Helping Hand [Tesser]

[Ted Kord]

Ted wasn't entirely sure what he could be getting himself into. Tesser was a strange little girl, and he didn't exactly have experience in any kind of child care. He was drawn to the child however, feeling sympathy for her urchin-like lifestyle. She had regailed him with stories of her time in Arkham and in various orphanages and his heart went out to the girl. Ted had a happy childhood, and a fairly healthy relationship with his business man father.

He often sought out the child and made sure she was well and took her to get a bite to eat. He was prepared to make a somewhat stranger offer to the child. He sought the streets for her as he wondered how he would present his idea. It would involve sending her to social services, yes. But Ted would assure her that she would not be in the system for long at all before he would take her in as a foster child. She knew he was a superhero, and knew him as Blue Beetle. Soon however, she would get to learn his alter ego.

[tesseract]

One of the nice things about living in a place like this, was the many free playgrounds and parks. Not only was it one of the places where Tesser actually fit in, but what kid didn't enjoy monkey bars and slides?

Hanging from those self-same monkey bars by her knees, it took her a while to recognise the man in costume walking in her direction. When she finally did realize who it was, she let out an overjoyed squeel and slipped down from her upside down perch, landing with a thump on the sand. Not noticing her fall, the young girl scrambled up and ran to meet Ted.

She reached the man and danced in circles around him, leting fourth a flood of words, "Where have you been? It's been forever since I saw you! Of course you probably have way more important stuff to do than see me, but hey - I haven't been abandoned thus far, right?"

Calming down, she wandered over to a sunwarmed bench and settled down. Blue Beetle was one of her favorite people, he had always been kind to her, allowing her to go her way with a less dictatorial stance than most adults. And for that, the little red head was more willing to comply with him. There wasn't much she wouldn't have done for him if he had asked it.

[Ted Kord]

Blue Beetle was deep in his own thoughts. A shrill cry broke his concentration however and he looked up to see the tiny girl fall from the playground monkey bars and landed with surprisingly loud thud. She paid the fall no mind, and hurried over to him. He looked down at her and smiled as she let her excitement be known.

"I've been in space", he said with the smile still warm on his face as he referred to the watchtower.

He watched as she raced over to one of the benches and took a seat. Ted quickly followed, and sat next to the girl a bit stiffly. "I've been doing some thinking about your situation...", he began a bit slowly. Tesser was quite smart for her age, and he could speak to her like someone much older. Still, he decided to start with the happier side of the deal. "How would you like me to be your foster dad?"

[tesseract]

Tesser gasped at Ted's new story. "Space!" She exclaimed, overawed. "Do you have a spaceship? I bet you fought lots alians!" She made gun shapes with her hands and shot imaginary space foes. "Krakow! Krakow!"

However, the next part of her adventurus saga was cut short with Blue Beetle's next words. foster father The words... seemed to real. Immedietly all pretenses of acting like a normal little girl faded away. Twisting akwardly in her sitting position and looking at him seriously through the faded black blindfold, her voice took on the tone of someone much older and more mature than she.

"Oh my - Oh my lord." she finally got out, stumbling over her words like a clumsy three year old. "You - you want to, adopt me?" It seemed as though time were standing still. Biting her lower lip she nodded slowly, a disbelieving grin glowing through layers of dirt and street grime. But ever sensable, she asked a moment later, "Sooo, what's the catch?"