alderwitch

"Well, to be fair, telepathy never has worked well on me. That's why I was such a thorn in Elena's predecessor's side. It doesn't really work any better for Elena. Besides, what would be the interest in a relationship where you knew what the other person was thinking all the time. Takes out the mystery. The romance." She slanted a sly glance Jack's way, "...the challenge." She shrugged then, her hair rippling slightly with the gesture as she finally pushed away from the wall she'd taken up a stance in front of and walked over to accept her tea. "...and we're not 'dating'. But the idiosyncrasies of that relationship are really neither here nor there." Curling her fingers around the cup she nodded, making a little 'have at' gesture before pointing out. "I do know French, but alas, speed reading is not my forte. See, I knew you all would be the right lot for this little mystery." The book, however they read it, would start with the usual, "Once Upon a Time..." and go into the meandering and overly florid descriptions of the beautiful princess and her terrible curse. There was only five or six pages of the wordy (and really not terribly well written) story and then it ended abruptly. Just enough to establish the narrative scene and setting before ending abruptly in the middle of a sentence. Eli, however, with his ability to focus between the ticks of seconds, would see the latest sentance vanish. Anyone else looking, it would have vanished between one blink and the next.

"But after you graduate and turn eighteen," Alex agreed, her mind already whirling away. "And it has to be done in a way that doesn't make people feel you were deceiving them or anything. Otherwise, that would be a big old problem. I don't know. What do you think, Mike? How do you want to tell the world?" Alex went to say something more but stopped herself, looking down at her linked hands stead as their mental link turned opaque for a moment. It was rare that Alex self-edited with him but it did happen. Usually when she was worried about how he'd take a comment.

Talya slid up behind Jack, slipping her hand in his jacket pocket (and being awfully friendly in the process!) before her gloved fingers closed around the powercell he'd kept from earlier. She pulled it out and lifted the softly glowing device between gloved fingertips, "This... this is not from this planet. It's a graviton cell and those are, oh, about three hundred years ahead of any technology on this little planet. Roughly. Sometimes my math gets skewed but its close enough for government work. The point is, you don't have -just one- of these. You have, oh, what do you think, Jack? Twenty?" She slanted a glance to the swordsman's face and then back to the sweating soldier. "Now, I have oodles of questions but time is sadly pressing, so I'll confine it to just two - who are your clients and when is the sale?" The man cleared his throat and looked once at Jack's cold face before looking at Bombshell's mocking smile and squeaked out, "It's an auction - a big auction - tonight!" Bombshell stilled behind Jack's shoulder, "Oh, well, that's not good."

"Oh, that could be a problem. I forget. Except for my family, everyone at the wedding was more or less in the superhero community." Taylor agreed. JJ clung to his mother, chubby hands fisted in the blanket draped over her shoulder but more interested and alert once they were back in the shade of the trees. He had Jack's bright blue eyes still and rather than the usual vaguely unfocused gaze of an infant, his would zip back and forth to focus on micro movements. Shifting him to her hip, Taylor nodded her agreement, "Giant bee meadow?" There was probably a story in that one.

"You hero lot and your need to use words like 'crimes'," Talya arched a brow at Colt, the teasing smirk she'd been sharing with Jack turning into a quick hard smile. "It wasn't a 'Nazi relic'. It's a book. An old book. I didn't read it at the time - I skimmed because there were men with guns and I don't enjoy the sensation of bullet wounds. It was some archaic fairy tale - something with princesses and wishes but that's all I remember. It was in French. It's the same basic opening from what I flipped through but there are a good deal less pages." "And it really isn't any of your business what I was looking for this morning and I'm certainly not going to answer when you ask like that. Any other questions I can answer? Would you like an approximate value on the book?" Talya said, back to playing the con artist to the hilt, mask once more in place - even if this one had nothing to do with fabric. "I really have no idea but I could lie. How does fifty grand sound? One fifty?"

"I will be." Phantom assured her as she walked forward, her senses wide and alert for any danger but the guardian was much less concerned. She hadn't been around for the most souped up iteration of the BeeKeeper but intangibility and regeneration tended to make one cocky when it came to dealing with traps. "So, can we just blow through the doors or are we going to have to actually open them?"

Alex pulled back and beamed up at him, "His majesty was kind enough to invite us as thanks for the last time we were in Dakana. Things have been going well but busy. Mike and I got engaged over the summer and I've been busy with work. Which is doing very well, by the way. I think you'll be happy with the initial investment you made in AEON." Her grin was quick and cheerful but she stepped back to join Mike once more, "He's here to stay, of course. I think, this is just where we happened to be. Teleportation, always handy."

Alex noticed James right away and discarded her poised and professional appearance to utterly ruin her entrance by waving at him excitedly although she kept her excited, "James!" as a mental shout to her friends alone. Alex hustled in after Mark, bouncing on her booted toes as she waited for the opportunity to go give him a proper hug. Distance, however, caused no impediment as Alex touched James thoughts and then excitedly brought him up to speed in a mental torrent that was probably more overwhelming than helpful of more detail than he really needed since she'd last seen him.

