alderwitch

Unfortunately, Alex was not nearly as good at getting people to move out of her way especially when there was a fight boiling. She had to resort to some very un-Alex shoving to see what was going on in the middle of the quad. She did arrive to catch the very audible conversation. Of course, Alex had caught the rumors. She'd also dismissed them as rediculous and malicious. Apparently not everyone had. After a bit of silently trying to shape words, Alex let out a very aggravated, "Oh!" Cupping her hands around her mouth as clearly they were going to give everyone a scene, Alex shouted in an impressive bellow, "You can't get pregnant from having your breast touched, for goodness sake! Put him down!"

Taylor laughed and retreated from him teasingly. She was obviously using her ability to float to make manuevering in the calm water easier although she remained - for the moment - solid. Taylor fully expected him to cheat, after all. "Catching me isn't going to do you any good if you can't hold on to me," she challenged with a laugh, "And catching me may not prove as easy as you think."

Taylor picked up a gun and automatically checked to see that it wasn't loaded. "Gun saftey 101, you never take anyone else's word that a gun is empty. You treat every gun like it's loaded until you've made certain yourself that it's not. Keep the gun barrel pointed at the floor preferrably, up in the air is your second choice." Having double checked the gun, she held it out for Stesha and showed her how to check the barrel. "You only ever point a gun at someone if you're willing and ready to point the trigger."

Alex simply handed the papers over to James with a smile and a wink, "No reason to co-sign it, I think. I'm sure Erin will let me borrow her truck. Unlike some people." She smiled at James as she teased him about his car and neatly sidestepped being an equal owner on James car. She was sure he'd understand and pick up the banter. They both knew how poor Erin was not to mention how prickly she was about it. Alex had no intention of letting Erin share something she'd never be able to afford on her own and her presence up until this point had made Erin much more likely to go along with it without getting her back up, "I don't think I'm a truck person, I mean, I suppose I could sit on a phone book. Nope, I'm more of a convertible classic girl, I've decided."

Alex nodded and with uncharacteristically subdued posture, let herself be escorted out of the bathroom. She was too lost in her thoughts and Erin was too concerned about her friend for either of them to notice the shocked and absolutely maliciously amused presence down the hall. -------------------- Before first period was over, rumors were flying. Unfortunately, Mike was oblivious enough and obnoxiously good enough that to really set him off took some personal handling. So it was Daisy Gibbons herself that sidled up to Mike in the cafeteria at lunch and fixed her most sympathetic smile on him as she leaned over his table. Once she'd caught his attention, she shifted to press one hand on his shoulder as she sweetly said, "I just want you to know that I don't believe the rumors, Mike. Alex isn't that kind of girl. She's so hardworking. So good." Her pretty mouth turned down as she lowered her voice conspiritorially, "And if she is in, you know, trouble, it's got to be Mark's fault. I mean, he's used to girls who move faster than Alex. Don't worry. If she is, I'm sure he'll do what's right by her and the baby." Her fingers slid over his shoulder almost carressingly as she gave him a 'sympathetic' squeeze. "He's that kind of guy." Daisy sashayed off, sure that her little emotional nudges would do their usual trick. Bolt was going to be so very pleased with the end results, and, frankly, everyone had been curious as to what exactly Mike was holding back. She only hoped she'd have a front row seat on the quad.

So shall we call this wrapped and people can pick up threads in the new base (which is now paid for) as they like?

Through the wall, Mike could see the dusty and obviously in disuse corridors of what looked like a set straight out of Star Trek. It took no time to confirm to James that the traps were no longer active, at which point he was able to open the device from the inside. Inside was an absolutely huge base, covered in years of dust and disuse, the large computer banks powered down and the lights gone dark. After a moment of silence, Alex announced, "We're going to need a lot of cleaning supplies."

Phantom stood, the sharp little smile playing about the corners of her lips more visable as her cloak was still smoldering on the astro-turf. She gave a quick gesture to banish the folds of the cloak back to the void where it would mend itself once more. She stepped close enough to rest one hand on his back as she murmured, "My place it is." With a swirl of shadows they vanished even as Freedom City's finest began to arrive in the minigolf parking lot.

