Electra

Several of the worker bees were buzzing near Fleur's cottage when the disposal party came back. One of them (they all pretty much looked the same to an untrained eye) held a conversation with Beearthur in the buzzing, humming language of the bees, then flew off towards the hive, while the others descended alongside Victory. Fleur walked out of the cottage at all the commotion, waving to Victory and the others. "Did it work?" she called. "Are you all okay?"

Erin, who had both hands occupied peeling an orange, didn't feel particularly moved to stop long enough to shake hands, but she gave Etain a thin smile and a nod instead. "Yes, Young Freedom's based out of Claremont. It's us and Next Gen mostly, but they haven't been doing too much lately." She looked over to Marcus. "So what's your specialty?" she asked with polite curiosity. He seemed more levelheaded than the other two new ones, for all he didn't really talk a lot.

Erin raised an eyebrow, both at being referred to as though she couldn't respond and at Etain's overall odd way of speaking. Rather than make an issue of it, though, she just said, "I'm Erin. My codename is Wander, I'm on Young Freedom." It was more interesting to learn what the new kids were going to bring to the table than to talk about herself. She already knew Corbin was solid, but the jury was still out on the others. Well, she'd said it herself, nothing really mattered except what you did when the chips were down.

"I would need any information you feel comfortable giving me," Stesha replied meditatively, rubbing one hand absently over her stomach. "I understand that your secret identity is surely important to you, but whatever information you have could prove very helpful. Some of the people I know are very connected in all different areas of science, technology and infrastructure. They might be able to find more than you were able to access as a civilian." She sighed. "I know how disorienting it is to die and be resurrected, however it occurs. I would like to be able to help you find answers."

"All right," Stesha replied easily. "I'm going to go in and make a few phone calls, get some wheels turning. Surely someone has a line on some decent cloths and shoes I can get for cheap. Come on in when you're finished, or if you get too cold out here." She gave him a smile, then turned and went into the little plant house, leaving him alone with the generator at last, with neither human refugees nor giant insects anywhere in the vicinity. Next to that, the actual mechanical problem seemed almost trivial.

Erin didn't participate much in the conversation, being busy filling her tray with food, but she did smile a little bit at the arm-wrestling comment. "It doesn't so much matter who can beat who at arm-wrestling or boxing," she pointed out, "it's what you do in the training room or in the field that counts. And it's not whether you have flashy powers, it's whether you save the day." She carried her tray over to an empty table near the window, setting it down and starting in on the pile of fresh fruit she'd picked up.

"It's good for all of us," Stesha told him with a smile. "They're good company, and Derrick is less worried about leaving me alone out here if there are at least some other friendly sentients around.Though apparently the place has been full of them the whole time! Bees and gardeners have always had a good relationship." Her grin took on an edge that one didn't normally see from friendly Fleur. "The fact that having them here means that the Beekeeper will never get his creepy hands on them again is just a bonus." They arrived back at the shed, this time without the ominous buzzing noises. "Would you like some more coffee, or some cookies?"

It took Stesha a moment to get the joke, then she laughed. "No, the bees aren't from Bee Earth or anything like that, though I wouldn't be surprised if there's one out there somewhere. The Beekeeper bred them to be his soldiers, but they deserved a better life than that. When he went to prison, I brought the bees here so they would have someplace to live besides an underground bunker guarded by extremely creepy robots. There aren't many places on Prime with enough open land and understanding neighbors to house a colony of truck-sized bees, no matter how easygoing they are when undisturbed."

"You may want to consider calling the STAR squad in Freedom City," Fleur told the police officer helpfully. "I don't suppose this is their jurisdiction, but surely they'd be willing to help contain a metahuman criminal? For now, he'll be safe and unable to hurt anyone in the place where I've put him, so you have a little time to set things up." She turned back to the others. looking at all of them. "Well, I can't keep up with anyone, but I can catch up, at least." Reaching into her belt, she pulled out seeds that bloomed into white roses in her hand. She passed one to each of her erstwhile teammates. "Whoever finds him, just yell out, and we can converge on you."

"Not really a team," Erin told the newcomers, leading the way past the bank of vending machines and joining the food line, "but there's training in unarmed combat, and you can always spar with other students. Claremont doesn't have any real sports teams, but there are some intramural leagues for things like softball, basketball, and ultimate frisbee. 'S long as you can control your powers well enough that nobody's going to get hurt if you play, you can try out for any of them."

"We shouldn't have much trouble avoiding them," Wander pointed out, studying the crowd of automatons. "We can swing wide and come around the back with no one the wiser." "We should engage them," Wander countered. "We can get their help, and their knowledge. They have a better idea than we do of the situation, we need that information. And this is there home, they deserve a chance to help us fight for it! "It's too risky!" Wander argued. "If we expose ourselves now, we tip our hand to overshadow. He probably doesn't know we're here yet, but if we go causing a scene in front of the gate that all those guards are watching, we lose our chance at surprise. And those guys don't look to me like they're built for fighting. They wouldn't be more than cannon fodder, and that's not right." "Shouldn't they be able to make that choice for themselves, even if it's dangerous?" Wander pointed out with some annoyance. "And your way still has us jumping blindly into a situation we don't even understand, so the element of surprise isn't worth much!" "It's worth more than getting us and a bunch of civilian...robot-things shot at before we even get into the gates because we want to try and recruit an army!" Wander shot back. The two girls glared at each other.

"That's true," Miss A agreed gravely as they walked through the front gate and down the sidewalk away from the zoo. "If you believe you're ready, I'll be happy to speak with some of my colleagues about hosting you for a little while." Her beautiful face creased with an impish smile. "Just remember, you don't have to do anything Dragonfly asks you that makes you feel uncomfortable. She means well, she just gets... carried away."

