Avenger Assembled

"All right. Okay." Ashley rocked back on her heels, scrubbing her hand over her eyes for a moment. "Okay, well, they can't have gone far." She took out something off her belt and pressed a few buttons on it; the device (which looked a bit like a garage door opener) made an ominous-sounding blunk noise. "So, out of range, back in time, or in another #($Ing dimension again." Rising smartly to her feet, Ashley took a moment to look at the super-teens to growl, "Well?" If she was going to either keep these from Summers or bring Summers in on it, she had to see if her erstwhile allies had any ideas.

Good luck, @Supercape and everyone else who's currently busy! We'll be sending good thoughts your way.

Ashley took a breath, then another one. When had her laser pistol appeared in her hand? She carefully hit the safety, then hung it up on her belt, behind her leather jacket. "Okay. Okay." Slowly, she circled the shell, casting mistrustful eyes on it. She dropped down on one knee and peered inside the solid black hole that was the shell's "neck", mindful of black portals to foul destinations. After some consideration, she reached into her belt and came out with a set of goggles - peering through them into the shell didn't seem to produce any results, though. When she spoke her voice was considerably more level than her usual harsh, sneering growl. "This is something you've seen Danica do before?"

Oh, Jesus, kid, gray hairs? Sleepless nights? The feeling that I'm going to destroy the superheroic community because I didn't speak up when I should have? "Good rep - with the people that matter," growled Ashley. "Fought the Raven, didn't I?" Everybody had heard that little story. "Once Judy and I are out of here, we'll go somewhere nice and discreet where she can be safe and I can ply my trade - kicking ass." She grinned fiercely, then said, "Bet you'd rather see Judy, huh? Let me-" She opened the door to the common room, looked inside, and said a bad word. There was no one in the common room, save what looked like an empty black and gold turtle shell the size of a small car, parked in the middle of the floor with the furniture around it arranged in such a way that it looked like the shell had grown up there and shoved everything out of the way.

Judy had covered her mouth during Danica's display, which somehow managed to sit perfectly on the line between "adorable" and "horrifying." She glanced behind her, saw no sign of Ashley, then with a shrug ducked down and peered inside the shell. "Danica? Are you in here-wait, that was stupid!" she added, laughing nervously as she swallowed her fear and began crawling inside the shell. Oh this is really weird! she thought to herself; but didn't turn away, either, not even when both sneakered feet had disappeared inside the black and gold shell before her.

It's okay, Judy reassured her, it's not like she can tan my hide for getting out of line. But it is getting pretty late, and we should both probably get to bed. Fumbling around in her nightstand for a moment, Judy found both her book and her booklight. Using those made her feel old, but it beat falling asleep with her phone in her hand and burning it out - again. She ran her fingers over the cover of the book, thinking about the author who'd died recently, and wishing her parents had done something about it. Shaking off the mood, she thought, Thanks for talking to me, Lulu. But seriously, you can't peek in here again without it just being in my head, because Ashley will for real track you down, ha-ha.

"Claremont has a variety of students from unusual backgrounds, which is naturally going to attract unusual amounts of attention," replied Summers. She looked up at LaMarr, once they were in the shadow of the brown van. "I appreciate your discretion, as a professional educator - and a Freedom City resident." She looked at LaMarr, then said, "This year several heads of state have sent their children to our school, and so naturally security has been....unusually high."

Submitted re:early admission Name: Eira Katastroff Natt och Dag Codename: Änglalik Year: Sophomore ("Unbelievable! I have a bachelor's degree from Stockholm University!") Pronouns: She/Her Roommate: "If they are willing to be compatible with my needs." Goal: Higher. Further. Faster. Favorite High School Movie: We Are The Best!

