EPILOGUE
CHAPTER TWENTY
EPILOGUE
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* * * *
You have nineteen (19) missed calls from Rebecca.
You have eleven (11) new voicemails. Latest received August 31 at 9:59 pm.
“You’ve reached Jeffrey Kaplan. Please leave your name and message and I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can.”
“I just heard from Billy, he told me they’ve taken you to Southside Memorial so I’m on my way now. God, I…I’m so glad you’re okay, sweetheart. When I heard that Billy was with you, my heart just- But you’re fine. You’re okay, thank God. I’ll see you soon but if you happen to get this first: Jeffrey Kaplan, I love you. I love you so, so much.”
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* * * *
Boyf
+416 2242-044
Hey, I have to go do some damage control
with my parents.Let me know what the doctor says about your dad, okay?
Of course.
Are they really mad?
More confused I think.
I don’t know if they buy that we were
visiting as part of an outreach program
three days before school starts.Ugh they’re gonna hate me
They will not
They’re worried about you too
That’s so much worse
I nearly got their son killed
Excuse you
Their son nearly got their son killed.
You are way too chill about nearly
dying in a prison riotOh dw I’m repressing the hell out of
it. My therapist has no idea what she’s
in for this month.So has your dad said anything yet?
Typing…
No. Not yet.
Hang in there, babe.
He’ll come around.
I hope so.
* * * * *
* * * *
“Is that Eddie?”
Billy glances at his brother reflexively and smiles awkwardly. “Yeah. He has to check in with his parents. They’re pretty freaked out about all this.”
“I bet.” Tommy sighs, leg bouncing even in his hospital bed. It makes the saline IV drip plugged into his arm jitter incessantly, but other than dehydration and malnutrition, he’s no worse for wear.
Billy secretly wishes he had a pinch of superspeed healing. The cast on his arm itches already and every time he speaks, it tugs at the stitches in his lip. He looks like someone tossed him through a meat grinder.
“What about your Dad?” Tommy wonders aloud. “Any word on Lawyer Jeff?”
He teases but there’s real worry in his voice. It still blows his mind that his dad has been representing Tommy for months and Billy had no idea. He’d wonder what the odds are but frankly, it seems exactly like the kind of coincidence that would happen to screw him over.
“I don’t know.” Billy confesses. “I think they’re waiting for my mom to get here before they tell me anything, you know?”
“Can’t you just…?” Tommy wiggles his fingers meaningfully around his temple.
But Billy only winces. “I think I might actually combust if I tried telepathy right now. God, everything hurts.”
“It’ll be alright.” Tommy says confidently. “Lawyer Jeff’s a tough guy. It’ll take more than Phillips of all people to take him out.”
Billy doesn’t know who Phillips is but he appreciates the sentiment. “I hope so. Did he…did he say anything to you? In the ambulance?”
Tommy shakes his head. “Nope. But they loaded him up on morphine pretty quick, I don’t think he could say his own name.”
“Yeah.” Billy sighs, studying the ceiling above him. He can’t help but replay the look on his dad’s face when Billy exploded in that interview room, his magic on full, spectacular display. He seemed so confused. Scared, even. What did he think was happening? How was Billy going to explain this?
“You know,” Tommy says suddenly. “If your dad can see the good in a screw up like me, he’ll probably be able to see it in his own kid.”
“You’re not a screw up.” Billy says immediately. “I mean, no more than I am.”
“I bet you get straight As, you little nerd.” Tommy chuckles. “Perfect attendance, perfect boyfriend, never skip a curfew.”
Billy rolls his eyes. “You’ve been in that body for three months, what could you have possibly done that’s so bad?”
“I planted evidence to get a guy arrested.” Tommy says bluntly. “Beat up my mom’s boyfriend too. Lied to the police, multiple times. Maybe got a guy killed. That was an accident though.”
“I manifested a magical legend that killed three members of my coven.” Billy blurts out. “That was an accident too.”