"If it was a magic theft deterrant all of the pages would be blank, I assume, not most of them," Talya said wryly. "And it was that way before I lifted it out of the case or it wouldn't have caught my attention. I was down there to look at some of the illuminated manuscripts that are in the reserve case. Hence my cunning disguise." She waved at the pleated skirt and shoes with an elaborate gesture and a quick wink. So that was the reason she'd worn such a get up. Why she wouldn't have gone with jeans and a sweatshirt like most actual college students, was anyone's guess. Vince's scanners would pick up nothing except that the pages were indeed blank, void of any of the vanishing ink tells in his memory banks. "I have a very good memory - not photographic unfortunately - but I only gave it a passing glance the last time I saw it. That was years ago." Talya tapped one slender finger on her lower lip as if trying to recall it, "I was rather busy at the time but I'm certain it was on the desk deep in the bowels of a German castle. I rifled through it because we were looking then for magical artifacts that were being misused in the war but discarded it as it wasn't what we were looking for. Really, I think I deserve a prize for remembering the thing in the first place. Don't you?" This was addressed primarily at Jack, with the sort of playful, challenging smile that would entirely confirm Doc's musings that the blonde bombshell was up to personal antics of her own at the Interceptor's Brownstone.

"Not long," Alex confirmed without having to glance at the clock. She'd headed into take a quick shower but Alex was good at the speed clean and change. She slipped on the leotard of her costume and started refastening everything to get it all in order. Since coming out of the superhero closet, she'd altered the mask of the costume so that it simply framed her face, leaving her features uncovered. "I don't think we'll get a monster before desert. That would just be rude."

"It's a book of fairy tales. Old and valuable for being a rare old book but that's really all I know about it. It was most recently in the bowels of the University's restricted section but I didn't take the time to check out the placard." Talya provided helpfully and held the book out to them for whichever Interceptor wanted to take it, "So, I'm afraid my usual exposition will be a bit lacking for once as usually I at least have the time to read the brochures. A slight miscalculation on my part left me absolutely strapped for time." Once her hands were empty, she slipped them behind her back and flashed a quick smile at Jack, "As to the 'deal' with the book. It's mostly blank. It wasn't the last time I saw it. Which is all backwards. So, I thought I'd see if the resident fairy might have an idea or two as 'book that unwrites itself' seemed worth looking into."

"Let me go first," Phantom suggested as she dropped to the ground and turned solid, her cloak flowing out behind her as the tendrils of its ragged hem writhed over the ground. Her glowing eyes flared as she extended her preternatural senses while she added, "Even if something can hurt me, I'll just regenerate and nearly nothing short of a god can trap me these days. If there's something I can't get out of, you can yank me back."

"We have a wonderful young woman who baby sits for us. She's nigh-impervious." Taylor added dryly as JJ snuggled into her neck to hide from the sun. He was indeed much more lethargic and cranky in the sunlight but his natural instinct to blend in with the day walkers kept him from hissing and biting. "You should hold the wedding here when it happens - and it will happen, Stesha. It never goes as we plan but that doesn't make it any less wonderful. I mean, Dracula's goons invaded my wedding and the birth of JJ but that doesn't make me cherish the memories any less. It's just the way life happens with all of this wonder." She waved a hand at the dome and the tiny paradise, eons away from home.

Psyche had been a little quieter than usual, although that had more to do with taking everything in rather than any lingering ill effects. She slipped her hand back in Mike's giving it a squeeze as she flashed her tall fiance a reassuring smile, "We don't get a chance to use those skills but at least they'll come in handy today. We'll be just fine. Thank you, though, for the concern. Ballroom is one of the optional PE classes you can take. Mr. Summers is very good at making sure we're prepared for the futures we choose."

It seemed the most politic to follow Grim into the kitchen since if she had been there to steal something, splitting their attention would have been on of her first tactics. That, was no doubt also in Vince's memory banks. She watched with interest as Grim made up the tea and then turned her gaze back to the rest of the Interceptors that were present. "Ah, lovely," she commented to Grim and then lightly lacing her fingers together, Talya smiled: the very picture of innocence as she turned back to Jack, "As I said, sweetie, while I'm always glad for a reason to visit. I do have one." Her slender hands shifted, and like a magician pulling a scarf from her sleeve produced a slim leather book that looked quite old, "I found something rather interesting. I think it might be right up your alley. Well, the team-you to be specific."

Colt was added to the calendar sketches and here's Bombshell as a preview of the womens: Le Jazz Hot

Alex cracked her eyes opened, winced and immediately slapped her hands over her eyes, her thumbs covering her ears. It wasn't a hangover, although she had the headache and cottony feeling in her mouth. No, it was the sensation of waking up unshielded for the first time in years and her range was so much broader than the last time she'd had such shoddy shields. Alex panicked for a few seconds, flailing mentally, although all that was really noticeable was the almost hyperventilating quick breathing she did. Fortunately, she had been trained and drilled to snap her shields back into place under much worse conditions than the vague physical discomfort of over indulging. So after a few seconds, the pressure of all of those voices in her thoughts was tamped down and she just gave Mike an unsteady nod and vanished towards the back to get changed and get those shakey shields rock solid. A few minutes of meditation should be plenty.

