Electra
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Fleur de Joie Fleur smiled, half-turning to take in the whole of the room. "Well, 'tis the season and all that," she pointed out easily, extending an arm to indicate the whole party. "And we rarely get a chance to let everyone mix and mingle, or even almost everyone. There are a few folks still out patrolling tonight, so the rest can have a break. If you like, I can introduce you to some people, break the ice a bit? What's your specialty?" With a quick apologetic smile for Alexander, Fleur turned half her attention to El Heraldo. "You're more than welcome for everything," she told him warmly, offering a nod in response to his bow, then an extended hand. "It's so good to see so many heroes gathering together when the fate of the world isn't at stake. Really, all you need to do this evening is enjoy yourself and have a good time mixing and mingling. Have you met Starchaser?" she asked, bringing the conversation back around. "Starchaser, this is El Heraldo, El Heraldo, Starchaser. El Heraldo is from Puerto Rico, I believe, one of our student heroes?" She glanced to the young man for confirmation, resolving once again to keep better tabs on comings and goings in the city.
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Fleur de Joie Stesha swept through the party with careless ease, giving hugs to her teammates (or a nod to Comrade Frost), smiles and clasped hands to her friends and acquaintances. It was strange to see so many unfamiliar faces amongst the gathered heroes; spending so much time on Sanctuary was obviously keeping her out of the loop. No time like the present to start rectifying that, especially since even Velocity's speed wasn't letting her say hello to everyone coming in. Looking towards the door, she zeroed in on the new arrivals. "Merry Christmas! Welcome to the party!" Fleur said effusively as she extended a hand in greeting to the newcomer. "I don't think we've met yet, I'm Fleur de Joie. I like your hat!" Even when she wasn't in costume, the heroine's green hair made her hard to mistake.
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Fleur seemed less than entirely pleased about the underground hike, and any enthusiasm she did have was further dampened by Comrade Frost's red eyes and creepy vocal stylings. Still, the job was the job, and it wouldn't do to wimp out in front of her teammates, much less their Canadian counterparts. Tucking her hands into the pockets of her coat, she kept very close to the not-lava side of the ledge and followed Shield towards the distant city. "Do you think we'll have a chance to talk with people in the city, find out what the general climate is like?" she asked as they walked. "I'd imagine we won't fit in very well, and an isolated society like this may be reluctant to talk to strangers. Maybe there are other ways... is there a newspaper or magazines, anything like that here?"
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Gina frowned, opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again and thought. "Well, not maliciously so," she finally allowed. "I mean, he's not some asshole who's going to scream racial epithets or start fights or anything. But we come from a real small town, and you're... well, you're not a guy he'd expect to see me with, for a lot of reasons. I mean, I'm his little sister, and you're a lot older than him..." She waved a hand, dismissing the significant age difference. "He might say something weird or insensitive, especially at first. My family is really good at saying awful things without thinking. But he's nice, nicer than any sibling of mine has any right to be, and his family is good people." She twisted her fingers together and looked out the front windows, wondering if there was enough time to have Emerson wash them again before the caterers arrive. "They might be so shocked that I have a boyfriend at all that they'll be careful not to do anything that might scare you away."
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"Give me one second here," Miss A murmured. Reaching into what seemed to be a well-concealed pants pocket, she withdrew a slim plastic casing with a blank LED screen and a number of integrated circuits. She opened the back of the case and began placing the circuits with great rapidity, occasionally soldering a connection with her fingertip. After mere seconds of tinkering, she clicked the case back together and watched the screen light up. "This should pick up on any life forms within a thousand feet, maybe more..." She frowned as she studied the screen. "Something's blocking the scan. I get a clear reading behind us, but only about ten feet on each side, and fifty feet down the hall. It might do better as we go on." Keeping the scanner raised, she walked to the open doorway and looked inside cautiously, checking for signs of recent habitation.
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Miss A is gadgeting up a life form reading machine! Detect Life 3 (radio [accurate radius ranged]) [3], Enhancements: Analytical, Counters Concealment, Extended 2 [x100], Radius, Penetrates Concealment) [13PP] And then she's gonna use it! That's a 30 on a Skill Mastery Notice check. She will continue to check as they go along if the first one does not reveal anything.