Tommy raises a brow. “Huh. Well, that’s a new one.”
“I’m just saying,” Billy takes a deep breath. “It hasn’t been easy. None of it.”
“Eh, you turned out okay.” Tommy waves a hand dismissively. “And your dad will see that too.”
Before Billy can reply, there’s a voice calling his name from across the hospital ward that almost instantly brings him to tears.
“Mom.” He sighs in relief as Rebecca Kaplan charges for him, wrapping him in a hug so tight he can feel every single bruised rib sing with pain and so warm that he doesn’t care.
“Oh my baby,” she murmurs into his hair, holding him with slightly trembling hands. “Oh, I was so worried. Are you alright? Are you hurt, what’s the cast for? Where’s your father?”
“I’m fine, mom.” Billy promises her, even though she can clearly see the evidence to the contrary for herself. “Just some bruises and bumps. The doctor hasn’t told me about Dad yet but he was conscious in the ambulance.”
His mom presses her lips together, studying his face like she’d like to wrap every inch of him in bubble wrap for the foreseeable future. “I was…when I got the call, I…you promised me you wouldn’t scare me like this again, Billy.”
His smile is faint, apologetic. “Sorry, mom.”
“You’re safe,” she breathes, mostly to herself, patting down each of his limbs to check that they’re still attached. “That’s all that matters. Oh, I didn’t realise- Who’s this?”
Tommy’s smile is more a grimace. “Tommy Shepherd, ma’am. Your husband is my lawyer.”
Rebecca blinks and then recognition flows into her expression. “You’re Tommy. Of course, I- Jeff’s talked about you.”
“He has?” Billy echoes stupidly. Well, that could’ve saved him some trouble.
“The officers mentioned you helped get Jeff out safely.” Rebecca reaches over to take Tommy’s hand gently. “Thank you. So much, just…thank you.”
Far from comforted, Tommy looks like he’d prefer to vibrate out of his own skin than accept the praise. “I didn’t do much, ma’am. It’s kind of my fault Lawyer Jeff- I mean, Mr Kaplan was even at the prison today. He was overseeing my release.”
“He wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Rebecca retorts swiftly. “He was so glad when the papers came back signed, you know.”
Tommy’s grimace gets worse. “I guess.”
Billy only enjoys his brother’s discomfort for a minute or two. “Hey mom, do you think you could check in on dad? They haven’t told me anything, I think they’re waiting for you.”
“Of course,” she hums, brushing back his hair once more. “Of course, I’ll be back soon. Just stay here and rest, okay sweetheart?”
“I will, mom.” Even though he’s the one that told her to go, Billy watches her leave with slight ache in his chest.
Tommy watches too, his gaze distant. “I get it.”
“Huh?”
He doesn’t make eye contact but there’s something bitter in the way his lips twitch into a smirk. “I wouldn’t want to disappoint them either.”
* * * * *
* * * *
Burlington County Times
NEWS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT OPINIONS
Update: Ten Dead, Eleven Escape in Green Park Correctional Prison Riot
Alma Parrish, SouthJersey.com
Published 10:36 a.m. EST Sept 2, 2026Springfield, NJ – Chaos erupted Friday afternoon at Green Park Correctional Facility in what officials are calling one of the most violent prison riots in recent years. The riot resulted in the deaths of four officers, six prisoners, as well as the alarming escape of eleven prisoners, only three of whom have since been recaptured.
The circumstances surrounding the riot remain unclear, though initial reports suggest the violence escalated quickly, overwhelming guards and staff. Eyewitness accounts from nearby residents claim they saw what appeared to be military vehicles near the facility, but local law enforcement has not confirmed these reports.
Officer Louis Delvecchio, a desk officer for Green Park Correctional, spoke to our reporters at the scene: “Let’s just say this wasn’t your average bad day in corrections. When you’re dealing with firepower like that, you start questioning what kind of guests we’re keeping behind these walls.”
