Elevator Girl carried the Greenes in one hand and both their and her mom's cars in the other as she walked back to their neighborhood.  EMS officials had insisted on taking Stamitos with them, since he had been frozen completely for a brief time.  She knew the issue of medical insurance could be a problem, but there was nothing she could do.  Stamitos had insurance through his job, but Kellie still wasn't sure he understood how such things worked.

Lakota kept glancing up at her friend.  She was horribly worried about her brother, but confident in his girlfriend's ability to save him.  At this instant, she could see that Kellie was worried herself, but was working very hard to hide it -- and was probably succeeding with anyone who didn't know her secret identity.

Then they saw the site where the ship had crashed.

"Oh, my God!" said Mr. Greene.

"Oh, no," whispered Kellie.

The ship had crashed into the riverbank that was Kellie and Dakota's special spot, the one that overlooked the cave where Elevator Girl's first headquarters was located.  The cave itself was intact, but much of the high bank had been destroyed, and what remained was just a black smudge.

"That's where Dakota and Kellie had their New Year's date," Mr. Greene said.  "God, I hope Kellie's all right.  For all we know, that villainess caught her before she got Dakota and Gemma."

"Her mom said she'd been delayed," Lakota said.  "Hopefully, that's all that happened to her."

Kellie reached over to her house and placed Gemma's car there, then lowered the Greenes to the ground, placing their car nearby.  Emergency workers were on the scene.

Kellie shrank down to Elevator Girl's "resting height" of 7 feet tall.  "What's our situation?" she asked.

"Well, most of the rubble is down the bank," said an emergency medical technician.  "We haven't found any human remains at this point.  We're thinking this may have been a drone -- unmanned."

"You mean no one was in it?"  Kellie asked.

"That's what it looks like," the EMT said.

Kellie almost collapsed with the sigh that followed.  She turned to the Greenes and gave them a smile and a "thumbs up" sign.  Lakota hugged her parents, who sandwiched her in between their own hug.

Kellie looked back to the EMT.  "Who's I.C.?" she asked.

The EMT pointed out the Incident Commander, a police sergeant.  Kellie quickly got permission to check the wreckage herself.  Using a technique she'd used here countless times before, she grew to a giantess, then shrank back down.

Being careful not to disturb the wreckage -- this was still a crime scene, after all -- Kellie looked for any clues that might be evident.  Her eyes had become quite good at spotting small things in the past nine months.

After a couple of minutes, she spotted it: a metal cylinder, apparently made of titanium, only about two inches across and two inches long, that seemed to have no useful purpose.  With her keen eye, she could tell there was something engraved on one end of the cylinder, something so small most people would miss it.

Kellie leapt into the air and dropped down in size to microscopic.  The engraving was a message, written in an odd script that made it hard to read.  When she read it, her blood seemed to freeze in her veins:

"EG, or KR:  Meet me tomorrow at 9 a.m. at the harbor or Mommy and Loverboy get the big chill.  Bring bracelet."

The message was unsigned.

Kellie was starting to sag onto a pebble with shock when she heard a tiny mechanical whir.  She pivoted and saw a microscopic camera -- the kind that had been used when she had cured Dakota's cancer.

Then she heard a hiss from behind her.  She spun back.  The cylinder had emitted some kind of acid, removing the etched message.  But it wasn't shooting anything at her.

Kellie re-enlarged, trying to put on her game face.  She glanced at Lakota.  Where her brother would have read Kellie's expression to know instantly that her identity was compromised and her loved ones in mortal danger, all Lakota could tell was that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Then the police decided to take the Greenes into protective custody.  "Whoever it was that did this, they're targeting people on the Greene-Ross board, and their family members could be targets, especially the most visible ones," the I.C. said.  "They've got Dakota, the face of the organization, and Mrs. Ross, whose father-in-law invented some of the technology they're using.  We can't locate Kellie Ross; for all we know, they have her, too.  We need to get the three of you to a safe house."

Lakota looked at Kellie.  She didn't want to leave her friend alone, especially now.

