[The cover shows a plush toucan sitting among the pieces of a
dismantled quadrotor drone and, incongruously, several pieces
of parchment covered in arcane sigils.]

____________________________________________________________________________
.|, COHERENT An ASHistory Series
--+-------------------------------------------------------------------------
'|` SUPER STORIES Special #2 - Home Again, Gain A Home
Featuring Doctor Developer copyright 2023 by Andrew Burton
____________________________________________________________________________

While the "Benefactor" storyline was ultimately rejected as the New
Direction for Coherent Comics, that does not seem to have stopped the writer
of LL&DD from contining to work on ideas beyond the rejected pitch.
Recently, a stack of 3.5" floppy disks was recovered among the effects of a
former editor, and once we found a machine capable of not only reading the
disks but also reading the files on them, we found a trove of other
unsubmitted work, including this sequel to "Cameryn By Any Other Name," which
follows the reunited McKay family.
Content warning, there's a few instances of violence beyond the usual
"comic book action" typical of LL&DD stories.

=============================================================================

Jennifer was warm.
Even though there was only a small part of her covering him...her head
on his shoulder, an arm draped over his chest...Cameron could feel Jennifer's
warm body increasing his own temperature. To say it was pleasant utterly
failed to express the situation, much like saying he felt uncomfortably cold
while lying on his bunk in The Cave with only a thin sheet to preserve his
own body heat against the aggressive HVAC system that circulated air in the
subterranean prison. It struck Cameron as apt to use a temperature
differential to compare how low he had been with how radiant life felt now.
Jennifer slept peacefully, her mouth barely opened, and the only
movement was a slight shift in her chest as she breathed. Her hair hung
behind her, like a comet tail or bridal train. She was still wearing the
dress from the train station where they were reunited as they'd both stayed
up talking until falling asleep.
The moment was perfect.
Cameron never wanted to move again.
"Moooommm!" a loud cry broke the silence.
Jennifer's face scrunched momentarily, and her eyes opened. She didn't
move at first, but then slowly looked up at Cameron with a content look on
her face. "I guess it's morning," she sighed.
"Cammy's awake," was all Cameron could think to say.
"It's not a school day," Jennifer told him. "Wait until tomorrow, then
I'll be yelling at her." Jennifer started to move, then stopped. She looked
back at Cameron with a quirk on her face. "You know, now there are two
parents in this house. I think this time, it's your turn," she paused to
roll off Cameron, then punctuated her point by calling him, "Dad."
Cameron shuffled out of their room and down the stairs. He rubbed his
face in an attempt to get his eyes to fully focus. It was going to take a
while for his sinuses to adjust to air that wasn't recycled and filtered.
Until then, maybe eyedrops.
Cameron turned the corner just in time to see Cammy dropping a couple of
toaster pastries on a plate. She started blowing on her fingers as soon as
the food clunked against her plate. "Hot, hot, hot!" she gasped between
puffs.
"Are the tongs still in the drawer?" Cameron asked. He pointed to one
of the drawers beside Cammy.
"Oh!" she jumped. "Cam...uh...dad. You're up. Where's mom?"
Cameron scratched the back of his head. "Her exact words were, 'It's
your turn.'" Cammy's eyes shifted nervously. "I think she wanted to give us
time to be alone."
"Yeah, that sounds like mom." Cammy set her plate down on the table,
and made a dash for the living room. She climbed over the couch, looked
behind the computer desk, and then headed for the washing room behind the
stairs. "Have you seen my jacket? I just had it, but now I can't find it,
and I'm going to be late."
Cameron listened, turning to keep Cammy in his sights as she dashed all
over the first floor. "What does it look like? Is it the blue one with the
bubbles on the back?"
"They're jellyfish, but, yes. Where is it?"
"You wore it yesterday at the train station..." Cameron started.
"The car!" Cammy interjected. She bolted out into the garage. After
some automotive sounding commotion, Cameron heard the definitive sound of a
slamming door. Moments later Cammy emerged from the garage wearing a blue
jacket covered in bubbles...or jellyfish. Cameron thought they looked like
bubbles.
"Why do you need a jacket?"
Cammy was already answering his question. She began shoving various
items from the kitchen table into the pockets of her jacket, including the
breakfast pastries. "Swetha's taking me shopping with her family today.
They'll be here any minute."
"Uh, do you need anything? Money?" Cameron asked.
"Nah," Cammy declined, "I'm good." She paused, struck by what she'd
said. "Maybe next time?" her voice pitched up hopefully.
"Next time," Cameron answered. He wondered if Jennifer ever found the
roll of hundreds he used to keep in the vents for emergencies.
"Uh," Cammy said awkwardly. Cameron looked at her, and realized neither
of them knew what to say next. "I'm going to get going."
"Do you have a curfew or anything? Should I wait up?" Cameron asked.
This got a laugh from Cammy. She pulled the black slab from her pocket.
"I'll call and let you guys know I'm not dead." Her thumb brushed against
the smooth surface, and it lit up with a picture of Cammy and Jennifer in
front of Wrigley Field. The angle struck Cameron as strange. Cammy must
have been holding whatever camera took the picture.
"What else?" Jennifer asked. She walked up behind Cameron, and wrapped
an arm over his shoulder.
Cammy rolled her eyes and head back. "Mom!"
"What else do you do?"
Cammy sighed and looked very put upon. "If I get kidnapped, I tell them
I'm an orphan." Cameron's eyebrows raised quite high, Jennifer smiled a
crooked grin. "That's not funny, mom."
"It is to me," Jennifer told her. "Now, go on. Don't make them wait."
Cammy didn't need any more encouragement, she launched herself out the
door.