Tayla looked as amused at Jack's comment as she was at Grim's, "Oh, I would never be so crass as to 'case a joint'. That's for amateurs. If I was going to rob you - which would be so terribly rude - it would have to be today. You don't linger if you're going to commit grand larceny. You do it all in one fell swoop. It's like reaching into fire. Best done quickly and cleanly." She smoothed out her skirt and beamed at them both, "Some tea would be lovely, thank you. How civilized. Earl Grey will be fine." Her gaze twinkled with amusement at Jack as she added with a wink, "And it was built on so much more than that, but I thank you for the compliment. I could tell you such stories... Ah, but another time, perhaps." Talya dutifully kept her hands in plain sight when she went to step inside. Which really could have been its own diversion but she was actually on good behavior for the moment... not only because she'd already 'borrowed' something once today.

The figure shuddered and shrieked in Jack's iron grip but it wasn't going anywhere. Beyond his rage, the younger version of himself was closing his phone with a smile and turning to greet an equally younger version of Taylor as she stepped out, looking shy and awkward in her pantsuit. Both figures appeared oblivious to the phantom battle raging outside the windows. What Mutt would notice, was that the scent of Taylor was present as was the power of her magic and JJ would see that while the Void did not exist for him, it still existed for this version of Taylor as she stepped out of it without a problem and into the Earth Prime of the past. When Jack released the figure, it cringed against the window and then went slinking towards the location that Taylor had just teleported into, behind the elevator shaft where there was a faint ripple in space. A place where past and present touched. The Void construct slunk along the floor and oozed back towards that ripple, heading home just as it had been ordered to do.

Phantom shrugged, the movement rippling her cloak out as it writhed along the ground. It was as translucent as she was, floating ghostly through the headstones. "Well, I think they're usually understaffed. I mean, even with lots of manpower, most super heroes don't sign up for guard duty let alone madman duty. I think it's just designed to fail but they do the best they can I'm sure. So, do you know where we're going or shall I scry it out?" Phantom paused and eyed her, "Are you sure you want to do this today? I can probably take care of it if you need to call out. You don't look, well, yourself."

"It's very pretty. What's it for?" Taylor asked curiously, running one hand over the leafy walls of the structure, "Is it just to store people or...?" All in all, she was taking the use of this dimension and the planet here in stride. So the changes to her outlook had affected more than her relationship with Jack but Stesha rarely saw the scary side of Phantom. "That reminds me. Our anniversary is coming up. I need to do something special for Jack but I have no idea what. He's been so grim lately. Well, grimmer than usual at home."

Bombshell pulled herself up to sit on one of the crates and watch as the men were handily taken care of, clapping softly as he pinned the last man between a crate and sword-point. "Oh, bravo! Although, you really could have saved one for me. I don't do damsel, you know." She slid off the boxes and strolled forward, stepping over unconscious thugs easily to catch up to the interrogation. He swallowed nervously, his gaze glancing left and right in the hope of some aid but Jack had neatly dispatched them before they could even twitch a finger towards their radio. He looked over Jack's shoulder and said stiffly, "We're private security... here to protect the art." Bombshell made a rude noise, picking up the sliced gun with careful fingertips, "Hired security with a TDI Vector? Oh, yes. We totally believe that one. Do you often have to turn sticky fingered thieves into a fine red mist?" The paramilitary man glanced at her and then back to Jack with another audible swallow and started to sweat.

Taylor laughed at that before quickly assuring Stesha, "Oh, no. I don't have allergies to anything any more. Comes with the not needing to sleep or eat or breathe. I'll be fine." She nodded at the directions and said wryly, "I'm a Midnighter. I doubt there's a cemetery that I don't know in this city." In short order, Taylor was changed and showered and after assuring her husband that she wasn't leaving the dimension,Phantom teleported to the location in question to meet Stesha.

Bombshell Feats (2 PP) Acrobatic Climber Improvised Tools Powers Add the subtle feat to her Strike power (1 PP) Regeneration Bruised 1/round (3PP) Death 1/day (2PP) Total: 8 PP Done by AA

"I know how that goes. Well, not the sleeping. I don't do that anymore. I'm not sure if that's new or I just never realized that fatigue was about the same with two days of constant activity versus two months." Taylor shrugged slightly as she glanced around, tilting her face up to the sun. "It's magical. You must have been spending a lot of time here, then?" Taylor glanced around, her pupils vanishing into a soft white glow as she shifted her perceptions around to check the work. She blinked and her eyes went back to normal as she smiled at Stesha, "It's just stunning. Have any plans for it?"