Phantom floated up a little higher and shook her head slightly as she solidified and summoned a forcefield. Can't hurt me? Hah! At least it was just a graze. She put it out of her mind and fired a bolt of eldritch power at one of the agents, mostly picking one at random.

"I always knew this time of my life would be precious. I mean, that's why I've always just let myself be a kid, you know? It was a luxury, but it's not a luxury I can afford anymore. I'll need to get finances in order. If I juggle my schedule, I can leave Claremont and get my college degree in a matter of months instead of years. I'll need to cash out the college fund," Alex murmered, her mind clearly running at full tilt. She stopped to blow her nose a final time and straighten her shoulders that had curved as if under some invisible weight. "Mark can't do that with me, or for me. I wish..." She trailed off and sighed. "It is what it is."

"I don't have an artistic bone in my body, I'm afraid, although I'd be honored to see the studio." Alex glanced down at her outfit with a small smile. She loved her colors, but knew full well that her idea of 'more is better' when it came to them was not usually shared. "That must be so neat to be able to put what you imagine on a piece of paper."

Alex looked up over the tissue, her hazel eyes wide and frightened, "I can't do that! This is my responsibility. I'm not just going to walk away from this. I don't think I could. It might be the right choice for some people, but not for me." She took a shuddery breath and accepted the new cool towels, "I've got options, I just need a new plan. This sorta dumps my ten-year-plan down the toilet." Alex was quiet for a long moment before she said very softly and sadly, "I'll just have to break things off with Mark."

With a muttered curse, Phantom teleported in front of the ape and fired a crackling blast of energy accross his nose. "I'm not done yet, flyboy." Phantom growled at him as she appeared a scant few yards away.

"Even if I wasn't planning to turn myself in tomorrow morning, the chances are very good that I would have been caught. As it was, in order to delay the alarm on the lab I had to play with the security system in some truly interesting ways. I didn't want to get you in trouble too." Alex paused to blow her nose. She didn't seem surprised that Erin was aware of who Zoe was or overly perturbed by that fact. "You'd end up with more Archer time and you hate him." Chucking the toilet paper into the trash, Alex put the cold wet papertowel against her face in some futile effort to make the blotchy skin part go away. "I broke into the school lab, rerouted the alarm power, and stole the components to run a battery of illicit tests on a fellow student. Even with extenuating circumstances, I'll be working off demerits until Christmas. You wouldn't have even had the extenuating circumstances. So I didn't say anything. And, yes, these are the lab results."

Phantom: + Reputation post Hard Days Night Manic Mondays Hammer and Anvil Knights Fallout What Again On This The Day Of My Daughters Debut Training Day Clash On The Back Nine Same Thing We Do Every Night Getting the Goods Tricksters Game Fallout: Aftermath (Phantom/Avenger) Checkmate GM'd The One The Only Psyche: + Reputation Post Brainiacs Of Freedom Sweet Sixteen Cabo Wabo Car Shopping Diakaiju Days First Class - New Teacher At School Out With The Old Shell Shock Mysteries and Gossip Great Minds Think Alike Birthday at the Park The House of Lucas

The response came in the form of a map of the campus with a blipping light in the girl's dormitory one floor up. Erin got there just as Alex was moistening a stack of paper towels. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was blotchy. Alex never had been able to do the pretty tears. She rarely cried, fortunately. Tonight though, it was clear that she'd had a doozy of a one. Before Erin could ask, she waved a sheif of papers at her and burst out, "I'm too young to be anyone's mom." as tears started to trickle down her cheeks.

Alex find out about Zoe. Hijinks ensue.

Late at night in the girls lavatory, there was no one to hear as Alex blew her nose on the toilet paper and let out a sad little hiccup. With her pink backpack hanging on the inside of the door and her sneakers drawn up under her ontop of the toilet, it would be nearly impossible to tell she was even in there. Except of course for the occasional sniffle. As if the results might have changed since the last time she'd poured over them, Alex smoothed out the crumpled papers and ran her fingers over it again. She hadn't made a mistake. For the thousandth time, she hadn't. Mike was still sleeping soundly. She'd locked down her sheilds so tight that nothing would leak and Alex was glad for that small mercy. Otherwise he'd have been up here fretting and then she'd have told him and she could hardly do that. Really, there was only one person to reach out for at midnight on a school night. Her mental voice drifted out forlornly to her best friend. 'Erin? I need help. I don't know what I'm going to do!'

