This story/scene takes place after this scene and before This one.
Zoe sighed and shook her head. "Yes, I could fight it, but I would lose. My options are take the medical leave and early retirement, or spend a whole lot of money for attorneys and court fees, and still not be a cop."
Her cousin nodded sadly, saying, "which is no choice at all."
"Yup. Pretty much." They fell into silence. Her nieces were somewhere in the laughing mass of kids on the playground. Zoe sounded much calmer about this than she felt. She could control her teleportation now. Despite losing her temper quite a few times, she hadn't rage teleported in over 6 months. Still, she wasn't going to be allowed back to the job she'd wanted since she was a kid.
Zoe looked up when her cousin jumped up and jogged to one of the trees. Zoe followed her slowly at first, then faster when she realized her older niece had climbed very high into that tree. Her cousin first sounded annoyed, then worried. The little girl was too scared to climb back down.
"I'll get her," Zoe told her cousin.
"No, I don't want you both to fall. I'll call for help..." She trailed off, phone in hand. Zoe vanished from the ground, reappearing on the branch next to her niece. The girl shrieked as her aunt hugged her close. Then both reappeared next to Zoe's stunned cousin. For a moment, everything was silence, then the park exploded with noise - the rescued niece bursting into tears, her mother laughing and crying at the same time, and everyone else shouting in surprise and confusion. Some of the children were whisked away by nervous parents. Others, eventually, returned to playing.
Zoe's younger niece, wide eyed, whispered a question, "Are you a superhero?" Zoe's mind tilted. The big black "Ex-cop" stamped across her self image cracked.
"I just might be," she answered, giving her a hug.
"You can do, aunt Zoe!" she said encouragingly, then ran off to join her friends.
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