When the teens left the mall to find the Claremont van waiting for them, and Ms. Collier the English teacher with a judgmental look on her face waiting for them, Judy was all smiles. Everything was going okay, and even if her detail had to get bailed out of jail again, she'd had a fun time out with her friends without her sister's escort. "Hi, Mrs. Collier!" she exclaimed brightly as she headed for the van. "Sorry we forgot to sign out, but there was a really good sale!" She held up the bags she was carrying, one in each hand, Pan having gallantly agreed to shoulder most of the rest. "You know how it is." "Inside, you four," said Collier, giving the teens a sharp look. "We'll talk about this when we get back to campus. I'm honestly a little surprised to see some of you out here," she said, giving Danica and Àjàṣorò searching looks as everyone climbed inside, stopping only to give Danica a hand with her Segway. "It was mah idea," said Judy firmly, cheeks paling at the thought of her friends in trouble. "Not anybody else's. That Wail fella didn't need to call any of you up about it either!" It was the first time anybody inside the mall had mentioned the 70s sonic powerhouse. - Outside, Keith had about finished giving his statement to the STAR Squad officer on scene when he realized he wasn't alone. "Thanks for your timely call, LaMarr," commented Callie Summers, who had been a child in Wail's glory days which put her in her mid-fifties now if he remembered right. She looked up at Keith and asked, "When you're done?" making a gesture to a discreet spot nearby, on the far side of a discreet-looking brown sedan - not the white van currently being fitted for a tow.

Sea Devil watched Sgt. Shark through the windows of the train, wincing just a bit as frightened Surfacers made a hasty retreat down the bridge and away from the armored paragon and the piscine predator. Still, she judged, he has a very manly way about him - and he is certainly getting the job done! There was enough space on the bridge, especially with the pedestrian walkway alongside, that the frightened people inside the cars could make their way out of the cars and off the bridge without too much trouble. Secure inside the anonymity of her space-armor, Aquaria rather enjoyed being the one that the Surfacers weren't doing their level best to flee from. "Yes, you should go that way!" she croaked, keeping her eye on the odd injury among the passengers. At least everyone was what Jessie called "walking wounded" - the train must not have been going that fast when it hit whatever it was up there that had stopped it so abruptly. And then, distinctly, she heard a noise - a high-pitched, eerie wailing from the front of the train, an alien sound like she'd never heard before! She thought she heard the sound of a Surfacer shouting something over the sound of the wailing, but the sound of the eerie piping seemed far louder, cutting right though her closed helmet, - as it was plucking the strings of the universe itself. She made a distressed noise, pressing her hands to the sides of her head automatically. For Sgt. Shark, the sound of pipes from up front wasn't nearly so oppressive - but it was accompanied by an eerie voice that echoed as loud as a cannonball. "Tha thu uile lag! Tha an dam Gearmailteach sin anns an lùchairt an ath rud!"

