idiot!" she shouts distracting Sportsmaster allowing Rick to kick the car towards him.

Sportsmaster just barely dodges it, rolling on the hood before falling on the ground. Rick then rushes at the man, grabbing him and jumping and slamming them both onto a car.

The blonde scrambles for her utility belt, opening one of the pockets an pulls out a small peice of metal. Confused she pushes the top of it down and suddenly it expands into a fighting staff.

Rick shouts as Sportsmaster hits him with his bat making the girl focus back on the fight. "Hey, why don't you pick a fight with me?" she shouts making him span his neck in her direction.

She twirls her staff then gets into a fighting stance. He chuckles, "You don't wanna mess with me kid." he warns slowly walking towards her.

"Try me." she replies. And he shrugs, running towards her going to kick her but she dodges using the staff to knock out his footing making him fall on his back.

"Not bad." he compliments before flipping back up. She wastes no time hitting him in the face but he recovers swinging at her feet making her fall back.

He goes to smash her face with the bat when he gets hit with the Cosmic staff that flew at him. He focus now on Stargirl. Shelby is quick to scramble out of the way as they fight. She rushes over to Rick who is still by the cars. "I'm fine." he grunts.

"I'm sure." she replies with an eye roll as she eyes the fight. "What should we do?"

"I'm going to throw the car at him." he tells her before getting up and slowly lifting the car. "Hey, Gretzky!" he shouts.

Sportsmaster looks his was. "Good for you, kid. Bet that thing's heavy, huh?" he taunts pulling out a baseball laughing before tossing it up and hitting it with his bat.

"No!" Shelby shouts rushing in the way only to get hit and fall to her knees in pain.

Out of instinct Ricky goes to help her, Stargirl rushes in, using her Staff to hold up part of the car as Rick grabs the other blonde and pulls her out of the way. Courtney then moves letting the car drop.

Courtney was quick to get up again and attack Sportsmaster while Rick checks over Shelby. "That was stupid." he scolds her.

"I know, but you already got hurt." she groans out as she slowly sits up.

"You don't have a super suit like us, you can't take the hits." he reminds her.

She leans on him as she tries to breathe. "Yeah but we're heros now. Gotta help each other. We're a team." she counters making him sigh.

"You two are gonna drive me up a damn wall." he says before looking over at the fight and seeing that Tigress has joined making it a 2 v 1 on Courtney. "Shit."

Shelby groans in pain as she moves to see what her sister was up against. "Shit." she whispers.

Yolanda and Beth rush over to their sides. "Is she okay?" the Wildcat girl asks.

"Better then ever. Help me up." the blonde says with a wince.

The three help her get up, before an explosion happens above them in the sky. They all look up and see Stargirls cosmic staff fall. "Come on." Rick tells them and they all make their way to Courtney as she looks over her staff with worry before the shining light comes back.

They all stand together and face Tigress and Sportsmaster. Now a 5 v 2 in their favor, hopefully. The two villians begin to walk towards the teens when a large robot suddenly lands behind the new JSA making the adults pause.

"Don't worry. He's with us." Courtney tells her team who looks at the robot with mixed emotions.

Sportsmaster throws something into the air bewtween the two sides, exploding into a cloud of dust covering their escape.

"Kids. Lets go. Now." The robot says, letting Shelby sigh in relief.

-------------------------------

Shelby never thought that she would be holding an ice pack to her abdomin, while sitting in Pat's pit shop while staring at a giant robot. Not even in her wildest dreams.

"There is no way he built this out of cars." Rick comments as him and the rest of the JSA stares at the robot.

"More like 20 cars." Yolanda adds.

"Pat should work for NASA." Beth says in awe.

"Pat should build me a car." Shelby says from the chair behind them.

Rick sighs, "I guess Court was right. There is more to Pat than we thought."

"How are you feeling Shelby?" Yolanda questions looking over at the other girl.

"I'll live, but the bruise will be annoying to cover up." she replies having taken off her jacket and her shirt slightly lifted up to show the bruise to her left side.

"You didn't have to take that for me." Rick scolds again, looking at her over her shoulder.

She groans in annoyance this time, "Just be grateful I did. It hurts like a bitch."

He rolls his eyes but cracks a small smile, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, cause I'm never doing that again."