Kellie nodded grimly.  "Do it."  She turned to the Greenes.  "Mr. and Mrs. Greene, Lakota, I will get them, back -- both of them; all three, if they have Kellie Ross.  I promise you, I will get them back."

Mrs. Greene smiled.  "We know you will, dear."

Mr. Greene was so angry he was on the verge of tears.  "Kick that frosty bitch's ass for me," he said.

Kellie smiled.  "Will do," she said.

Lakota burst over and hugged Kellie. She whispered up into the heroine's ear, "You be careful.  We want you back, too.  I know he does."

Kellie was fighting back tears as she nodded.  The Greenes were taken away, Lakota looking over her shoulder as she walked off, watching Kellie stare at them as they faded into the crowd of emergency vehicles.

Standing in a sea of emergency workers, Kellie was the most truly alone that she had ever been in her life.  The two people she loved most were kidnapped and in mortal danger, and the two people she was now next closest two -- Lakota and Stamitos -- both were taken away from her.  She was facing a foe whose identity was unknown to her, but who clearly knew, not only her identity, but who she cared about and the secret source of her powers.  She needed someone -- anyone, just for a moment, a hug, a sense of support.  Instead, she was standing, masked, in a ridiculous leather get-up, surrounded by swarm of people trying to deal with the aftermath of this attack.

Kelliie needed a plan of action.  At least, if she had a plan of action, she could do something.  For that, she needed a starting point … and home base was a logical starting point.

Kellie turned to the I.C.  "I've got something I need to investigate Elevator Girl style," she said.

"Good luck, Elevator Girl," the commander said.

In fact, Kellie simply traveled the short distance to her own house.  She saw no officers posted outside; no one appeared to be waiting for her there.  She entered through her secret entrance at the old coal chute and went upstairs.

Kellie was making her way to her room, where the bracelet that was the source of her powers was stored, when she spotted her special Elevator Girl cell phone, where she had left it when she'd gone out as Elevator Girl that afternoon.  She frowned at the memory.  The emergency that prompted that call had been a decoy, she now knew, meant to get her away from her family and friends.  Without that call, Dakota and her mom might now be safe.

Then Kellie realized the screen on her phone was showing that there had been a message.  She picked up the phone and played it:

"Kellie, this is Stamitos.  They're keeping me in the hospital overnight.  They said I've been exposed to some sort of cryonic or cryogenic chemicals, and they want to monitor me until tomorrow to make sure I'm really all right.  Don't worry about me.  Stay safe.  May the gods be with you."

Kellie wasn't worried about Stamitos using her real name on this phone; it was untraceable, and no one at the hospital would have known about the Elevator Girl connection.  But something in what Stamitos said triggered a thought, a memory, a connection she'd been trying to make for months.

Cryonics or cryogenics …

Kellie bolted up the stairs to her computer.  She got online and looked up one record.  She hadn't connected it all before because the various technologies weren't clearly connected.  Cryonics didn't connect to ice-making or creating ice monsters, and those didn't connect to a little freezing unit for removing possibly precancerous growths.

But Kellie knew one person who tied all those together, and who had seen the oddly-shaped burn caused by an electrical short in her Elevator Girl bracelet; who, as a doctor, could have been the mystery physician who checked out Dakota's chart when Elevator Girl was beating back his cancer; and would use a word like "stat," hospital parlance for "fast."  And she was on hand when Elevator Girl first went into action without needing to actually wear the bracelet, and when the Planner was murdered.

Then  Kellie found the record she was looking for.  Dr. Christine Dekker's name and the medical specialty in which she'd first entered the profession.

Kellie snatched up the phone.  She called the hospital and got connected to Stamitos' room.  "Stamitos, it's Elevator Girl."

"Elevator Girl?" Stamitos said.  "This is a surprise.  Thanks for saving my life earlier."

"Just returning the favor," Kellie said, thinking of her first battle with the Planner.  "Look, Stamitos, watch your back.  Tell your nurses not to let Dr. Christine Dekker in to see you under any circumstances.  Not under ANY circumstances.  Got it?"

"Got it," he said.  "Actually, they mentioned a Dr. Dekker they were trying to reach today to check out my condition because of her background, but they haven't been able to reach her."