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"Nicholson will be good for that, too," Stesha said with a nod. "Especially if he's a speed reader like you." She smiled at her own pun. "I suppose if you don't want to move all the way out of Freedom City, you could just relocate into one of the townhouses in the Family Village around Nicholson. It's kind of a neat setup, they bought up the blocks of residential neighborhood around the school and reserved them for the families of the children who are attending. It keeps the families close to their kids, plus it provides a buffer zone around the school of people who are 'in the know,' just in case one of the children has a slip-up on a disguise or secret identity. I imagine it's nice to have other families with similar situations living close together, too. I've thought of looking into it when Ammy starts preschool, but I'm sort of full-timing it on Sanctuary lately." She smiled ruefully. "You can only take care of so many houses. But I hear they're nice!"
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"It's nice to meet you Mali," Paige said with a friendly smile. She was wearing a coat and light scarf against the winter chill, but wished a little she had decided on a knit hat and mittens like her daughter. California had definitely thinned her blood. "We're looking forward to seeing everything. Maybe we could finish up at the dorms so that we can help Will get moved in before we have to go?" Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of Will and Holly. "Smile guys, this one's for the album!" she called cheerfully. "First day of school, big day!" Holly kept on scowling from under her hat and hood, but at least Will pulled out a smile and a cheesy thumbs-up straight from his father's repertoire. "Perfect, I'll send that to Grandma too." "It's not my first day," Holly muttered, looking around with some envy at the older kids and the sprawling campus, beautiful even in the winter. "I started school days ago. And my school is better because it's all in one building and you don't have to go outside." She trailed after the group as they started moving, mittened hands stuffed in her coat pockets.
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Fleur de Joie At that moment, the wide double doors to the side conference room swung wide open to reveal Fleur de Joie and a vast panopoly of food and drinks. "Sorry we were running a little late, everyone," she announced with flustered good cheer, "but feeding superheroes is a tough gig. Should be something for everybody on the table or behind the bar, so dig in!" For tonight, Fleur had traded in her green uniform for a festive emerald-colored tassel dress that moved around her like the needles on a Christmas tree. She'd pinned her hair as usual, but her floral crown was a Santa Lucia wreath, with six white Christmas lights replacing the traditional candles. Her face was flushed, but she seemed happy to see so many people here already. True to Fleur's description, the conference room set aside for the food held something to please almost any palate. Chafing dishes ran the length of one wall with hot hors d'ouevres from a dozen different holiday traditions, while another wall held cold dishes, vegetables, and a carefully marked off section of food that was obviously meant to please alien taste buds. Desserts of all kinds took another whole wall. while a towering blue ice sculpture of Freedom Hall held pride of place on the punch table amidst half a dozen bowls and carafes and hundreds of cups. A bar with an attendant was set up in the corner for those who wanted more than punch or coffee. The room smelled delicious, and with the doors open, the scent quickly began to spread, even as Fleur hastened off to greet all her friends.
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"No, no, we've definitely got enough food." Gina pulled a pop tart from the wrapper and began eating it while standing in front of the cupboard and still staring into it. "We'f goh enough foo foh" she chewed and swallowed, "for a dozen people, and there's only going to be four adults and two kids. I think I overdid it with the catering, I know I did. But it needed to be a big enough order for them to come out on Thanksgiving. I'm probably a bad person making a caterer work on Thanksgiving, but it was that or burn down the house or eat turkey and cheese Hot Pockets for Thanksgiving dinner with my family." The idea of Hot Pockets seemed to spark something in her, causing her to drop the toaster pastries and stalk over to the freezer. "Don't worry about doing anything in there," she called to him in the dining room. "The caterer is bringing everything. I don't have six sets of matching dishes anyway. At least ones that aren't hand-painted commemorative World of Warcraft plates, and nobody's eating off those." Gina took a Hot Pocket from the freezer and expertly slid it into the crisping sleeve, then popped it in the microwave. "They're bringing the centerpiece and the tablecloth and wine and all that crap too. It'll look like I know what I'm doing, even though I have no idea." She stopped dead in her tracks. "And after this, my family will know where I live. It's only a matter of time before my mother shows up on the doorstep." She went back to her half-eaten bowl of cereal at the table, ignoring it as she put her face in her hands. "We're going to have to move. Thank god you don't have any stuff."