In recent news, a media spokesperson for the Springfield Township Police Department addressed the press again this morning: “This is an ongoing investigation, and our priority is ensuring public safety. We are working with state and federal authorities to locate the remaining escapees. As for the alleged military presence, we cannot comment on unverified information at this time.”
Green Park Correctional has been placed on lockdown as officials assess the damage and interview witnesses. Authorities are urging residents in nearby areas to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to local law enforcement.
* * * * *
* * * *
ENCRYPTED OPERATIVE REPORT - TRANSMISSION
CLASSIFIED: EYES ONLY
Filed by: Agent R. Fallon, Mission Command Control Leader, Tactical Operations Unit, Division 7
TO: S.W.O.R.D Command Division 7 Oversight, Site Epsilon, Director [REDACTED], DOJ Commission on Superpowered Containment (CSC)
SENT 10:48:01 04/09/2026 [security code #### confirmed]
MISSION OVERVIEW
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE
Execute high-value transfer of subjects (2A, 3A, 6A) from Green Park Correctional Facility to Site [REDACTED] for containment purposes with minimal collateral damage or external awareness of S.W.O.R.D involvement.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS:
> 1200hours: with prior confirmation from High Command, embedded operatives commence extraction of three (3) high-value targets under pretence of court-ordered transfer to secondary detainment site.
> 1255hours: Agent Digby alerts S.W.O.R.D Command that Subject 6A has broken free of restraints and, despite suppressant protocols, escaped holding. Redundancy combat teams deployed to site.
> 1310 hours: Unknown operatives (two male adolescents: Caucasian, 5”7’; African American, 5”9’) enter site. Circumstances of access unclear. Identification of operatives unsuccessful. Further investigation required.
> 1330hours: Total lockdown called across entirety of the Green Park Correctional site. Embedded operatives deployed to secure high AND low value targets totalling six subjects: 2A, 3A, 6A, and 4B, 6B, 7B.
> 1355 hours: Agent Digby confirms sighting of Subject 6A on north side of building. Redundancy teams arrive on sight. Mobile command set up to coordinate Attack Teams Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma.
> 1415 hours: Prison lockdown protocols intervened by unknown variable. Site security critically compromised. Prisoners begin attacking guards and facilities. Delta, Gamma teams deployed to regain control of site. Alpha Team sent to investigate unknown variables.
> 1430hours: Embedded operatives responding to Subject 4B are overwhelmed and subdued by subject’s superhuman abilities. Beta Team deployed to secure Subject 4B.
> 1500 hours: No response from embedded operatives dispatched to secure Subject 2A. Delta Team recalled to investigate in eastern quadrant. Media presence noted on site. Interference from prison officials neutralised. No response from Alpha Team.
> 1514 hours: Subject 3A confirmed on board transfer to Site [REDACTED]. Gamma Team redeployed to secure Subjects 6B. Subject 7B unconfirmed.
> 1645 hours: Beta Team confirm Subject 4B has evaded capture. Severe losses sustained. Beta Team sent to relieve Alpha Team in north-western quadrant. Delta Team responding to highly aggressive Subject 2A; Gamma Team sent to reinforce. Severe losses sustained.
> 1730 hours: Beta Leader confirms Alpha Team has been critically compromised. Suspected involvement of Subject 7B, location unknown.
> 1830 hours: Beta Leader alerts Command to civilian in the field, requests immediate extraction. No further response from Beta Team.
> 1845 hours: Solar anomaly detected. At this stage, it is not clear if this is connected to the events at Green Park Correctional. UPDATE: Research compiled by S.W.O.R.D affiliate organisations suggests unknown variables at work. Further investigation required.
> 1956 hours: Beta Team extracted from field. Operatives unclear on circumstances relating to early reports of a civilian in the field. Full MRI and LAB scans recommended by field medical officer.
> 2148 hours: S.W.O.R.D. Command and Attack Teams Beta, Gamma and Delta withdraw from site.