PL: 10 (150) Identity: Secret Alternate Identity: Eira Katastroff Natt och Dag Birthplace: Sigtuna, Sweden Legal Status: Swedish citizen (minor) with no criminal record Base of Operations: Claremont Academy Residence: Claremont Academy Dorms Occupation: High School Student Affiliations: Claremont Academy Family: Age: 16 (Date of Birth: January 1st, 2004) Gender: Female Species: Machine intelligence Height: 5'7" Weight: 150 lbs Skin: Pale Hair: Blue/Blonde Eyes: Blue Character History: Eira Katastroff Natt och Dag is from one of the oldest families in Sweden; the Katastroffs can trace their maternal lineage back to the House of Vasa in the 1500s, while the Natt och Dag clan's heritage goes back to the medieval period. In the days of her ancestors, this would have meant a cloistered childhood in a castle, an education in sewing and household management, and eventual marriage for political purposes. But Europe's nobility is (generally) not what it is in old American movies. Though Eira was technically born in a castle outside the small town of Sigstuna, her family actually lives in a 19th century mansion nearby, and a significant portion of their income comes from renting the Natt och Dag castle out to the government for tourist purposes. Her father is technically heir to a great many noble titles but in day-to-day life is an investment banker, while her mother (of equally noble lineage) is actually one of Sweden's more successful tax attorneys. When she was four years old, she started getting sick - a sickness that grew worse and worse as she got older and older, until when she was eight years old it seemed like she wouldn't live another year. She couldn’t even pronounce the name of the disease until after her second birth - but it was in her heart, it was slow, and it would mean her death before she reached the age of 10. She remembers those days painfully; how sick and cold she was all the time, as if she would never get better again, the weeks, then months inside and outside of hospitals, how she hated the way other children could run and play when she was caged by her own failing flesh, and how sad it seemed that she was going to Heaven before she even learned to ride a bike. She believed in Heaven then, in the idea of a world where everything would be better even if nothing was good here. And then her uncle and his friends from America helped her. It took her some time to actually understand what had happened to her - her brain patterns had been carefully studied by some of the most powerful computers (and minds) on Earth, then reconstructed inside a computer even as her organic body died. From there her brain was uploaded into a new body; a cunningly-built robotic duplicate of her original physique. All she really knew was that she was healthy now, and could go into computers if she wanted, and if she had to learn how to control a body again - well it was still better than the failing one she'd had. If her parents had any hesitation about what had happened, a daughter who could run and play and hug them was a great balm to the mind. For her part, Eira was delighted to make new friends - to really get to know her uncle as more than just a smiling Jultomten figure, to meet American superheroes like her beautiful Tant Americana, like Sharl, who was like the older brother she’d never had, and friends of his who were like fantastic creatures from another life. Eira's childhood has been distinctly...odd, even if you leave out the superheroes - a body growing in fits and starts as advancing technology allowed for more and more upgrades, and as her 'flesh' was enhanced to match her aging mind. She remembers the day she chose to start her puberty, when a mental command at the age of fourteen awakened cunningly-concealed programming that she’s still learning how to cope with. Most of her education took place privately through hired tutors, and she made few friends her own age. Maybe that's why she's begun to feel alienated now that she's a older teenager; alienated from friends and family, and maybe even alienated from herself... Physical Description: When she can get away with it, Eira Katastroff Natt och Dag dresses like the metalhead she is. Usually this just means a black T-shirt emblazoned with bands she likes (she's a big fan of Arch Enemy, especially because some people say it's not real metal) and riveted jeans; but she likes to take the time to make really good outfits out of black leather and metal before she hits a concert. When she can't get away with it, she reluctantly dons the formal dresses and flowery blouses that befits a member