* * * *

People rarely looked in air vents, not even repairmen. They certainly
didn't take a steak knife to the insides of an air vent searching for a hair
thin seam held in place by magnets. At least that was Cameron's theory
fifteen years in the past when he carved out his secret panel.
His theory proved correct. The edge of the knife caught on the seam,
and after a little work, Cameron lifted up the cover. From there it was easy
enough to pull out the small, nylon bag and replace all the covers to their
previous state.
Taking inspiration from Cammy, Cameron spread out the contents of the
bag on the kitchen table: multitool, three fake driver's licenses from
surrounding states, burner phone, and a roll of bills. The licenses were all
expired by now, and he expected the battery in the mobile phone had corroded
all of its internal components. The multitool was still useful. The cash,
all six thousand dollars, would be useful until he could get to his lawyer's
office to fill out some paperwork.
"I'm honestly not sure if I should or should not be surprised to find
you like this," Jennifer chuckled. She walked back in the kitchen. Gone
were the clothes she slept in, and now she was wearing a sweater and jeans.
She picked up the roll of bills and counted through it. "Where was this?"
Cameron pointed to the central cooling vent.
"How much money did you squirrel away around here?" Jennifer was
genuinely amused.
Cameron thought about it for a moment. "Enough seed capital to restart,
ah, a new life somewhere. This is just the easiest one to grab. The others
require dismantling the basement or digging up the backyard. Well," he
calculated, "it was before I..." he trailed off, "I haven't kept up with
inflation."
Jennifer bobbled her head, doing her own calculating. "Six grand is
still six grand." She set the roll back down. "Do you want to go shopping
or something?"
Cameron didn't, not right away. He recounted his brief conversation
with Cammy, his asking if she needed money, and how that reminded him of his
various stashes. "Just wanted to see if it was still there, ah, really.
Plus, I probably owe her some kind of back allowance, or birthday gifts."
Jennifer thought about that for a bit. The edges of her lips curled
slightly, but to her credit she never laughed out loud. "Please don't give
our daughter six thousand dollars," Jennifer said. "Have you seen her room
yet?"
Cameron shook his head, "No."
"She has too many plushies already. With six grand, we'd be swimming in
stuffed animals." Jennifer clapped Cameron on the back. "Speaking of
stuffed, I'm not. I'm hungry, and you're apparently flush with cash. Let's
go out for breakfast."