Chapter Text

"How are you feeling?" Rick asks, scaring Shelby as she sorts through her locker.

She huffs, "I'm fine. Stop asking me." she replies glancing at him before contining to look for the notebook she needed.

"I keep asking because that bruise was bad and you went to cheer practice despite that. So, sorry for being a bit concern." he grumbles next to her crossing his arms.

She pauses and turns to look at him. "Wasn't it you that said you didn't want to be friends? Like, thanks for the check in but your hot an' cold act is getting old."

He stares at her, "We aren't friends." he clarifies before taking a step closer to her and glares, "Just don't do something stupid like that again."

"Hey!" A voice shouts making Rick back up and turn to see Henry walking their way. "Leave her alone Harris." he demands.

Rick rolls his eyes, "Whatever." he says before walking away.

"Was he messing with you?" Henry questions, glaring at the back of the boys head as he walks down the hall.

Shelby shakes her head, "No. I'm fine. He just, I don't know something to do with my sister." she waves it off going back to pulling out her notebook.

"If he messes with you let me know. Or Cindy. We'll make sure he stays away. He's bad news." the red head warns .

She sighs as she closes her locker. "I appreciate it. But I have to run to chemistry. See ya."

---------------------------

"You weren't pulling your weight in cheer this past week." Cindy says walking up to the older blonde.

Shelby raises her eyebrow, "Hello to you too." Cindy just looks at her unamused. "Look, I'm sorry. Just been a bit out of it. Family stuff." she lies.

"Well snap out of it. We have homecoming, and I don't need to add you the list of people that are going to make me look bad. Got it." Cindy snaps, before groaning, "You and Henry are going to drive me crazy."

The blonde holds her back from storming off. "What? What's going on with Henry?"

Cindy rolls her eyes, "He doesn't want to go to homecoming cause of his dad. Which is so stupid."

"Dude, his dad is in the hospital. He's allowed to be upset. Wouldn't you be if the situation was reversed?" she questions.

"No. And frankley I don't care. Just don't make me look bad, got it." she replies with a glare before pulling her arm free and storming off.

-------------------

"Hey, guys, welcome to the Pit Stop." Pat greets as the new JSA team arrives after school.

"We're training here?" Yolanda questions.

"We need to do it somewhere private. The Injustice Society is looking for us." Courtney explains as they walk up.

"Courtney's right. We've got to lay low until we're trained and ready." Pat adds as they stop infront of him.

"Do we suit up or...?" Rick asks.

"Not yet Rick. I've been working all day on something special for you guys. We need to go over two crucial categories. One, what you guys can do, and two, what the bad guys can do." Pat tells them before leading them into one of the garages.

"We know what we can do. I can hit things hard. Yolanda can climb up walls and kill toasters. Beth can talk... about everything." Rick exlapins as they walk.

"Happy to!" Beth cuts in.

He sighs, "Shelby can give 'n' take a hit. And Courtney has a glow stick that blows things up."

"But you still don't know how to work together as a team. Teamwork is what made the original Justice Society of America so special. But it took time for them to become great. And still, with all that skill and talent, they weren't able to survive." Pat explains to them, pausing to face them. "So I just want you kids to understand the dangers, too. So, let me present the Injustice Society of America."

Pat opens the door to the closed off half of the garage where his robot is, revealing test dumbies with paint on them. "That... sure is something." Shelby comments as Courtney's staff flies around the room.

"It's great!" Beth comments but sounding a bit more optimistic then the others.

"Let's go." Pat says and they nod slowly, entering the room to train.

Rick chuckles. "I trust you Pat." he says before following in.

"I better get a cool suit after this." Shelby jokes earning a look from Pat who just nods into the room to which she enters.

--------------

"Their leader's called Icicle. He's the one responsible for Joey Zarick's death." Pat begins to explain, pointing to a bucket dumbie with a blue angry face painted on it, and a white board with actual photos of each bad guy.

"And my dad's. But his days are numbered." Courtney adds, doing tricks with the Cosmic Staff. Pat rolls his eyes at her antic's as she turns to face the other 4 teens. "The staff and I went after him before, and that's when I barely knew how to use it."