of the Swedish nobility. (She has to make more public appearances than she'd like, primarily at the hospitals that her family's wealth helps endow.) She has long hair that she's dyed bluish-white, and when she can get away with it she likes to let it fall down across her face - though that's primarily just for a look. When she's working on a project, she pulls her hair back in a ponytail, pulls on a leather apron over her outfit, and goes to work. She likes to wear circular black mirrorshades that look vaguely steampunk. Änglalik is the image of a techno-paragon - quite calculatingly so. Her hair is Eira's 'natural' platinum blonde by means of a reversed magnetic charge and her outfits are vaguely armored bodysuits in blue and gold, with three golden crowns as her chest symbol. When she's 'powered up' her internal systems, her eyes crackle lightning white. She looks like an electric angel in the air (albeit one who flies via a small jetpack), and that's the way she likes it. When she opens her wings, they look like wire mesh shot through with crackling blue electricity. She wears wiremesh fingerless gloves when she uses the wings, letting her control them with her neuroelectrical impulses. She speaks English with a distinct Swedish accent - after all, she learned it herself rather than simply having it downloaded into her brain. Her Galstandard is accented too, but it's rather different - it's distinctly old-fashioned and rustic, the celestial equivalent of Appalachian English. Eira likes to wear eye-catching makeup, usually dark blue lipstick and eyeliner to match her hair and pale complexion, but will reluctantly don a more conventional appearance if she needs to fit in. She has several piercings and likes to move them around - after all, they don’t really cause her any pain and she can easily seal the holes up again. Currently she has both ears pierced (she likes to wear pentagram earrings, as they’re metal!) and her left eyebrow (it’s just a studded bar), the ones in her ears are iron and the one in her eyebrow is silver. Powers and Tactics: Änglalik prefers to fight from a distance, hovering out of reach and throwing heavy objects at her opponents. She doesn't like to get her hands dirty with anything except machine oil. She does a distinct ritual with her fingers whenever she's about to go into battle; cracking her knuckles and spreading her fingers out just so; this has to do with tying into the circuits in her wings as well as powering up her internal magnetic coils. Her favorite recent innovation is her wings, an expandable frame of nano-edged metal that she can power up with her own internal energies. She looks quite fearsome wielding them in combat, blue-white lightning crackling from the across her wings. The main advantage to fighting hand-to-hand with her fists is that it's much less energy-intensive than her magnetic powers. Her powers are essentially electromagnetic in nature, so most likely power stunts will be themed around electricity or magnetism. Personality and Motivation: “Higher. Further. Faster.” Eira’s personality is one that looks for limits and pushes them as far as they’ll go - sometimes dangerously. Even she’s not immortal. She is just a robot angel cast in lightning. Eira is arrogant, as well she should be. She is considerably smarter, stronger, and tougher than most people she knows - her vast intelligence and tireless labor means that she’s already earned an online bachelor’s degree from the University of Stockholm. As much as she likes Freedom City, she’s angry at her parents for packing her off to go to high school with her intellectual inferiors. Eira also has lots of self-doubt, as many publicly arrogant people do - she wonders if she’ll ever have real friends or a romantic partner. She knows all too well how different she is from other people - and deep down she wishes she was a bit more like them. Part of the reason she likes listening to metal music is that it’s something normal teenagers like to do - but mostly it’s because she likes the sound. Eira likes fighting - though as mentioned elsewhere, she’s not particularly a fan of hand-to-hand combat. She enjoys the chance to apply her intelligence to bringing down enemies, and isn’t above pointing out to them exactly how she just did the thing she did to bring them low. Eira likes showmanship - though she’s still not entirely good at it. Eira identifies as a machine intelligence, though it’s not a fact she’s particularly eager to broadcast. (She doesn’t want to be a test case for Europe or America’s laws about the legal rights of machines, even if