"She's busy with a couple of people we know," Kellie said.

"Got it," Stamitos said, sounding grim.  "You sure you don't want me to try to hold her if she turns up?"

"Negative," Kellie said.  "I'm going to take my shot at that tomorrow.  We have a meeting."

There was a pause.  "Wish I could help like I did before," Stamitos said.

Kellie smiled.  "I don't," she said.  "Mrs. Ross will want her fiance with her when this is over.  I'll be in touch."

Kellie put on the bracelet, grabbed a change of clothes for both Kellie and Elevator Girl and left.  It felt strange, actually wearing it the bracelet again, and stranger still that she was wearing it but not using the buttons.  But she would need it for her plan.  The catch was, she needed help.

Finding a place to switch clothes, Kellie, as Kellie, made her way to her once-best-friend Jenna's house.  She and Jenna had drifted apart because of Elevator Girl, although Jenna didn't know that was the reason.

Kellie knocked and Jenna answered.  She looked surprised and slightly annoyed to see Kellie.  "What's up?" Jenna asked.

"I need your help," Kellie said.

Jenna was getting ready to make a smart-aleck comment when she realized that Kellie was an emotional wreck; she knew her friend well enough to recognize that, even now. "Get in here," Jenna said.

"Are your folks here?" Kellie asked, looking around nervously.

Jenna shook her head.  "They're out at some church thing," she said.  "It's for adults, so I'm here alone."

"You haven't been watching news?"

Jenna shook her head.  "Listening to my tunes," she said.  "What's going on?"

"I need to stay here tonight," Kellie said.  "And I need to borrow something of yours."

Jenna was trying to process this.  "Kellie, it's obvious that something's upsetting you, but you've been way more interested in Dakota and Lakota than me for months.  Why can't you stay with them?"

"Because Dakota and my mom have been kidnapped by a supervillainess, and mom's fiance is in the hospital, and the Greenes are in protective custody, and I don't dare go home."

Jenna made a face.  "What?" she said.  "What a ridiculous story!"

"It's true," said Kellie, fighting back tears.

"But why would a supervillainess kidnap Dakota and your mom?"  Jenna asked.

"Because she found out that I'm Elevator Girl," Kellie said.

"What?" Jenna said.  "Elevator Girl? You?"

Then Jenna watched as her friend stood up … and up … and up.  Kellie was now so tall she had to duck to keep her head from hitting the ceiling.

"Yeah," Kellie said.  "Elevator Girl."

Jenna leaned on the arm of the sofa, her head in her hand.  "God," she said, "Now it all makes sense."

Kellie shrank back down.  "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she said.  "But I need a place to stay tonight, and I need to borrow something from you."

Jenna took her friend's hands.  "I'm not sure where we are yet, with all that this means," she said, "but I'll gladly help.  But why the overnighter?"

"The villainess and I are meeting tomorrow," Kellie said.  "She's so thorough I can't be sure my house isn't monitored, and she's not likely to turn up at any of her own regular haunts today or tonight either.  I can shrink and sleep in a drawer or something so your folks won't know I'm here."

"Why not just stay openly?" Jenna asked.

"As far as the police are concerned, Kellie Ross is missing," Kellie said.  "If your folks have heard the news, they might tip the police.  If they're watching me tomorrow --"

"You can't make the rescue meeting," Jenna said.

Kellie nodded.

Jenna hugged her friend.  "OK, Kellie.  Let's head up to my room.  We'll figure out where you can sleep, and get you set up.  Just try to rest.  We'll sort out the rest as we need to."

Kellie nodded.  Jenna opened a drawer full of her T-shirts and Kellie shrank down and collapsed into it.  She was so exhausted she dozed off almost immediately, murmuring, "Thanks, Jenna," as she did.

Jenna put her hand over her mouth, still trying to process everything, and fearful for her friend and those she loved.  "You're welcome," she whispered.

Jenna turned off the light and left the room, with the drawer open just a crack (but enough for Elevator Girl to get through.)  There was so much to talk about, were so many unanswered questions.  But none of that really mattered now.  Kellie was facing a life and death battle the next day.  The rest could be sorted out when that was over … if she survived …