"But you still have a lot to learn. So, let's get started. This is Sportsmaster." Pat interjects, walking over to a dumbie in a hockey mask. "If there's a better fighter in the world, I've never met them. He first appeared on the scene a few decades ago, battling against Wildcat and Green Lantern..." he starts.

"If we wanted a history lesson, we'd ask Beth and her goggles." Courtney cuts in.

"Sportsmaster's partner is called Tigress. She's as sadistic as they come, and she uses a crossbow that's lethal-" he's cut short, again.

"We know. We saw it last week." Courntey again, interjects.

Shelby sighs, but holds her tongue hoping her sister may get the hints with the looks Pat was giving her. "Okay. Let's talk about some of our, uh, more eccentric opponents. Like the Gambler. Don't let his rotund form and southern-fried charm fool you. He's one of the most cunning and nefarious criminal masterminds in the world. The Fiddler. Male. Caucasian." he tries to continue.

"Except he's no longer a white dude, she's Principal Bowin." Courtney says making the team silently sigh at her inturruption.

"We don't know that." Pat argues.

"Yeah, we do." Courtney replies.

"She could just like the violin." Shelby comments earning a look from her sister.

"Court, you agreed to let me do the training." Pat says earning her attention again.

"Well, can we speed this up? Who knows how many people are being hurt because we're not out there right this second." Courtney says walking over to him impatiently.

"If you're not trained to work as a team, you'll be the ones getting hurt. Your sister was lucky this time, we don't want to risk it." Pat argues calmly with her. "You have no idea the threat that Solomon Grundy presents if they still control him. My point is, rushing to confront them again is too risky."

"There are always going to be risks." Courtney tells him. The cosmic staff makes a noise and she flies into the air with it, taking down each other the dumbies as they group back up and watch. "I'm ready, don't you think?"

"Cool Court; I don't think I'm ready." Shelby tells her sister annoyed.

Pat sighs. "Darn it, Court, this exercise wasn't just for you." he tells her placing his hands on his hips. 

"You could've saved one of those for me to practice on." Yolanda chimes in.

"Me too. I'm a newbie at all this." Beth brings up.

"That was lame." Rick tells the shorter blonde with his arms crossed.

"All right, well, let's just call it for today. We'll pick it up again tomorrow, all right? You'll do it tomorrow." Pat tells the other four who look annoyed as they grab their things and head out the door.

"I'm heading home." Shelby calls out to Pat and Courtney, not in the mood to hear the arguing that will continue. "I have a game to practice for."

---------------

"So, you're sure you can handle them?" Barbara questions as she walks down the stairs were the 3 kids wait as Pat follows behind her with a bag.

"They're not babies, Barbara." Pat reasures her.

Mike nods, "We've got it all under control, Barbara. Dad's going to take us to the homecoming game tonight."

"He is?" Courtney questions.

Pat nods, "Yeah, Shelby's gonna be cheering on the team. Figured we'd all watch along."

The blonde mother turns to her eldest, "I'm sorry I'm going to miss you cheer." she tells her.

Shelby just smiles, "There will be more things to cheer for, no worries." she reasures her mom. "At least you see me in the uniform."

"You look fantastic." her mom compliments. "It sounds like you'll have fun." she says to the other two.

"This has gotten me through many boring cross country road trips with my dad." Mike says handing Barbara a bag of treats. "Circus peanuts. Gobstoppers. Pop Rocks, when you need a little extra boost."

"Oh, Mike, you're so thoughtful! Thank you. Thank you, sweetheart." she says hugging the boy. "Aw, come on, group hug. Group hug." she says looking ot her daughters who oblige to the big hug. "Oh, I'm going to miss you guys so much!"

"Okay, we gotta go." Pat reminds her as they release from the hug.

"Good luck!" Courtney calls out.

"Stay Safe." Shelby tells her mom as she leaves.

-----------------------

"Lets go Shelby! Come on Dogs!" Pat shouts from the stands as they watch the pre game show of the cheerleaders and the band. The two kids looking bored, as they look his way. "What? Gotta get into it. Cheer on your sister."

Courtney just gives him an awkward smile and Mike nods clapping along as he watched the Cheerleaders. The game starts and Shelby was leaning on the fence trying to stetch a bit and not wince at the bit of pain she still felt. The bruise had gone down but she was still using makeup to dull it down.

