alderwitch

Alex gave Erin a startled look and sat the shirt down the desk. After fixing her roommate with one of those all-to-considering glances, Alex lifted one shoulder in a slight shrug, "It's not that I think that she's up to anything bad, per say. Or even that I don't trust her. Actually, I do trust her quite a bit. Perhaps more than I should, but if I am related to her, I want to know how. She's all alone now and she's some kind of family. I'm not just going to leave her to take care of herself. Of course, I'm going to take care of her. But I can't help her if I don't know what she's hiding. Or why."

Taylor's eyes did that creepy fade to glowing white, but she seemed to manage to answer Stesha's questions. At the moment, all she was tossing was her vision anyways, so it wasn't terribly distracting to manage both, "He's someone who Jack knows through his work. Jack's pretty much always on call. I think Jack and Derrick might be together, but he would have called if he could have. They both would." "This might take me an hour or so to do. Hopefully, it's not warded." That was the last thing Taylor said for a long time. She settled in, not moving and not even breathing. Only the flicker of her eyelids betrayed the rapid search she made of the city. After a very long sixty minutes, give or take, Taylor inhaled suddenly, "I've got Jack. I don't see Dark Star, however. There's a man locked in the same compound with him. Looks like some sort of high tech facility." Taylor went on to give a rather accurate description of Dark Star's human form before adding, "It's not too far from here."

"Yup." Alex said firmly. The guilt in her tone was definately overridden by determination, "Although I need to get some samples from the rest of the team to use as a baseline since I also want to test her for terminus energies. I know she's not my twin but that she's related to me. The terminus event happened at one very fixed point in time. If she's not my sister, how could she have her powers from the same event? She'd have to have been in utero the same time as me and Mike. There's just too many questions. Too many holes."

Taylor watched him go then blinked up to Stesha's apartment, her brow wrinkling in concern, as she said, "I think something's happened to Jack." She went over to her backpack to dig through looking for one of the more ancient texts that she thumped on Stesha's coffee table and cracked open. The language wasn't English, of course, but few of Taylor's books were. Sinking to the ground in front of it, Taylor curled her legs up into the full lotus absently as she quickly flipped through the delicate pages. "I might be able to scry for him, however."

Burned the HP I gained from my Jack's filthy secrets complication to lie to the vampire for him. Oh, the irony.

Taylor's frown spoke volumes of concern. Jack standing her up was one thing but his loyalists would have to truely be running scared if they were reduced to this. Or truely stupid. Eyeing the vampire with the rather noticable lisp, she gave it even odds. Smoothing her expression out, she gave what she hoped was a casual shrug. "He's got business tonight, that's all I know. We had a date earlier, it was interrupted by some sort of emergency. Obviously not work or you'd know about it. I'll tell him you came looking for him, though. I'm sure he'll be back later tonight."

"Doubtful. He'll keep trying until he manages to get an answer. This is Mike." Alex said pragmatically as she pinned up the sleeves so that she could drag the shirt to home ec to stitch it together. "It's not like Mike's the poster boy for normal, either. We lived in a government think tank for the last ten years with mandatory curfew and were never allowed out of sight of a guardian or parent. So, I really wouldn't stress. If you don't want to go, just say 'no' but I really think you should if he asks. Seriously. He's like the safest person on the planet to go out with."

Taylor's gaze slid back over to Stesha then to the young... man? The flash of red, the big smile. This was not a conversation to be had in Stesha's apartment clearly. She gave Stesha a barely noticible nod before she put a hand on the man's elbow and went to steer him out of the apartment and down to the streets below. Jack had better have a bloody good reason for sending another vampire to talk to her. Once she'd manuevered him into an alley, Taylor scowled at him. "Talk. Quickly."

Taylor cocked her head at that, then without a sound teleported from the room and down the hall like she was heading up from the stairs. She stopped at a door a few spaces down, one she knew was currently unoccupied, and then began patting her pockets as if she was searching for her keys. In the search, she managed to knock her cell phone out of her pocket with a clatter and knelt to scoop it up.