"I'm a little stunned I didn't discover them before," Stesha admitted. "But I concentrated my explorations on the surface, not in caves and under the ground. They must've passed right under my radar. I wonder if there are more, and where, and how many." She massaged her forehead with two fingertips. "That's definitely a problem for another day, though. I really appreciate all your help," she told him. "It's not exactly the simple engineering problem I promised you, but it was really nice having some help to handle all of this... everything." She waved a hand with a rueful smile.

Another quick teleport had them back at the civilian enclosure, where the rest of the refugees were poking curiously at the nearly-grown vegetables that had apparently been growing just fine during Stesha's brief absence. There was a bit of a commotion about the precipitous return of their scout, and Stesha suspected that it would only get more exciting once he'd relayed his findings. She was going to have to have a talk with everyone about respecting boundaries, it seeemed, but for now she doubted the humans were going to venture too far. "I think I'll go back to the cottage with you," she told Trevor. "This whole business is wearing me out."

Miss Americana's lips quirked in a reluctant smile. "I can't say that it might not have occurred to me, had I known it was possible," she admitted. "Even after ten minutes in his company, the urge to punish him somehow was very strong. But if this were merely a trick, I'd have found a way to discomfit him that wouldn't have interfered with your day as well. I'm afraid that whatever happened here, was done entirely by accident."

"Oh, that would be very scary," Stesha agreed sympathetically. "And you haven't been able to find out any more about what happened to you? Surely if you died and were resurrected, the coroner would've made a record of your processing that you could find. You might be able to learn more through their office." She took a contemplative sip of juice. "If you like, I have some friends who could make inquiries on your behalf. But I suppose that is secondary to what's really important. Have you been able to get settled in again after your strange return?"

"This is my second year here, I started at the beginning of last summer," Erin replied, glancing around campus as they walked. All was as it should be, which was reassuring in its familiarity after all this time. "It's a pretty good place to live. You want to make sure to follow the rules and not mess up, that makes things a lot better. People don't get away with a lot here, you know? But it's a good school, good training."

"So you don't know how you got your powers?" Stesha asked with interest, selecting a cookie from the tray. "That's a little bit strange. It must have been quite a shock for you! When did it happen?" Always interested in learning more about new people, she sat back in her chair and folded her legs, sipping her juice and listening.

The man wavered indecisively, looking from Trevor to the door and back again until the urge to render him unconscious was nearly overpowering. "All right," he finally said. "Just don't let them eat me!" The bees were waiting outside, watching from a short distance with their massive multifaceted eyes. The background buzzing increased appreciably as the two emerged, the bees obviously speaking amongst each other in their own language. The man quailed, covering his head, but eventually came along quietly, not even stopping to gather up his old gun. Stesha was waiting beyond the bee-line, watching anxiously. She hurried up as the pair approached, looking them both over. "Did everything go smoothly?" she asked Trevor, checking to make sure he was in good condition still before turning her attention to the refugee. "Oh, you poor thing, you look just about done in," she tutted sympathetically. "We'll take you back to the rest of your group and find something for you to eat." The man, sensing a soft touch, all but fell into Stesha's arms, moaning something about giant bees.

The man stopped struggling quickly, though his eyes were still round as saucers. Up close, Trevor judged him to maybe be in his mid-twenties. "The bees," he muttered, as though merely saving the words might invoke one. "Oh god, oh god... how are we going to get away from them?" he asked anxiously. "They're everywhere! I've heard stories about bees, but I never realized how big they were!"

The man cried out in terror at the lightning-quick attack, barely making a token effort to hold onto the ancient gun he'd been wielding. Trevor found himself having to modulate his own attack or risk breaking the man's stick-thin arm. "Oh god, oh god, oh god," the poor unfortunate babbled, "I didn't mean it, I didn't want to come here at all, I'll do anything, just please don't kill me!"

Luckily for Lady Winter, the furniture and household goods in the cottage were made of more conventional materials, so she could sit down on the sofa without damaging anything. Stesha brought over a tray with two bottles of orange juice and a plate of chocolate chip cookies and sat down in the chair opposite the couch. "So what brought you to Freedom City?" she asked curiously. "I've heard all sorts of talk about how good you are in a fight, but not much about you yourself."

The man inside was obviously cut from the same cloth as the other survivors, wearing the same rough and worn clothing, though his boots were in better shape than many of the others'. He was already huddled up in the most defensible position in the hivelet, behind a little mound of rocks. He looked absolutely terrified to see Midnight approaching, before he ducked behind the pile. "I've got a gun!" he yelled in a shaky voice. "Don't get any closer or I'll send you to the bomb!"

Stesha pursed her lips, suddenly looking a little less certain. "Well, anything you can do to be less cold would be appreciated," she admitted. "My cottage is made of plants, and they do suffer a little in extreme cold. But I'm sure we'll make do." She touched the blue woman on the arm, and suddenly the world was full of green light and a smell like fresh pine needles. Seconds later, they came out in a cottage made of plants, furnished like a cozy little apartment, complete with kitchenette. Lamps in the corners provided warm light, while a space heater hummed pleasantly. "Would you like juice or water instead of coffee?" Stesha offered.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Fleur suggested. "I have a cottage with a coffeemaker that I can take us too. It's not much, but no one is there to look twice at a couple of costumed heroes." She chuckled."Anyway, I feel bad that I haven't gotten a chance to meet you yet. I try to meet as many heroes as I can, but I suppose you and I don't really work in the same field most of the time."