"I didn't take you as the cheerleader type honestly." Rick says leaning on the other side of the fence.

She sighs, "Didn't take you for a football fan." she counters, looking at him from over her shoulder.

"I'm not. My uncle came, he's a fan when he's bored." he explains to her. "So, cheerleading?"

"Cindy asked me to join the team. I've never done it and thought, why not." she explains to him.

"Cindy Burman? Your friends with her and Henry?" Rick questions with a rasied eyebrow.

"Yeah? Why?" Shelby asks making him scoff.

"They're like the biggests bullies at school? Have you seriously not noticed?" he tells her making her turn to face him.

Shelby looks a bit confused, "No... I-"

Cindy shouts, "Shelby lets go!" making her flinch at the sudden interruption.

"Rick, I had no ide-" she was cut off again.

"I mean it blondie! Stop talking to that loser and hurry up!" she shouts again.

She looks at Rick apologetically. "Forget it Shelby. It's not like we're friends, right?" he tells her before walking away making her sigh.

Chapter Text

Shelby sits in the Pit stop, tears in her eyes at the news they just recieved. Courtney got hurt in a fight and is now in the hospital. Yolanda sits next to her holding her hand in comfort.

"What the hell are we doing just standing here?" Rick shouts in frustration as he tosses stuff of one of the tables, "Cindy Burman sent Courtney to the emergency room tonight! She tried to kill her!" he says walking over to the two, Beth trailing behind.

"So, what should we do?" Yolanda questions, standing up but keeping a hold on the blondes hand.

"We break Cindy Burman's door down, and we take the bitch out!" Rick answers as if it's obvious.

Shelby looks up confused, "What? No, Cindy has powers."

"So do we. Don't you care that your so called friend nearly killed your sister?" he throws back at her.

She stands, "Of course I care! But going into this with no plan won't end well for us." she argues.

"We have powers." he brings back up.

"Cindy Burman having powers means that her dad or her mom could be part of the Injustice Society." Beth brings to their attention.

"Great, lets hope so." Rick replies walking past her and grabbing his hour glass before heading for the door.

Shelby and Beth step infront of him, stopping him. "Hey, we have no idea what we'd be walking into, or who we'd be up against." Beth tells him.

"We have to be smart about this. Compared to the ISA, we're going in blind." The blonde adds.

Rick huffs, "An eye for an eye is how it works." he tells them.

"Listen, Rick, I'm mad too. But you just need to sit down and cool off." Beth tries to reason with him.

"Or what? What are you gonna do? Stare at me?" Rick argues with her, glaring down at her.

Shelby moves to stand infront of Beth and take his glare. "Just because you're hurt, doesn't mean you get to hurt everyone else. Or am I completely wrong, Rick?"

He moves away from the two, going back to the table he cleared off and banged his fist down on it in frustration keeping his back to the girls. "Listen, I care about Courtney, about all of you. About everyone in Blue Valley. But we should be trying to figure out who Cindy's parents are before we act." Beth steps up looking at everyone.

"I think Beth's right Rick." Yolanda says making the boy turn around.

"Okay. So, what do you wanna do?" He questions looking at Beth.

"I've got a plan. A good one."

---------------------------

"How are ya feeling?" Shelby asks as she enters her sisters room.

Courtney scrunches her face, "I'm alright." she replies with hesitance.

"What are we telling mom?" she asks sitting next to her sister on the bed.

"Pat was teaching me to drive after the game, I crashed it into a pole. Mike was with a friend and you stayed after for a cheer meeting." Courtney explains with a sigh.

"Why'd you go off by yourself? You could have waited for us." Shelby says softly, not wanting to scold her as she's already hurt.

"She came out of no where. I wasn't... trying to fight her, I just wanted to look around." the younger sister explains.

"Pat says your benched for a while?" she asks and Courtney nods.

"He wants to tell mom the truth." she brings ups.

The older sister's eyes widen, "What? She won't let us do this if we tell her. Is he crazy?"

"He's being a dad." Courtney tells her. "He doesn't want her to worry and for us to lie."

Shelby sighs, "We're teenagers, worrying and lying are a given as a parent." she says before joining her sister in laying down. "We'll get through this, what's a few bruises and," she looks her sister over, "cuts to stop us."