"Mike'll pay. He'd feel it was his responsibility to anyhow. He's old fashioned like that." Alex said with a little flap of her hands. "It doesn't matter, really, what you do. I mean, its kinda like what you told me about having fun with Mark. It doesn't matter if its something a typical. Plus, if you decide you're done halfway through, Mike won't get offended or anything. He may seem like uber-grim but he's a lot of fun. He's gone to see like every Disney move with me ever made and he's not into those at all. But he goes along and has fun cuz I'm having fun. I mean, worse case scenario, is its just a little weird but you get to go out and have fun with a friend."

She'd at least manage to get caugh up on school work in the two hours of cooling her heels. When Taylor absolutely couldn't stand the looks the barista was shooting at her, she headed outside to check her messages - nothing - and find an alley to teleport back to Stesha's to see if a message hadn't been left there. "I'm not trying to interrupt," Taylor said as she was teleporting into the living room, "Jack didn't leave a message... Where's Dark Star?" After catiously glancing around as she hadn't wanted to port in on her friends making out, it wasn't hard to notice a significant lack of Stesha's significant other.

"It was the other day in the lunch room. You just ran through and grabbed an apple because you were late for training." Alex volunteered. "He offered to walk with you there and you said you had it. It wasn't a good plan. None of them have been, but they've grown progressively more elaborate." Alex set about trimming the other sleeve to match as she'd decided she could just turn it into one of those three quarter sleeve shirts and maybe put some trim on the cuffs. "He could, but that would be like playing with barbie dolls. Scripting every step isn't so much fun. He thinks you understand him better than any of them would. Or could." She shrugged and wrinkled her nose up as she thought, "Mike has trouble getting close to people. I mean, you've noticed that I'm sure. But he knows that you have quirks too. He empathizes, in a way. You're fun and athletic and you push through and try, especially when you're struggling. There's a lot to like and a lot to admire, really. Mike's actually a lot deeper than people give him credit for. He likes and admires you so of course you're who he's decided to try for first."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean to imply that was just the reason behind it at all!" Alex said quickly, raising her hands. She always over explained these things, "He's trying to ask you out because he likes you. I was just trying to explain the baggage that's making him act all bizzarre about girls. Mike thinks you have a lot in common and he thinks you're a fun person to hang out with. There are other super strong and super tough girls at the school. He's trying to dredge up the courage to ask you out though."

"What's important is that thanks to the efforts of those who were there, the tragedy was as minimal as we really could have hoped. None of us can be everywhere at once," Phantom said pragmatically. At the time she'd been frustratrated that heroes had vanished during the day, as anyone there would have been. She, however, knew far too well how stretched thin any of them were, "No matter how hard we may try."

"Mike would never hurt me," Alex said with an unshakeable confidence as Alex believed that with a bone deep certainty. "Even if Mike just hand 'normal' strength for his size, he's already six four. I'm five foot three and slender. With or without super strength, he could hurt me. Its just, the consequences are more dire if he does. I don't worry about it, really. He worries enough for everyone." Alex began looking over the shirt to see if she could salvage it now that one sleeve was about a third shorter. "If he can ever manage to ask in something less freakish a manner, are you going to go out with him?"

A punch she was expecting but Taylor jerked away from the touch and automatically phased out of Ace's hands. She gave him an irritated look as she resolidified, not just at the flirty carress but more that he'd startled her enough that she'd phased. It proved both of his points, not just that he could overcome her defense, but that her ingrained response was a little too ingrained. Taylor pulled a face at him, "That's not fair, Ace."

"DNA's not so easy to contaminate. It would have to be mixed with another fluid and enough to mingle the two samples. I'm pretty sure I didn't rub my sleeve against anyone else's open wounds," Alex smiled, but didn't carry the lecture any further on science. After all, they would both know that she was just stalling at that point. After a little bit of blushing and stammering, Alex forced herself to take a deep breath and blurt out, "He'd have to really try to hurt you. I mean, even if he was excited. Or whatever. Not that he would. I mean. Mike doesn't believe in pre-marital hugs half the time. But if anything, well, you know." Alex forced herself to stop babbling. Obviously Mike didn't think Erin was easy or anything like that and she was mangling her point. "He's got good control of his strength now but its always there in the back of his head. You're safe."

"Making sure that Zoe's DNA isn't contaminated so that I can run a few tests on it with the school lab," Alex confessed, a tad guiltily. Misappropriation of her access to the science labs was probably high up there for worst sins Alex had ever committed but she was set on this course of action. She tucked back her bangs and twisted to give Erin her full attention, "Neither's he. Actually, I think that's why he's intending on asking you. He knows that you won't laugh at him if he acts all weird. He thinks the two of you have a lot in common. And..." Alex trailed off, finally showing some discomfort with this conversation as she blushed unable to put the last part into words.