she’d probably win such a test case because of her family’s wealth and connections.) She doesn’t particularly identify with other machine intelligences as equals, but she would react violently and vigorously to any organic attempts to enslave other machine intelligences. After all, she knows where that’s going. Eira likes boys but deep down she doesn’t think any boy would want to date someone as smart as her. It occurs to her sometimes that it would be a simple matter of self-adjustment to be interested in dating girls, or both, or anything else she wanted, but that thought is thoroughly terrifying - besides, in her experience girls aren’t really that much different when it comes to appreciating her. Eira has some rather old-fashioned attitudes about the Norse pantheon, and regards their current resurgence as a sign of how many people have forgotten the lessons of World War 2. She is vigorously proud of the Fenriswulf, and of the family scandal some seventy-five years ago when her paternal grandmother was born as a result of a civil marriage between a scion of Swedish nobility and the painter from Norway he'd invited into his home in 1940. Complications: Domo Arigato: Eira is a robot; things that work on the living do not work on her, while things that work on machines work all too well. Friends On The Other Side: From Fenris to the Storm family,. Eira has friends and family all over Freedom City and beyond - but many of them have powerful enemies. Machine Within: Eira's skin has a tendency to get knocked around when she takes hard hits, sliding around loosely or even parting to show the wet pink polymer underneath. Her 'blood' is a magnetorheological fluid that looks like high-quality stage blood but is clearly not under the slightest serious chemical investigation. Her eyes are typically blue but glow blue if damaged. Not Included: Eira's internal power source is a powerful chemical battery rather than an internal power plant - this makes it relatively easy for her to repair and recharge herself, but it does mean she's vulnerable to being captured and disabled. Robot on Fire: Extreme heat can scramble Eira's powers at GM's discretion. Sh!t Bats: Eira's going through a bit of a punk phase right now. This Flesh: Is Eira's disconnection from the flesh a result of her cybernetic nature, or just because she's sixteen? Either way, she's eager to feel things - just not to show that she's feeling them. Uncanny Valley: Eira is perfectly human on the outside. But sometimes creatures, and people, with particular sensitivities will get a strange vibe off her - as if she is the dead brought back to life, or something that never was alive. Abilities: 4 + 0 - [10] + 12 + 4 + 0 = 10 pp STR 30/14 (+10/+2) DEX 10 (+0) CON n/a (-) INT 22 (+6) WIS 14 (+2) CHA 10 (+0) Combat: 8 + 8 = 16 pp ATK: +4 (+10 Energy Systems Array) DEF: +8 (+4 Dodge, +4 Base, +2 flat-footed) Grapple: +6/+17 Initiative +6 Knockback: -6/-3 Saves: 0 + 5 + 5 = 10 pp TOU +12/+6 (+6 Protection, +6 Force Field) FORT n/a REF +5 (+0 Dex, +5) WILL +7 (+2 Wis, +5) Skills: 10 pp=40 r Computers 4 (+10) Concentration 4 (+6) Craft (Electronic) 4 (+10) Craft (Mechanical) 4 (+10) Knowledge (Technology) 4 (+10) Languages 2 (English, Galstandard, Base [Swedish]) Medicine 3 (+5) Notice 3 (+5) Search 4 (+10) Sense Motive 8 (+10) Feats: 7 pp Dodge Focus 4 Inventor Master Plan Speed of Thought Powers: 1 + 26 + 6 + 5 + 6 + 40 + 6 + 5 + 5 = 100 pp [all powers have the descriptor "technological"] Datalink 1 (wi-fi hookup; 10 feet, radio) [1PP] Energy Systems Array 11 (22PP, PFs: Accurate 3, Alternate Power 1) [26PP] BE: Enhanced STR 16 (to STR 30/+10) {20} + Super-Strength 3 (Effective STR 45, Heavy Load 6 tons) {6} {16+6=22/22} AP: Magnetic Control 10 (Effective STR 50, Heavy Load 12 tons, PFs: Indirect, Subtle) {22/22} Flight 3 ('wings', 50 MPH/500 FPM) [6PP] Enhanced Feats 5 (diamond computer brain; Beginner's Luck, Eidetic Memory, Jack of all Trades, Online Research, Quick Change [between Änglalik and Eira]) [5PP] Force Field 6 (electrified wing deflection) [6PP] Immunity 40 (diamond computer brain; Fortitude Saves, Psionic Effects) [40PP] Protection 6 (polymer skin and ceramic bones) [6PP] Quickness 4 (diamond computer brain; x25, Flaw: Mental Tasks Only) [2PP] Regeneration 5 (self-healing magnetic polymers; Recovery Bonus +0) [5PP] Super-Senses 5 (onboard sensors; Radio, Enhancements: Accurate 2, Analytical, Uncanny Dodge [radio]) [5PP] Drawbacks: -3PP Vulnerability (fire, very common, minor) [-3PP] costs abilities 10 + combat 16 + saves 10 + skills 10/40 + feats 7 + powers 100 - drawbacks 3 = 150 pts