Courtney smiles, "You still wanna be Gimmix after everything."

"I've been working on some fun things to add to my belt. Besides, I've got a suit that I've been working on so I won't bruise as much." the older explains with a nod.

"Can't wait to see." Courtney says before letting out a yawn, "Stay with me tonight?"

"Always baby sis."

------------------------------

"She was here." Courtney says the second her sister enters her room after here 'SOS' text.

Shelby look confused, "Who was?"

The younger Whotmore groans, "Cindy! She was here, was acting normal pretending to be friends. Then when she left she said she knew I was Stargirl and threatened to kill my friends and you."

Her eyes widen, "Shit."

"Yeah! And, Pat and Beth are inside Cindy's house! Yolanda's not replying to my texts." the curly blonde says with a bit of panic.

Shelby places her hands on her sisters's shoulders, "Hey. It'll be okay. Pat won't let anything happen to them. We had a plan to stake out, it seems things changed after I left them though. They'll be fine." she reasures her.

"Yeah... Yeah, they'll be fine." Courtney says taking a deep breathe. "Come on." she says getting out of bed.

"Woah, slow down." she tries to tell her but the younger girl wasn't listening and rushes down stairs and to the basement. "Court."

Courtney was quick even while injured, opening up the crate and grabbing her staff. "Come on. We have to help the JSA." she says to both her sister and the staff.

The staff glows and moves itself out of the girls hands. "Hey." Courtney complains and goes to move the staff but it stays in place, fighting against her movements. "What's wrong with you? Pat and the others are in trouble." she says and the Staff lets up and allows her to move it.

"What are you gonna do Court?" Shelby questions as they head back upstairs.

"Stop Cindy before she hurts anyone else." she explains, changing into her Stargirl outfit.

"My suits not done, just wait..." she tries to reason with her sister.

"If I wait you could die." Courtney tells her as she puts on the mask.

"Court, come on. Think about it. Last time you fought her alone you ended up in the hospital. Do you think going alone again would be smart." Shleby tries again.

"I don't care. I need to stop her." Courtney says opening her window and flying out of it.

"Courtney!"

Chapter Text

"Hey, thanks for coming." Henry says as he opens the door and lets Shelby in.

She looks at him with a bit of hesitence but nods, "Yeah, you seemed a bit... frazzled on the phone."

"I need to... to show you something. I feel like your the only one who'll... get it. You just have to hear me out." he says leading her into his home and into a study.

"Okay?" she was now confused but follows him in. A VCR tv was in there along with a pile of tapes.

"Don't... freak out." he tells her before walking over to the desk. She watches as he looks at the desk. For a moment nothing happens then slowly, a pen begins to levitate.

Shelby's eyes widen, "Holy shit." she whispers as the pen moves where ever his eyes went. Then suddenly it drops with a soft clink back on the desk.

"My dad has powers... and now I have powers... And I just really need to talk to someone about it." he tells her walking over to her. "And one other thing, Your sister..." now he hesitates.

"I know." she blurts out now making him confused.

"You know?" he questions.

"I know about Courtney. Um, when... when did you start having powers?" she asks, unsure.

He stares at her in disbelief. "No, wait. You know Courtney blew up my car."

Now it was her turn to look at him shocked, "She blew up your car?" she questions, "She didn't mention the car."

He shakes his head, "Whatever, I don't want to deal with her, just.... Come here." he motions for her to sit and pulls another char to sit next to her as he inserts another tape that read day 23 into the VCR. 

"As my abilities continue to grow, so too does my confidence in them" a younger Dr. King says on the tape to them.

Henry looks around and slowly the tapes that were on the floor begin to float around them. "Woah." she comments as they both look up in awe. He adds more, tapes and random things from the shelves float around as well.

Suddenly he drops everything but a letter opener and flings it at the book case making it stuck in the wood. Shelby tenses up at that. "Maybe we should... just head to school."

----------------------------

Henry didn't want to go to school with her, he just drops her off. She is a bit on edge, sure Henry wouldn't hurt her but his dad... his dad was someone who hurt lots of people.

"Hey." Rick says making her jump.

"Hey." she replies as they walk down the hall.

"You missed a meeting." he tells her.