No longer constrained by the party atmosphere, Phantom was clear to check what exactly this boy was. What she found made her narrow her eyes behind her mask. "I don't do social calls." She said dryly. Phantom was completely covered from head to foot with the folds of her cloak until she moved, solidifying as she landed in the alley. "You're the other one these demons are looking for. I'd like to know why."

Alex gave a tiny shake of her head to signify that she hadn't known of her grandmother either even as her grandfather replied, "Oh, no. She could have but it wasn't a life she wanted. Too dangerous. If she could have gotten me to retire any sooner..." His voice trailed off, lost in memories before he cleared his throat and added. "Well, at any rate, I know enough to get some of it up and running again. Alex has a few ideas for modifying the beacons." Alex nodded quickly, stuffing the remainder of her sandwich in her mouth as she kicked over to the computer bank and began to punch buttons with authority. "The beacon itself is the size of a quarter." it came out a little muffled until she swallowed and continued. "We can fit that, the casing for a communicator chip in a belt buckle no problem. I think if we can compress it we might be able to fit fabric under macropressure in a unit behind them. Then, no more bathroom changes!" Designs and schematics flowed from one screen to the next.

After everything that had happened in the last month and a half, it was a relief to have a night to devote to the imp problem. After the destruction, at the mini putt, she knew there was something else they were looking for. Someone else. High above the city, on one of the skyscrapers, she continued to search the city for that distinctive infernal signature. For once, she was in luck. Even as Phantom felt the demons sent back to hell, she was stepping off the building to teleport into the alley. She appeared in a quick burst of shadow in the alley and turned around to blink at James. After a moment, she recognized his face from the debutante ball. "You're the Prophet boy."

He went quiet for a moment, swallowing his sandwich bites before a wistful smile curved his face, "My wife built most of it. I was the more athletic type. Bouncing on rooftops, things like that. Alex's mother takes after me but my wife was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Met her when I needed a new grapple gun and it was love at first sight. Took me a year to convince her to even go out with a meat head like me. She built everything down here, pretty much." Alex's eyes rounded with quiet fascination, eating her sandwich in absolute silence. She'd always thought her intellect was more of fluke than it was. Erin could practically see her mind recalculating the genetic probabilities.

She shook her head at Jason, setting her hair bouncing, "No, it's cool, thank you. Is this your first day? It's a great school. We love it here. Started just at the start of summer." The words bubbled out of her rapidly. Alex gave Mark a brighter smile and happily surrendered some of her thick tomes to her boyfriend, as she pressed a fond kiss to his cheek. "Sounds great. I'm famished. I've had back to back labs."

"Sure, no doubt." Alex picked up the metal thermos with a rather cavalier swing and waited for Erin to stand up and join her as they trotted down the haul. Finding Alex's Granpa in the area below the manor took a few minutes of poking down corridors but they found him next to the computer and monitor bank setting out some tea and sandwiches. He accepted the thermos with happy mutterings like "Why would I put the blasted thing in that old device. Silly old man." but shook himself for those musings and offered them the tea and sandwiches. He still stole occasional glances at his only grandchild and sometimes it seemed as if he was seeing someone else in her place. But then, Alex and her mother did have a strong family resemblence. "Oh, hey, you cut the crusts off and everything. Thank you! Erin, you hungry?"

"I'm sorry if I've given you the impression that I can't be hurt. I can be, of course. I'll be sad when the relationship with Mark ends but I'll be okay. Not because I can replace him, but cuz I'm emotionally secure in who I am." Alex said thoughtfully. Too used to Erin's prickly nature for any thing to be taken personally. "Mark's depth aside. You have to risk being hurt eventually because its worth it to love people. You don't love people cuz they'll always be there to return it. You do it because in the end, its better to have the memories than nothing. At least in my opinion." Alex shrugged and gave her sunshiney smile. "I mean, I love you like a sister but eventually we'll grow up and prolly move away and keep in touch via phone and all that but it doesn't stop me from caring now."