Chapter One

Noah attempted to slam the door shut against what seemed like hundreds of suitcases wondering why his family had packed half the house for a two week trip.

"Now remember the emergency numbers are taped to the fridge and if you want your group to come over I've left some pizza coupons by the phone." Noah's mother instructed him as she attempted to find the right key ring. "Are you sure that you don't want to go? I mean, I don't think anyone would mind you," she cut herself off and smiled at Noah a bit sadly as if to tell him that she felt his pain. Noah just waved his mother off with a smile and went back to helping his family load up for the Winter Superhero Recruitment Fair. It wasn't as though Natalie needed to be looked over and sweet talk the groups into taking her, they'd been sending her letters begging for Noah's sister to join once she got of age since middle school. But apparently their parents thought that the more time Natalie spent talking to superheroes the greater chance of her getting a great status with them.

"Just think, Natalie might even be invited to join the Divines!" Their father said throwing the last small suitcase into the car.

"Not unless there's a goddess of electrical equipment," Noah mumbled under his breath as Natalie laughed.

"Don't worry," she reassured Noah giving him a hug and whispering into his ear. "They're all a bunch of stuck up loonies anyway. I'll bring you back a souvenir, alright?"

"Yeah," Noah replied half heartedly giving her a quick squeeze back before the parents whisked Natalie into the car and waved their son a quick goodbye, still chattering about how maybe this time Natalie would be promised top billing even though she had just turned 17. The redheaded twin turned and gave her brother thumbs up and mouthed at him to take care, he smiled back then retreated into the warm sanctuary of the house. Four hours until patrol time, Noah wondered if he could get all of his holiday homework done before then.

* * * * *

The darkening, slush filled streets didn't hold many people so Noah figured that for the next two hours he could sleep and miss nothing. Though he guessed that anything was better then just staying at home doing holiday homework, even if that anything was walking aimlessly in the biting cold and trying to keep Dawn and Eric from sniping at each other too much over the walkie-talkies.

"We could just turn it off and you wouldn't have to hear what he has to say," Noah suggested to Dawn who gave him a glare in response. Sighing the teenager decided that he didn't really want to start his holiday break by starting a fight with anyone so he changed tactics. "What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

"Mom wants me to fly to Paris with her for a pick-up. I don't care if you think I'll make the French hate us more Eric, it's not like you're ever going so shut up!"

"Yeah? Just like me then. Busy, busy," Noah tried to come up with something to help the holiday pass by quicker that didn't involve chores.

"Hey, isn't that Gabriel?" Dawn asked pointing out a dirt and rag encrusted figure hiding between two torn cardboard boxes. "Haven't seen him in a while." Noah nodded then jogged over to the hobo to hand over money, leaving Dawn to screech at Eric about his remark about her clothing making her look like a cheap whore. As always the sight of the unshaven old hobo made Noah feel guilty, something he attempted to stop by shoving money into the old man's hands whenever they crossed paths; even if Gabriel sometimes hated charity.

The old man looked up as Noah walked up, a happy smile lit the man's face making it seem almost beautiful even with his missing teeth. "Noah," he greeted the teenager. "I see you've dyed your hair since I saw you last." Noah nervously ran his fingers through his now black hair and smiled back, bending down to place it into the holy blankets. "You know that God loves you?"

"Happy Thanksgiving Gab," Noah mumbled feeling embarrassed and attempted to straighten up quickly. The old man's arm shot out faster then Noah would have thought was possible from one so decrepit and clenched the teen's arm in a death clamp.

"You can't panic when the world burns down around your ears," the old man's decaying breath brushed against Noah's face making the teenager gag.

"Gabriel you're hurting me," Noah tried to keep his voice light. The hobo blinked then smiled sweetly and patted the teenager on the top of his head.

"You're a good boy, giving money to me." The old man said before softly breaking into Silent Night leaving the boy to shake his head and jog back to Dawn's side.

"Are you alright?" The blond haired girl asked when he came into view. Noah looked back a Gabriel who was apparently holding court with a couple rocks and nodded. "Good because Jamie just radioed in, she says something's happened at the bank."

"What is it?" Noah asked as he broke into a soft jog so Dawn could keep up, even with her heels.

"I don't know," Dawn panted as they skidded to a stop in front of her parked car. "They said something about a robbery at the intersection of Smith and Jones, but she doesn't know what they'd want us for."

"Maybe they need some extra hands with crowd control again. You recall last year?" Last year on the big wedding gown sale to be precise, Noah really hadn't thought that the cops would trust their group to go any crowd control after that little fiasco. Sure, none of it had been their fault; no one had died, only a few people ended up needing stitches, and a few gowns had been ripped. Personally Nosh felt that A SWAT team with tear gas wouldn't have had much luck.

The excitement rose in Noah making his stomach tingle as he pictured himself telling Natalie about what had happened.

* * * * *

"Good god," one of the cops groaned as a wanna-be bank robber went flying through the thick glass panes that had once covered the bank's proud doors. "The poor man." Then as an afterthought, "I hope the hostages are alright."

"It's one of the Divines," Dawn needlessly breathed to them as a god-like man strode through the shattered doors and felt for a pulse. The man looked up, his pale skin and dark brown hair seeming to glow in the streetlamp light as he gave them all a blinding white smile. Eric made a rude noise in the back of his throat and hunched down into his leather jacket in response.

"What the hell are they doing here?" The blond man grumbled to the others. "Let me guess, it's been ages since they've gotten their pictures on the front page of a newspaper!"

"Eric!" Dawn gasped in shock as she and a few other members of the crowd watched the Divine with looks of total awe. Noah agreed with Eric but kept his mouth shut, knowing that it would come out a bit more resentful then the teenager really wanted to sound.