"We had a meeting?" she asks confused before pulling out her phone and seeing the missed texts. "Oh."

"Yeah. Courtney wanted to include Henry into the JSA." Rick tells her making her look at him surprised.

"Henry? I... I don't think he's up for something like that. He's-" she's cut off.

"An unstable asshole." he fills in.

"I was gonna say focused on his dad." she corrects.

He looks at her confused, "You make friends with the worst people you know that?"

Shelby laughs, "Oh really, is that why we're not friends?" she replies sarcastically.

He rolls his eyes, "We're friends. I just don't like your other friends." he corrects her as they arrive at her locker.

"Look, when we're at school we're trying to not attract attention of any of the ISA or their kids.  Cindy put two and two together, who's to say some other kid can't. That's why I try and steer clear of you guys, besides... I'm a Junior, I'm suppose to run in a different circle." she whispers to him as she pretends to look for her notebook.

"Is that why you keep saying we're not friends? To keep a cover?" he questions with a scoff.

She pauses and looks at him, "I don't have strength like you. Or super suit immunity like the others. I'm saving my ass by pretending to not know a thing. We're friends, okay? I just don't need you freaking out in public next time I take a hit for you."

He huffs and closes her locker making her jump as he leans towards her. "You don't get to decided when I do or don't care. We're a team. I'm going to be worried when you're friends with two assholes who happen to be kids of ISA members. Who's to say they won't take you to hurt next." he says lowly as he traps her against the locker.

"Henry won't-"

"He would. He's his father's son. He has powers now. He can hurt you before you even breath out a 'hi' to him. Steer clear of him." he warns her before leaning back a bit.

"Or what Rick? You'll hurt me? Cause right now I'm more scared of you then I am of him." she whispers making him back up and realize he let his anger get the better of him.

"Shelby..." he tries to say but she was gone, rushing down the hall away from him making him sigh and kicks the locker in frustration.

-----------------------

'sorry.' the text read making the blonde sigh, as she got another text from Rick.

'Respond to Rick. He's in a mood.' another text reads but from Beth.

'Shelby please, I'm sorry.' another text dings and she tosses her phone on her bed and heads downstairs as the doorbell rings.

She pauses at the stairs as her sister opens the door to reveal, "Cameron?" Courtney questions seeing him and his family.

"Hi, Court." the teen boy greets, "Hey Shelby." he says seeing the other girl.

"Hi." she returns, confused. 

"Uh, come in." Courtney tells the four and they nod.

Pleasntries were exchanged, mainly fussing about Courtney's accident while Shelby just gives them polite smiles. "I didn't know you were coming over." she mutters to Cameron who shrugs.

"I didn't know we were coming to your place." he explains as they all wander in the dinning room.

"Guess we were both told last minute.." she jokes making him smile as Courtney eyes them curiously.

They all sat down and serving plates were being placed down by Pat and Barbara. Shelby nodded to her sister to come sit next to him and she looked at her panic'd but listened as Shelby wanders to sit across from her mom and next to Mike. It was a squeeze but 9 people at an 8 people table is something they had to deal with.

"Well, this all smells incredible, Pat." Jordan compliments, sitting on one end of the table.

Pat smiles, "Chicken and dumplings. It's, uh, old Dugan family tradition."

"Well, we actually have a family tradition ourselves, if you don't mind. A Norwegian grace." Jordan says and the adults nod.

"Oh, please." Pat says gesturing for them to go ahead.

The three put their hands together and bow their heads as the adults speak in Norwegian. Cameron just puts his hands together and watch his dad. "Don't look at me. I studied French." he says seeing Courtney silently questioning him.

They all laugh as Barbara starts to enjoy dinner. "So, Courtney... Cameron tells me that you're quite the gymnast. Your sister too, is that right?" Jordan questions.

Courtney nods, "I... was." and Shelby just nods.

"In Valley Village, they were the best on the team. Shelby enjoyed Martial Arts a bit more though." their mom comments.

"Oh, wow. Really?" Jordan comments, giving the girls a look of being impressed. "I've always admired athletes."

"I hear you're quite the artist, Cameron." Barbara comments, "What kind?"

"Uh, paints mostly." he answers.

"Like his mother" Camerons grandmother adds.

"Maybe you can encourage Shelby to paint again." The blonde woman says.