"Haunted," growled Ashley in that tone that meant she was trying to prevent something without really asserting herself. "Why doesn't your daddy want you home?" asked Judy with alarm, ignoring her sister's comment. She gave Leroy a wide-eyed look, reaching across part of the boat to touch his hand.

"No, Ah...Ah left, and Ah didn't actually say anything to him about it," admitted Judy. "Ah guess Ah should actually tell him how Ah feel, but Ah don't like...talking about that stuff, not with somebody Ah'm supposed to care about, anyway. Ah want to be helping people, not...fighting with them all the time." She looked downcast, then turned to give Danica a faint smile. "Some days Ah wish Ah could just climb into a shell like yours and hide for a while. Not forever, just till nobody was paying attention to me anymore." Good luck with that, she thought unhappily.

I'm not supposed to talk about that. Operational security. You never know who might be a Grue! The last thought came through loud, the mental equivalent of a startled yelp. We-we'll be okay, Lulu. We're going somewhere for the summer but we'll be back in the fall, probably. She hesitated, then went on, I don't really know what's going to happen next year. I came here to learn how to control my powers, and so far that's been going pretty well. I haven't even had to use them in a real fight, which is exactly what I want.

"Lady Liberty's a big gun. You need to learn how to shoot before you start waving that around." She leaned back and started ostentatiously filing her nails - by dint of snapping her wrist and extending a nail file underneath her leather jacket's sleeve. "You got it hard. Gotta figure out who you wanna be before you get out there." She smiled thinly. "Me, I have it easy. I already know I'm the baddest bitch there is. It's nice."

Oh, Lulu, I...I'm sorry, Judy stumbled inside her head. That must be hard. Ashley really wouldn't want me talking to you like this! But that's all right. She smiled a little, then hazarded. Are the fosters nice? I know there's supposed to be lots of foster parents out there who really want kids, but I know things are different in Freedom.

It's hard when there's trouble with family. She wanted to tell Lulu other things; about how you should cling to family as long as you had, but how sometimes you found family outside your blood even when you didn't expect it. But those thoughts stayed safely inside her head, where they belonged. Like a lot of truths, the were dangerous. Judy looked down at where she was fiddling with the fuzzy edge of her blanket. Do you go back to them for summer?

"Mm." Ashley frowned at that (not by any means a new expression on Watchdog's face), but wasn't about to break cover by getting into a political argument. Wonder what you were doing trying to get in here so bad, then, she thought to herself. "I can understand that. Wait a few years, make some friends, learn some stuff, then you can start really pushing. Lot of stuff in this country that needs fixing," she allowed. "So you ran into her back during the big mashup, huh? Judy and I spent that whole day in lockdown and in triplicate. Other selves are kind of asses, though."

Judy looked at the illusory table before her and cautiously reached out a hand to the sweet potato casserole, scooping up a bite with a nearby spoon. She didn't really react except in curiosity until she'd actually put the bite in her mouth. Lulu felt her little mental 'jump', and a surge of both sadness and gratitude. Wow! That's really good. You're good at this, Lulu. And so was your nana. She took a few more bites, dumping gravy on the turkey, scooping cranberry onto the bread, then when she'd eaten a bite or two of several things on the table she sighed softly, summoned up her willpower, and set down the spoon. I think that's about all I'd better eat. That was very good. She crossed her hands on her lap, looking over at her sleeping bodyguard, and thought, Ashley's not really that bad, Lulu. I was pretty worried when we came here together, but she's actually really nice. She's just very protective.

"Guess not," said Ashley frankly. She looked Monica up and down, and suddenly remembered being sixteen and infused with the power of a nation's self-identity - she wondered if the Spirit of Liberty would recognize her if she touched Monica. Best not to find out. "Judy wants to be alone right now, and I am cheerful as Hell," she lied. She looked down her glasses at the Latina teen, then said, "What is your job, anyway?" she asked. She made a little gesture. "All that...America, and you're just here in high school?" Do you know what the US government thinks about you, kid? Do you know what they'd like to do to you if you step out of line? She kept the last two thoughts in her head - which was also why she bit back her "character's" question about visibility. Watchdog might have resented an LGBT Lady Liberty for staying out of the spotlight, but Ashley Tran the Secret Service agent couldn't fault the kid at all.

Unbidden thoughts of Judy's siblings flashed through her mind - Jaybee and her rebellious secrets, Jaydee and how loud she could get when there was something she wanted. It was a good thing Lulu wasn't around just then. "I don't know about that..." Judy shifted uncomfortably where she sat, and it may have been Danica's imagination but it got slightly warmer as her cheeks darkened. "...he knows where Ah got my powers," she finally muttered. Judy had talked about her hidden alien heritage a few times, in private moments - it was definitely not a point of pride for the conservative girl. "He was talking about how people on his homeworld loved it when evil aliens got wiped out, and...and he wasn't trying to hurt me," she said, taking the side of someone who wasn't even in the room, "he just wasn't thinking."