OUTCOMES
> Primary Objective: Incomplete. High value subjects 2A, 6A and low value subjects 4B, 6B and 7B evaded capture, current whereabouts unknown. Subject 3A in custody at Site [REDACTED].
> Secondary Objective: Partially successful. Operational secrecy partially compromised due to civilian witness accounts. Containment of media narratives required.
CHALLENGES & RECOMMENDATIONS
Prison Riot Escalation and Intervention: Riot intensity exceeded projections on account of intervention to lockdown protocols due to unknown variables. Embedded operatives failed to maintain riot as a localized distraction, leading to collateral deaths and unaccounted inmate escapes.
Unknown Operatives in field: Intervention of unknown operatives (pair of adolescent males; identities unknown) proved catastrophic to overall mission objectives. Despite rigorous investigation, surveillance materials of these operatives has been irredeemably compromised due to technical malfunctions and interrogation of combat teams has yielded no identifying characteristics or information to continue investigation.
Recommendations: Further psychological evaluation of Beta Team for potential compromised loyalty and/or external influence. Additional resources applied to the investigation into identity of unknown operatives. Recapture of Subjects 2A and 6A as mission priority moving forward.
Filed by: Agent R. Fallon, Mission Command Control Leader
Approval: █████████
END TRANSMISSION
* * * * *
* * * *
“So, they found you a guardian, huh?” Lisa hums on her end of the phone. “I wonder who drew the short straw.”
Tommy laughs. “I’ll have you know, I’ve been a model foster child.”
It’s hard not to behave around the Kaplans. They’re warm and welcoming and the only thing worse than Lawyer Jeff’s dad jokes are the way Mrs Kaplan laughs so hard at them she snorts.
It’s disgustingly domestic but it’s grown on him. Like a fungus. Or mould.
“I wish my aunt could’ve taken you.” He can hear the pout in her voice. “We could squeeze an extra bed into my room, I know we could.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s her problem with taking me in, Lis.” Tommy replies knowingly.
Aunt Stefania had taken one look at Tommy and instantly known he was dating her niece. Lisa did nothing to dispel this assumption by blushing bright red at the question.
“Do you know who it is yet?” Lisa asks as he packs his meagre belongings into an old duffel bag Billy’s given him. It has a faded logo for the 2020 New Jersey Magic Convention on the side of it.
God, his brother is such a nerd.
“Nope.” Tommy zips it closed. “But Lawyer Jeff said it was approved pretty quick so they can’t be a complete psycho, you know?”
“Please,” Lisa scoffs. “With your luck? The walls will be bleeding the second you walk through the door.”
“Cheery.” He sighs, taking a seat on the guest bed he’s called home for the past two weeks.
Beneath the larger, more dominant part of him that knows full well that he does not belong in the picture-perfect Kaplan residence, there’s a smaller, whinier voice that secretly wishes he could stay.
Billy is a nerd but he’s funny and generous and smart. Even when the Kaplans lost their minds and sent him to school with their brain of a son, Billy was determined to help him catch up on pretty much every subject. It didn’t work out as poorly as he’d feared (Tommy thinks speedreading might be the best part about these powers) but Billy didn’t even seem to mind spending time to help him out. Tommy even finds himself tagging along for his extracurricular witch lessons with Agatha who is deeply unserious and enjoys making fun of his brother, almost as much as Tommy does.
“Whoever they are, they’re close by.” He muses. “I don’t have to transfer schools again, so that’s something.”
“Oh? Making new friends are we?” Lisa teases, though there’s a hint of insecurity in her tone.
Tommy smiles wistfully. “None as cool as you, don’t worry.”
“Good.” He can hear the smile in her voice. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I signed up for that Young Detectives Program I mentioned.”