Alex shrugged and said loyally, "I'll go with Erin's pick on the matter. If she thinks we should get a truck, that's what we'll get. What color are you getting?" She went over to look over the truck and began asking a few questions about the specific make and model they were looking at versus others currently available.

"He was trying to work his way up to asking you out," Alex said matter-of-factly as she snipped the cuff off with a final close of the scissors and let it fall into her lap. After fishing about in her desk, she pulled out a ziploc bag and used the end of one pencil to scoop the soiled cloth into the baggie. Zipping it closed, she added, "He's currently regrouping in his room and trying to come up with a plan C. This was plan B. Plan A died the other day in the lunchroom." Alex set about sealing the bag with thick plastic tape over the ziplock opening, before carefully labeling the bag with Zoe's name. "The other guys gave him some sort of 'how to talk to girls' conversation. From what I can tell, mostly filled with a little bit of decent advice and some comically bad advice."

Weird was in the eye of the beholder, of course, as Alex had the shirt she'd worn that day on her lap. After looking up at Erin with an obviously amused expression over the question, she turned her attention back to the shirt and began cutting the bloody cuff off very carefully. "You weren't impressed by his smoothness? I can't imagine why. Yeah, he was acting a little bit like a freak. I need to talk to him about which advice the boys give him that he takes."

Phantom had just been inclining her head to Avenger's greeting when she felt the 'good doctor's presence. Really should have gotten the guest roster to this little meeting. Phantom gritted her back teeth and repressed the shudder that Archeville's presence always aroused. Once she was certain that her expression was impassive again, she twisted back and greeted the doctor coolly, "I'm not sure who Dark Star invited, but we've all only just arrived."

Phantom teleported into the entrance way of the conference room while Ace was settling himself. After she had solidfied, she floated over to one of the middleish chairs of the table and seated herself. Really, she'd have walked over and sat like a normal person but when one's costume had layers upon layers of billowing fabric, one had to make do. Since half of the assembled members were in costumes, and half were not, it seemed safer to err on the side of caution. Once settled, she reached up to push the cowl back. "I hope I'm not late."

Headmaster Summers lightly tapped his forefingers together and nodded for Erin to set the card on his desk. Once Zoe had finished speaking, he finally turned his attention from her and curisorily flipped through the screens of the card. Once he'd finished, he slipped the id into his desk, "I think it is best if I hold onto it for the moment. If you find you need it, just let me know. We have a place in the school for things like this." He pinned a thoughtful gaze on Zoe, "Fortunately, unlike most schools, we are prepared for this sort of eventuality. Ms. White, if you could show - well, we can't call you Ms. Harris. You'll need to think up a name that you'll use if you want to keep that secret. If you could show Zoe to Ms. Ramirez, she'll get you started on the paperwork." Standing up, he reached for a cane and came around the desk with a noticible limp. "We are fortunate in that we do have quite a bit of community support. It allows the school to be generous in cases like this. I can see that you are used to doing everything quickly but I strongly suggest that you take a moment to let everything absorb in. If you always run from things, you'll find they catch up to you at the worst possible moments. :bat: " He settled one solid hand on Zoe's shoulder, before he showed the two girls out. Ms. Ramirez already had a stack of paperwork prepared, as if she'd been prepared ahead of time for a new student. It was, of course, possible that they were always prepared for the odd super-powered emergencies and a new term was just starting. As the door closed behind them, Duncan Summers took out a small disk from his pocket and let the message play once more to make certain that he'd forgotten nothing. He hadn't. With an amused chuckle, he returned to his desk. Running the school was many things, but it was never boring.

"Being able to turn intangible means never staying burried for long," Taylor said with wry, dark humor, "Hopefully I won't stay dead for long. The theory is sound but I have never put it into practive. I also hope never to have to." Taylor drained the last of her tea and set it down, "I think I'm going to have to scrape together enough to buy a place. It'll hurt and probably means asking my folks for the help, but if I own it, no one's going to complain about me inscribing wards or things like that. Maybe a town house. At least then I'd have room for a library."