Judy blinked, having forgotten about the tortoise girl's emotion-controlling powers entirely. She knew that Ashley had initially been concerned about those, but had eventually decided they weren't a problem - but thinking about that wasn't helping. "Oh, we were supposed to show the new boy around. It was a little scary because he has Grue powers, but he's actually nice. It was going okay, we were out in the greenhouse, and Leroy was being..." She hesitated a moment then said, "Ah know sometimes he can be a little grating, but that's just because he's foreign, and anyway he was being a little thoughtless, and Ashley just...just butted in and called him an idiot, and Ah got upset and Ah left." She frowned. "She's not supposed to do that, just to...to butt into mah life like that."

April 2019 Outside the Common Room Leaning against the wall, the corridor mostly empty at this time of day, Watchdog's eyes were firmly hidden behind her sunglasses by the time Monica approached, a few minutes after the 'incident' out in the greenhouse. Normally she'd have let the other girl pass, but she picked up on the indications in Lady Liberty's manner that she actually wanted to talk. "Got a problem, Liberty?" she sneered.

"...no," admitted Judy, something of a first given all the times she'd obviously been holding back upset around Danica. She slumped onto a stool next to Danica, close enough that the tortoise totem could feel a slight elevation in temperature. It didn't seem like Judy was about to set the room on fire, but she was definitely a walking space heater for the moment. "That was maybe the worst fight Ah've ever had with Ashley, " she confessed. "And Ah'm probably gonna have to have a talk with Leroy about it too." She rubbed her dry eyes and tried to take a deep, calming breath. "Ah'm sorry if Ah upset you," she said again, maybe a little too hastily. "That was not how today was supposed to go at all."

April 2019 Common Room "Ah can't believe you did that!" Judy was steaming mad, heat coming off her in waves, as she jammed her hands down at her sides and yelled at her sister. "Ah can't believe you just stuck your nose into mah private life like that!" "...maybe I shouldn't have," admitted an unhappy-looking Ashley, who'd forsaken her sunglasses and looked sick to her stomach. "But I saw what he was doing to you, and I knew I had to say something." Maybe she hadn't had to say something, actually, but dammit she'd seen too many people push Judy around in the last year without anybody saying a word in her defense. Well why don't you say that out loud, a voice suggested, so you can get the hell out of this assignment and maybe this town forever! "Let's talk about this in our room," she suggested, a conversation changer that usually worked. "Oh, Ah think I know what you're going to say in there," said a red-faced Judy. "But it's not...it's not your place to tell me how to live mah life, anymore than it's my place to tell you how to live yours." She jabbed a finger at her sister and suddenly her voice broke. "And...and Ah want to be crying right now, Ashley, because Ah am so mad, but Ah can't even do that! Ah don't get to do anything Ah want!" Under normal circumstances, Ashley supposed she'd probably be at a pretty high risk of being fired right now, but haha, normal circumstances had been shot in the head and buried on the South Lawn for the last year and they weren't getting resurrected anytime soon. "I'm sorry," she apologized, hands in front of her and considerably softer than her usual tones. "But you know this isn't the place to talk about this." she added in a firm whisper. "Ah want you to go away," said Judy, raising her head and looking Ashley in the eye. "Ah want you to go outside this room, so Ah don't have to see you for a while. You told me Ah'd have as much privacy as you could give me, right? You are gonna keep your word to me, right?" "All right, Judy," said Ashley quietly. "I'll be out in the hall." Because she knew what was about to happen, she didn't tense when she heard Judy's shriek of alarm from inside the common room, just as she was stepping out the door. - Her face bright red, Judy looked down at the sole other occupant of the common room. "Omigod Danica! You were here the whole time! Ah'm so sorry!"