“Lisa Molinari, a cop?” Tommy laughs out loud. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Ugh, barf, don’t say it like that.” she whines. “I’m not joining the department, just, you know, shadowing a detective for a few weeks after school. All that time I spent looking for the guy from the hold up inspired me, I guess. Maybe I’ll become a PI or something.”
Now that he can imagine. “I better get going. I think the new guardian is coming over soon.”
“Let me know where they sit on the crazy/hot scale.” She insists. “It’s imperative information, Shepherd!”
“Copy that.” He sets the phone down gently, painfully aware that it’s yet another gift from the Kaplans. He has a plan to get a job as soon as he can so he can start paying back their generosity.
“Hey,” Billy pokes his head inside expectantly. “You almost ready?”
Tommy pokes the Magic-Con bag with the toe of his sneaker. “As I’ll ever be.”
Billy frowns at the sight of it. “I wish you didn’t have to go. I was so close to getting mom on board, you know?”
“I’m not a puppy at the shelter, Billy.” Tommy rolls his eyes. “I’m a lot of work, ask my caseworker.”
Billy rolls his eyes and sits down on to the bed next to him. “Still,” he insists. “I bet she would’ve said yes.”
“You know what would help?” Tommy deadpans. “Talking to your dad.”
Billy flops backward on the bed with a small whine. “Shut up.”
Tommy joins him. “You shut up. You know I’m right.”
On the outside, Lawyer Jeff is almost entirely back to normal. He’s returned to work after a small absence of leave to rest and recover from his head injury, he’s an avid believer in the sacristy of the Kaplan Family Movie Night, he jokes and cooks and loves his wife and son with everything he has.
On the inside, Jeff and Billy haven’t had a single conversation on their own in weeks.
Tommy knows this because whenever they’re about to be left in a room together, Billy throws him a look like a kicked puppy that desperately begs him to stick around.
And Tommy stays because Tommy is a sucker.
But the problem is, Jeff seems to be waiting for Billy to bring up what happened the day at Green Park. So until Billy grows a pair and admits he’s a special little wizard boy, they’re stuck orbiting one another in a weird domestic Mexican standoff.
Billy lets out another groan. “I can hear all of that, you know.”
Tommy experimentally thinks of a baboon screeching at full volume in his face and snickers when Billy flinches. “Hey, snoop around and you suffer the consequences.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Billy finally says wearily. “I will, I just…I need more time.”
Well, who is Tommy to argue with that? He’s had his shitty parents for three and a half months. Billy’s been loving his incredible parents for three and a half years.
A knock downstairs interrupts their conversation. Billy looks over to him with a grim expression. “You ready to meet your new parents?”
“They’re not my parents.”
“You’ll have to be good for them.” Billy continues with a straight face. “Love your new mama well. Obey your papa’s iron fist.”
“I’m not little orphan Annie!” Tommy shoves at him lightly. “It’s guardianship. They’re practically a new roommate.”
“I was going for more of an Anne of Green Gables thing,” Billy muses. “You don’t have the singing chops for Annie.”
Such a nerd. Tommy loves him.
They head downstairs together, and Tommy knows he’s not going away forever. He has a standing invitation (obligation, as Rebecca would put it) to Movie Nights, he’ll see Billy at school on Monday. But it’ll be different not going to sleep at night under the same roof as his brother.
Jeff smiles at him naturally. “Hey kiddo. Packed and ready?”
“With the world’s most embarrassing luggage, yes.” He holds up the duffel bag as proof.
Rebecca laughs. “Oh my gosh, I remember that convention! Oh, Jeff, remember his costume, he wore that top hat and waistcoat for a week afterwards, wouldn’t take it off for anything!”
Billy doesn’t look nearly as mortified as he should. “I regret nothing, that look was a slay.”
“I’m sure.” Tommy says dryly. “So are they here?”
“I sure am.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.”
The words, strangely enough, don’t come from Tommy. Billy is the one with his jaw literally open at the sight of the woman standing in the doorway.
“Billy!” Rebecca looks suitably horrified. “Language! I am so sorry, Ms…?”