The Divines where the top heroes in the world. Started during World War Two by the allied powers in order to stop the generically gifted and scientifically mutated axis powered soldiers, every child had learned about them in school. In the decades following the end of the war the Divines had refused to be governed by the UN and had instead started their own peacekeeping force that swelled from the original three to twenty-five. Twenty-five of the most gifted humans on the planet who bowed down to no one and no one country. Twenty-five people who obeyed the Divines laws or suffered for it, Twenty-five people who could have made themselves gods to be worshipped but instead named themselves after them and worked to save people from the big stuff and spent their days trying to get people to give money to third world nations.

Noah hated their guts at the moment. "Why the hell do they need us and the cops in crowd control? It's not like the crowd is doing anything but staring and trying to take pictures." Noah glared at the yellow plastic barricade as though this was its entire fault that he'd been called out to do nothing there when he could have been doing nothing someplace warmer.

The others didn't seem as bored by the whole thing; Dawn was strutting up and down the sidewalk preening for anyone with cameras and telling anyone close by about how she could haven been in any super group that she'd wanted. Jamie was talking to her son on someone's cell phone, explaining why Bruce had to stay with his grandmother just a little bit longer that night while Kris shouted greetings right next to Jamie's ear. Eric was the only other person to look even remotely ticked off, but since he always seemed to be pissed at the world Noah didn't bother trying to strike up a conversation. So he looked around for something better to do then stand and look like he was even slightly important.

A woman clenching a camera with both hands as she attempted to look like she wasn't sneaking her way down a side alley caught Noah's eye; and he sighed at the fact that she was trying to get closer to a fight that involved guns and powers but grinned at the fact that he was going to have to go after her.

Cheerfully Noah walked into the ally he'd seen the woman going down. The alley, grey with a scent of molding garbage mixed with that of maggots' lunch, made Noah gag before he pulled himself together and told himself that he was only going to be here for a moment. He looked around for the woman, his mouth pressing down into a frown as Noah noticed that not only had she apparently disappeared but the alley led a lot closer to the fight going on then Noah would have liked.

"Hey, who are you?" A voice snapped above Noah making him jump back, his foot sinking into something soft that gave off an odor not unlike that of rotting peaches. As Noah's gag reflex rose up as he pushed himself away not really thinking about anything but trying not to vomit all over the concrete floor or running away screaming like a little boy who'd just found a monster in his closet.

"God what's up with you kids trying to get close to the action?" A wary and slightly nasal voice asked from above Noah's head. Craning Noah found himself staring at a middle aged man in what looked like a toga and winged slippers. Hermes, known for being one of those involved in the fake alien invasion crisis a couple years ago. One of the top guns inside of the Divines and someone that Noah wouldn't have expected to find at a small time bank robbery.

"Er.. I-I was on crowd control and saw someone slip into the ally," Noah stuttered feeling his face going hot as Hermes gave him what was probably suppose to be a patient look but look more like Hermes was trying not to fall asleep in mid-air. Noah responded by looking around the ally and wondering if he should keep on looking for the woman or leave and allow Hermes to handle it, if it even needed handling.

From the mouth of the alley the crowd cheered, catching the teenager's attention. He turned to see what was going on as the bright flash of cameras went off followed what sounded like liquid hitting the ground from someplace up high and the hollow thump of something solid.

Hermes was floundering around on the ground making wet, chocking noises as vomit waterfalled out of his mouth. Noah started, his mind screaming at him to do something, to get help as at the same time a voice sounding a lot like Kris informed Noah that he was also a superhero, and heroes needed to help others. The latter voice won out and Noah scurried to Hermes body, which by now was just shuttering.

"Well Kris'll be happy to know her First Aid training came in handy," Noah told Hermes as he tried to recall what one was suppose to do after they made sure that the body wasn't chocking on the vomit. He looked around for his walkie-talkie, wrinkling his nose as he found it in right next to him, covered with the puke. "Get him someplace safe, someplace where someone with more training can take care of him." Noah grabbed the man's toga, ignoring the ripping noises it made as he dragged the Divine towards the mouth.

"Oh my god!" Someone screamed as Noah came huffing back into the streetlights. "That kid killed Hermes!"

"I did not!" Noah tried to yell back but his entire body was starting to give out. Someone shoved Noah roughly away then bent down over the hero's body, mumbling stuff in a language Noah couldn't place, then yelling towards the bank. The ground around Noah and the downed man suddenly became alive with color, people mumbling to each other as they whisked Hermes away then shooed the crowed away with smiles and reassurances of how it was all an example of using to much power. Nothing at all to be scared of, everyone was just over reacting.

The crowd finally melted away, followed by the cops leading hostages and ex-robbers until Noah was all alone with the Divines and his group.

"What the hell do you mean you have to ask Noah a couple things?" Jamie snarled, her hands clenched at her sides as she faced the Divines giant and poked him as close to the chest as she could reach. "We're a team and that means we don't leave anyone behind!"

"Besides for all we know you're going to try and stick this fucking thing on him," surprised that Eric was sticking up for him Noah tried to catch the older male's eye and smile. Eric winked then crossed his arms against anyone trying to come within grabbing reach.

Noah closed his eyes against the noise as everyone started fighting again, he wanted to tell them something but really didn't know what it was. When he opened them again the same person who'd gone after the robber through the door was squatting in front of Noah. The teenager made a slightly questioning noise earning a faint smile.

"I'm Nodens," the Divine said with a voice and smile made to make people melt. Noah thought it was a nice that Nodens was being nice and not shouting like the others and giving him a headache. There was also something about a woman that Noah felt had to be important; he opened his mouth to ask Nodens what the Divine thought only to vomit all over the other's shoes.