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Paige absently catalogued the languages her colleague was cursing in, all but one of which she could curse in herself, if need be, but her attention was focused on the girl in front of her. "Your brain is fine, Tonya," she assured the girl, hoping to get ahead with the good news, at least. "Someone placed a temporary mental block on you, replacing the English you know with some other language, but it wasn't permanent and it caused no real damage. The physical changes... well, that's not my specialty, but I'm sure we can arrange to find someone who can help get you looking the way you're used to. It's very striking, really," she tried to assure the girl. "Here, look." Paige held out her hands horizontally, the palms pressed together, then lifted the top one up to reveal the illusion of a mirror, stretching between her two palms. It wasn't a perfect mirror, since it was a psychic illusion projecting what Paige saw, but at least thirty years' experience had taught her to flip the image so as to be mirrorlike. It wasn't a bad facsimile, anyway. "You're still very pretty."
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"Well you're welcome anytime. We've got plenty of space for guests, and the harvest this year is looking amazing." Stesha looked quite personally pleased about this accomplishment. "I'm sure it'll be an exciting season for Laurence, first Christmas in Freedom City and on Earth. There'll be so many new things!" She paused for a moment to consider that. "How is he adjusting to all the new things, really? It must be quite a change from what he's used to, but he seems so calm and self-possessed. And quite a reader, it sounds like!"
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"I'm sure the kids there are going to be very nice," Paige added reassuringly, glancing at the GPS as she navigated her way through morning traffic. "I'm sure nobody's going to care about your parents' misspent youth that ended twenty years ago. Anything from before 1995 is ancient history, right?" She neatly maneuvered the red minivan into the exit lane and headed into Bayview, a pretty little community that looked a very unlikely place to be hiding the world's foremost school for teenage superheroes. "Though if you think it would help, you're welcome to invite any of your friends out to watch us filming for a day. A little Hollywood magic can't hurt." She smiled at Will in the rearview mirror, then sobered again. "Just remember the rule about extended family talk. You can talk about your dad's family, but that's it."
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Holidays were absolutely Gina's least favorite time of the year, hands down. Worse than tax time, worse than the dog days of summer, worse than the first day of school. Why hadn't she remembered that sooner, like a week ago? Back in those halcyon days of long ago, when she'd been thinking about how last year Steve had been gone and she might never have seen him again, it had seemed like a good idea to do something to celebrate being together, have a real Thanksgiving dinner together. Not that she would cook or anything, but that's what caterers were for. So at least there was some method to the madness of planning a Thanksgiving dinner, but Gina was sure that only some kind of supernatural possession could explain the rest of it. So maybe she felt bad that Peter was still stuck in Freedom City for psychic rehabilitation after all these months. Maybe she was feeling guilty that she didn't visit him more often at the private treatment center she'd arranged for him. It was hard, and she was busy! It wasn't as though she hadn't arranged for frequent contact with his family, or like she hadn't had them all flown out by private jet to be with him today. You'd think that would be enough, but oh no. Maybe too much of Miss Americana's runaway philanthropy had leaked into her brain. That was the only real explanation for why she'd invited Peter's whole family to Thanksgiving dinner at her house. At her _house_. This was going to be nothing but an unmitigated disaster. She poked at her cereal and shoved the bowl aside, getting up to rummage in the pantry for Pop Tarts. "Do you think it's too late to cancel?" she asked aloud, her voice a little higher than usual. "There could be an emergency, a world-saving emergency."
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Stesha smiled at the offer of tissues, though she was already looking a little embarrassed over how much she had let spill. "I try to think of it as being like a deployment; he's away fighting, I'm at home waiting. But I know it's never going to be over. He's never going to retire or take a desk job, and I can't ask him to. But I still feel like he should want to. Is one lifetime that much to ask when you've got a thousand years?" She shook her head and wiped her eyes, crumpling the tissue in her hand before disappearing it into one of the flowers in her daisy crown. Finishing up her coffee gave her a moment to finish composing herself, and she put it to good use. "I think it's just the holidays coming up," she mused, "they can make anyone feel a little melancholy. I know it's barely November, but the music and decorations are already everywhere. What are you all doing for Christmas? If you're not busy, you should come by Sanctuary, we're planning a heck of a not-exactly-Christmas-but-close-enough party. I've heard stories of Santa bees."