"Mom." Shelby says giving her mom a wide eyed look.

"What? You use to paint all the time." she adds.

"Why'd you stop?" Cameron questions making the older teen blush at the attention on her.

"Uh, just focus'd on school more. Started high school and the after school stuff." she replies with a shrug.

"Well if you want to do something besides cheer, theirs art club." Cameron tells her with a small smile to which she nods.

"So how about you, Pat?" Jordan asks, shifting the attention to the other adult. "I hear you run the old garage off Main Street?"

"Yeah, I mostly focus on classic cars, but, uh, you know, in a small town like this, I take whatever work comes my way." Pat tells him with a nod.

"I guess you could do your work anywhere, right? So, why move to Blue Valley, if you don't mind me asking?" Jordan questions curiously.

"No. Uh... Well... The pace, the people. And, uh, Barbara of course grew up here, so..." Pat explains.

"Right. Growing up in the cornfields, and going to the theater, and living the perfect American life." Jordan comments.

"Hmm, It was not perfect, trust me. Not back then." Barbara corrects.

"Uh, Blue Valley's not perfect now, Mom." Courtney jumps in.

"Oh, it's getting there." Jordan tells her.

"Yeah, Blue Valley's going to be an example of a better America built on the most important building block of all... families." Barbara explains.

"That's great mom." Shelby says earning a smile from the blonde.

"If only everyone felt the the same way as us, huh?" Jordan jokes.

"I like her." the grandpa says in Norwegian to his wife.

"Her daughter bothers me." she replies in the other language, looking at Courtney, "The other is better." she adds looking over at Shelby next to her. The teen just gives her a smile, not knowing what was being said.

"Well, if it's okay, I'm gonna have some more. This is delicious." Jordan tells the family, leaning over to see the dish empty.

Mike, who had just scooped the last bit into his bowl clears his throat awkwardly, "Hey, Dad. Chicken dumplings are gone."

"I see that." Pat says looking at his son unamused.

"I can see if theirs more in the kitchen, if you'd like." Shelby offers, standing.

"Well, thank you." Jordan says as she grabs the serving dish and heads into the kitchen. 

Shelby only sees one glove for the oven, she rolls her eyes and opens it. Thinking it had cool'd down she goes to grab it only to hiss and retracks her hand. Turning she spots the other glove and grabs it before pulling out the new dish and walking back to the dinnering room.

"Ah, fantastic. Thank you." Jordan says as she reenters, she makes her way over to him. "Uh, let me move these for you." he moves the salt and pepper out of the way allowing her to set down the dish on the table.

He nods back, "Thank you Shelby."

She goes to warn him that it's hot but Buddy jumps on Mike's lap distracting them. "Mike don't feed him at the table." Pat scolds.

"Mike, get him down." Barbara adds.

Shelby shakes her head and turns to Jordan only to hold her breath seeing him holding the hot dish with no problem. She glances over at Courtney who's eyes were wide seeing what he was doing. Slowly, Shelby goes back to her seat, shooing Buddy away as she gets there.

A look of realization crosses Courtney's face, "Pat!...I think, Shelby left something in the oven and it's gonna burn." she lies.

"Oh shoot." Shelby adds, rushing to get up.

"Need a hand?" Pat offers.

"Yes please." she calls out and Courtney rushes to follow.

Pat just nods, and clamly follows after them. "Excuse me."

Courtney looks more panic'd then Shelby, who was good about keeping her anxiety of this under control. The two kneel by the oven as Pat joins them confused. "There's nothing there." he says as they open the oven.

"I think Jordan is Icicle." Courtney tells him quickly.

He blinks, "What?"

"Listen, that plate I brought out was super hot, and he grabbed it like it was nothing and seems fine. Look." Shelby whispers showing them her finger tips that were red.

"What, he touched a hot plate?" Pat questions quietly catching up with the information. He closes the oven and they all stand up. "I don't know. Jordan Mahkent? Are you two sure?"

Courtney looks around Pat to the table, giving Cameron a small smile before looking at the two next to her with concern. "If Jordan is one of them, does that mean Cameron is, too? Like Cindy?"

"Oh god." Shelby says keeping herself from looking over at the table.

"I don't know." Pat tells them.