“Agent,” Rio introduces smoothly. “Agent Rio Vidal. But please, call me Rio.”
“Rio,” Rebecca replies. “Would you like to come in? Dinner’s not far off.”
It’s clear that Rebecca wants Tommy to stay, even a little bit longer and that simple fact warms a tiny corner of in Tommy’s heart that he can’t really acknowledge without wanting to cry.
But Rio shakes her head, eyes lit with amusement at Billy’s furious expression. “I have to get going, I’m afraid. You ready Tommy?”
Jeff snaps his fingers. “That’s right, your office mentioned you’d met before. I don’t know how that slipped my mind.”
Tommy knows exactly how it slipped his damn mind and it has nothing to do with the head injury.
But he’s not about to cause a scene in front of the Kaplans, not when Billy looks like he’s ready to launch lightning bolts at her.
“I’m good to go.” He follows her outside, down the porch steps. Her car is waiting in the driveway - a shiny, moderately nice sedan to complete her federal agent illusion.
Even now, it’s hard to think of it as an illusion. She was Agent Vidal to him first, Death second. He thinks he prefers it that way.
“Could you give us a second?” Billy suddenly asks his parents, his expression tense in a way that could be mistaken for sadness if he wasn’t also glaring daggers at Rio.
Rebecca has been delighted by how close the boys have become in just two weeks. Jeff is a little more cautious, likely still awaiting an explanation for how they seem to know each other so well so quickly. But neither of them hesitate before heading back inside the house.
Billy barely waits until the door clicks shut to round on Rio with crackles of blue magic at his fingertips. “What the hell do you want now?!”
“Language, pipsqueak.” Rio pushes her sunglass to the top of her head idly. “I’m not here to start a fight. Well, not yet at least. Throw one of those thunderbolts and we’ll see if that changes.”
“Can we maybe not do this on your parents’ front doorstep?” Tommy hisses to his brother, casting wary eyes up at the house. “Especially because I think your mom is literally spying from the window.”
“She’s not taking you anywhere!” Billy retorts angrily.
That’s the other thing that’s changed between them. Tommy’s the eldest, two minutes quicker and wiser and therefore, he’s always assigned himself the role of his little brother’s protector. But ever since he came back, Billy has a hairpin trigger when it comes to Tommy’s safety. At the slightest hint of danger, the blue comes out in full force.
“Believe me or not,” Rio says simply, unperturbed by Billy’s light show. “I’m not here to reap his soul, kid. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to keep an eye on you two.”
“What do you mean?” Billy looks suspicious. “Did Agatha agree to this?”
“Agatha is dealing with a little…problem back at my place.” She glances toward Tommy. “Well, our place, I guess. It’s only a few blocks over, don’t worry.”
“Oh, that’s not what’s worrying me.” He says cautiously. “Is there a reason you’re taking guardianship of me, Agent?”
“A few, actually. Listen, I’m the first one to admit I’ve been sceptical of how you two fit into the balance of all things, if you even fit at all. But from what I’ve observed so far, I think it’s fair to say the only thing worse than having you both around and kicking is having one of you. Each of you needs the other as a counterbalance, to offset the disruption you bring into the world.” Rio explains tersely.
Tommy's been called worse than a disruption, he supposes.
“And while I’m not convinced that this is the best way forward, the fact that the universe is bending to allow you both to live tells me there’s something else at work here. So!” she claps her hands together, expectantly. “Here’s the deal. I’m keeping you under observation until I can figure this out properly. You two will be staying close to one another because, frankly, you’re less of a disaster that way.”
“What’s the catch?” Billy insists, narrowing his eyes. “There’s always a catch with you.”
Rio shrugs. “No catch. Not on my part at least.”
Tommy lets out a tiny groan of frustration. “And on Agatha’s part?”
Her eyes gleam like onyx. “You'll have to ask her. I wouldn't want to spoil her surprise."