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Hologram folded her hands on the table in front of her and closed her eyes, a peaceful expression settling over her face as she prepared to search the lost girl's mind. She was quiet for a moment, then sucked in a quick breath as though startled by something she saw. Her eyes flickered as though she were dreaming, and her fingers twitched even though they were folded. Another minute of quiet, then suddenly she cried out in pain, her eyes flying open. "Unferth!" She leaned forward and massaged her own temples for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "She's definitely Tonya Morris," she reported to the police and gathered heroes. "She was kidnapped by Unferth and Medea. They...hurt her, took her somewhere." Hologram was tentative now, describing images she didn't entirely understand. "I see her in a house, some kind of medieval hut, thatched roof and animals skins. Interior decoration by Alighieri. She has some kind of ritual knife and she's chanting, but she doesn't understand what she's saying, so I don't either. That's strange. Something wrong with the memory." She cracked a faint smile. "Beyond the obvious." Hologram raised her head, looking a bit more composed as she continued. "I see Unferth again, laying on the floor in front of her, asleep or dead. He sinks into the earth as she chants, and the grief..." Her voice caught for a moment. "The grief is horrible, overwhelming. Like she's losing family. Then she's picking up the knife, holding it over herself, and I lose the memory." She took a deep breath. "When she comes back, she's in the forest, and she cries for help, and you come to her, but no one understands her, and she can't understand anyone. Medea did something to her mind." Cautiously, with a reassuring smile for the girl, Hologram reached across the table and traced her fingers lightly over the girl's forehead, once, twice, three times. "Tonya, honey, can you understand me now? Can you talk to us?"
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Paige gets a 26!
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"Hologram is fine," Paige told the officer politely. "It just keeps things easier." Policing in Freedom City had changed a great deal from the bad old days, but as always Paige had to tamp down the momentary impulse to work up an illusion and scamper out the door. Old habits, she supposed. At least Richard had gone back home to be with Holly; he was much worse about dealing with authority than Paige was. "Do you know anything about her, or how long she's been gone?" She listened carefully to the officer's explanations as the walked through the station and into the waiting room. There were already a couple of heroes present, Cobalt Templar and Stronghold, she remembered Lee saying. Youngsters both, nobody she'd have met before. She smiled at both of them before turning her attention to the girl. "Tonya," she said gently, sitting down across from the girl. "My name is Hologram. I'm here to help you talk to us. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you, all right?"
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"Well, we may as well go the most forbidding route first," Miss A reasoned, after taking a moment to get her bearings. Raising her flashlight, she flicked it on and shone it down the hallway as she began to walk. "Our first priority has got to be finding Katastroff. Once we get him out, we have the option to nuke this place from orbit if things have gotten bad enough. We should probably assume he's not near an outer wall or any doors, since if he was, he should've gotten out already. We'll look for protected spaces further towards the center of the building." As she walked, she swept the flashlight steadily back and forth, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
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Paige stifled a yawn as she listened to the voice on the phone, "Wow, you really keep your directory information up to date, huh?" she murmured. It was good public relations, as well as good in general, to be on affable terms with the local police. Back in LA, they'd kept their number on file with the department in case of emergencies, but in five years, they'd only been called upon three times. She should've realized that doing the same thing in Freedom City would be likely to have very different results. "What sort of services do you need?" They didn't give her much information over the phone, but the gist of it seemed to be a young woman whose language no one could understand. That didn't seem like too big a problem, she hoped. With any luck, she could still be home in time to get some sleep before Holly went to school. "Yes, I'm available," she told the officer on the line. "I'll be just a few minutes." Hanging up the phone, she rolled out of bed. "Get dressed, darling," she told Richard with a wry grin. "I need a ride."
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"Five more miiiiinuutes!" came the sleepy whine from behind Holly's door. It took some more dedicated knocking from Richard before the door finally creaked open to reveal Holly herself, three-quarters asleep still, with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like an ermine cape. "It's cold," she complained bitterly as she stepped clear of the confines of her carefully baffled room and into the hallway. Downstairs, Paige could suddenly "hear" the faint echo of the words inside her head like a quick burst of tinnitus. "I hate Freedom City. And I don't want to go to Billy's stupid school." Sulking, she slouched down the stairs at a snail's pace, kicking the edges of the blanket aside with each step. "Chin up, pumpkin," Paige called from the kitchen. "If it doesn't get warmer later in the day, we'll turn up the thermostat tonight. And Will went on the tour of your school with you, you can do the same for him. And be polite about it," she added firmly. "Remember, if you do well at Nicholson, you'll go to Claremont someday too. It'll be good for you to learn something about it ahead of time." She passed her daughter a plate of bacon and eggs and a glass of juice, then turned back to Will's question. "I don't know any of the teachers offhand," she told him, "but you never know when you're going to see a familiar face around here." Paige laughed. "You have to remember, most of our time here, we were either retired or not on the same side as the folks you'll meet at the school. Did you remember to pack your toothbrush and deodorant?"
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"It was," Stesha began, meeting Megan's eyes for a moment, then looking away towards the windows. It seemed wrong to talk about her own problems when Megan's plate was already so full, but once she started, it was hard to stop. For all of Stesha's many friends, very few of them were women with whom she could talk about personal things. "I knew what I was getting into, knew that he worked in space and that he'd been away from Earth a long time. But when we were dating, he was on Earth more often than not, and we spent so much time together. It was perfect. But after we got engaged, after... after I got pregnant with Ammy, things changed." She pressed one hand against the center of her forehead, releasing a breath that could've been a frustrated laugh. "It wasn't his fault. Some intergalatic treaty collapsed somewhere, like they do, and there was a big war on all of a sudden. He had to go. I thought about calling off the wedding, but he came back for a little while, and he was so sure we could make it all work. And we loved each other, and there was the baby to think about. The first year was really hard. I missed him so much, all the time. But there's so much to do between Freedom City and Sanctuary, it's not hard to keep busy, keep my mind occupied. Eventually maybe I just stopped expecting him to be there." Stesha paused a moment, running the side of her index finger under her eye. "When he called last week, that was the first time I've heard from him in four months," she admitted softly. "He's not going to be home for Christmas. And when I think of him... his face is fuzzy in my mind. When I think of him, I see Dark Star. And I don't know what I'm doing anymore."
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"Ammy is doing great," Stesha began, cheerfully enough. "She's old enough now to have some understanding of seasons and holidays, and we're already seeing a little snow on Sanctuary, so it's exciting. I leave her in the creche in the village while I'm working, and she's been very happy there. I couldn't ask for a better babysitting situation. And Derrick..." The hesitation was palpable now, and went on long enough to be a little uncomfortable. Stesha was obviously struggling to decide what or how much to say, very uncharacteristic for the normally chatty woman. "I got a call from him just last week, actually," and now the cheer in her voice was artificial. "He was in the Sagittarius Arm last month, which is practically local considering where he usually works, and he thought of us. Wanted to know how Ammy was doing, all the usual. And he's going to try and make it home for Christmas, if the interstellar war on the far side of Andromeda doesn't heat up. Lot of people out there who might need saving, you know?"
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"I'll bring a jacket," Paige assured Richard as she began to feed chunks of orange and banana into the juicing machine. "Think we should take a camera too? Could collect some B-Roll for next episode with a weather controller." She didn't spend any more time in the Rocky Mountains than she absolutely had to, not even thirty seconds, but work was work and she could handle it. They discussed the idea while Will finished his packing and the breakfast cooked, just another typical morning. Paige gave her son the side-eye as he returned from his duties, but for once refrained from double-checking his packing job. He was only going across town; whatever he forgot could be easily delivered, or she could make him come home for it. That was an even better idea. "If you're off at school, you're not going to be able to sneak around the house looking for your Christmas presents," she reminded Will archly as she poured his juice. "And god only knows what will happen when your father tries to assemble the tree." She sighed and gave up the fight with a smile. "I know you'll have fun there, sweetheart. And I know you'll behave yourself and work hard. We'll just miss you."
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"Oh, it's a wonderful school," Stesha assured her enthusiastically. "I've been in touch with the staff there almost since Ammy was born, even though she's still much too young to go. But with my powers and... and Derrick's, already starting to manifest, she's definitely going to attend eventually. I can put you in touch with the principal there, I have her number in my phone." She set down her coffee and dug into her purse. "But the teachers are amazing, and they tailor the curriculum for every child. I can't think of a better place for him to get training in how to use his powers responsibly right from the start."